Political Passages: Journeys of Change Through Two Decades, 1968-1988

In 12 rueful autobiographical essays the contributors to this anthem of disillusionment explain why they abandoned the radical or left-liberal views they espoused in the 1960s for a more conservative outlook. Peter Collier, ex-editor of Ramparts, analyzes '60s radicals as cynics fueled by a chic hatred of America. Julius Lester, once a civil-rights leader, charges that ""the movement'' was undemocratic and tells how he got swallowed up in its collective self. Former leftist David Horowitz claims that the New Left is motivated not by compassion but by a totalitarian ideal. James Finn reveals why he forsook liberal Catholic activism and now supports Reagan administration policy in Central America. Other contributors include Michael Novak, Ronald Radosh, Martha Bayles and Joseph Epstein. In an introductory essay, University of Chicago scholar Edward Shils bitterly attacks the left as authoritarian and deplores the ``villanous'' role that Daniel Berrigan, William Sloane Coffin, Susan Sontag and others played in encouraging youthful rebellion. Bunzel is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. (May)