American Conservatism: An Illustrated History

A popularly written history of the U.S. viewed through a conservative lens, Nagle's heavily illustrated panorama is attuned to the shifting meanings of the labels ``liberal'' and ``conservative.'' He notes, for example, that James Madison's ``liberal'' stance favoring a strict interpretation of the constitution is a staple of the modern conservative diet. Nagle, former editor of Human Life Review , claims Abraham Lincoln for the American conservative tradition and offers sympathetic portraits of Barry Goldwater, Reagan, Bush, William Buckley Jr., among others. Ruptures and controversies within the neoconservative movement are delineated. Nagle believes that most Americans are centrists at heart who will give conditional support to either the left or right, depending on which faction they think will respond more effectively to current problems. His narrative is enlivened by an array of engravings, cartoons, broadsides, sketches, photographs and Americana. ( July )