The Right

The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism

By: Matthew Continetti

Narrated by: Carl Sayles

Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

A magisterial intellectual history of the last century of American conservatism

When most people think of the history of modern conservatism, they think of Ronald Reagan. Yet this narrow view leaves many to question: How did Donald Trump win the presidency? And what is the future of the Republican Party?

In The Right, Matthew Continetti gives a sweeping account of movement conservatism’s evolution, from the Progressive Era through the present. He tells the story of how conservatism began as networks of intellectuals, developing and institutionalizing a vision that grew over time, until they began to buckle under new pressures, resembling national populist movements. Drawing out the tensions between the desire for mainstream acceptance and the pull of extremism, Continetti argues that the more one studies conservatism’s past, the more one becomes convinced of its future.

Deeply researched and brilliantly told, The Right is essential for anyone looking to understand American conservatism.

©2022 Matthew Continetti (P)2022 Basic Books

Critic reviews

“[A] sturdy account of the many divisions within modern conservatism… Rational, well thought out, and impeccably argued—of interest to all students of politics.”—Kirkus

“Matthew Continetti has earned his luminous reputation as the foremost contemporary chronicler of American conservatism’s path to today’s problematic condition. He traces conservatism’s rich intellectual pedigree, from the founders’ classical liberalism through twentieth-century conservatives’ responses to the challenges of progressivism. The result is a thinking person’s map for the road ahead.”—George F. Will, author of The Conservative Sensibility

“Matthew Continetti has written an instant classic, sure to become the essential one-volume history of modern American conservatism. Balanced and subtle, it offers an engaging combination of intellectual and political history that makes sense of the immensely complicated story of the Right.”—Yuval Levin, author of A Time to Build

A Comprehensive History of the Conservative Movement

Continetti hits all of the highs and lows of the conservative movement and its undercurrent of populism. He explores in detail every thread and strain of the right, from its anti communist roots to the ascent of the alt right. His epic project carefully articulates the competing agendas within the Republican Party, while effectively making a case for the soul of a true American conservatism.

Well worth my time

This book isn't all things to all people, but it has much important information. The author took pains to survey all the players and ideas, calmly and with dignity. He was reasonably transparent about his positions and views in all this, which he could not (as anyone could not) entirely keep out of the book. It is clear that he cares about conservatism and this country. It is also clear that he is wary of the most populist strains of conservatism. He is basically not a fan of Trump, but this should not stop anyone who thinks calm, focused history is worth learning. As he closed the book, "the job of a conservative is to remember." This added a lot to the depth and balance of my views of the past and present, and increased my understanding of parts of this culture I was not previously close to. But of course, for the impatient hot-heads, it isn't about understanding, for them or anyone or anything else. For them, it is about hot-headed "action." They would be troubled about the challenges a book like this would pose to them: actually working through the implications of one's ideas.

This book helps answer where a person would situate their self, in terms of various conservative politicians and thinkers. My criticism is, Toqueville, Hamilton, Jefferson and so on, are name-dropped without clear lines drawn to these recent folks featured here. This remains a bit superficial.

Better than my textbooks!

Received a better understanding of the meaning of the historical roots of conservatism in this audible source than I did in all of my many textbooks.

Continetti Is Always Worth Listening To

Smart and thorough review of conservatism, and a sober outlook on how we can revive it.

Author is Bill Kristol’s Son in Law

I like Matt and follow his work though I was not aware of his familial connection to Bill Kristol. Frankly, that explains a lot about how Matt relates to some of the impossibly broad subject matter of this book.

interesting

This is a pretty good book, but fairly focused on the knowledge and experience of the author.

A Lefty Reads The Right

It served its purpose, to inform, and it did. My view is that our American history is too young and too fluid to sustain the hard label of "conservatism and
the right" that the writer attempts to define. Better us all to do away with these labels and focus more on the legitimacy of the words of our Founding Fathers and our Constitution and pledge our allegiance to the same. Its easy to get confused when folk start promoting their own morphological interpretations of labels such as these.

Stunning Analysis placing the development of America's Right in historical context

Stunning analysis of an incredibly complex political movement. Continetti handles each topic with incisive analysis that cuts through political dissension, and gets to the heart of the matter, while informing and contextualizing brilliantly. No one can claim to understand the Right without having read this book.

Very informative

I really enjoyed the book. And I’m not cruel enough to give 4 stars for the speaker,

But the way he seemed to pronounce names like a computer was grating sometimes adding extra syllables. It was like there was no regard for how the person actually says their name

An indispensable guide…

…to the American right for those on both sides of the aisle, but especially for conservatives, who need to understand what it is we seek to conserve.