-
The Conservative Mind
- From Burke to Eliot
- Narrated by: Phillip Davidson
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.92
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
First published in 1953, this magnificent work will be remembered in ages to come as one of our century's most important legacies.
Written during a time when liberalism was heralded as the only political and intellectual tradition in America, there is no doubt that this book is largely responsible for the rise of conservatism as a viable and credible creed.
Kirk defines "the conservative mind" by examining such brilliant men as Edmund Burke, James Fenimore Cooper, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Quincy Adams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Benjamin Disraeli, Cardinal Newman, George Santayana, and finally, T.S. Eliot. Vigorously written, the book represents conservatism as an ideology born of sound intellectual traditions.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Conservatism
- An Invitation to the Great Tradition
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Conservatism, Roger Scruton offers listeners an invitation into the world of political philosophy by explaining the history and evolution of the conservative movement over the centuries. With the clarity and authority of a gifted teacher, he discusses the ideology's perspective on civil society, the rule of law, freedom, morality, property, rights, and the role of the state. In a time when many claim that conservatives lack a unified intellectual belief system, this book makes a very strong case to the contrary, one that politically-minded listeners will find compelling and refreshing.
-
-
Better studied...
- By Mao Dom on 08-03-19
By: Roger Scruton
-
Russell Kirk's Concise Guide to Conservatism
- By: Russell Kirk, Wilfred M. McClay - introduction
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern conservative intellectual movement began in 1953 with Russell Kirk’s groundbreaking book The Conservative Mind. Four years later, he published a pithy, wry, philosophical summary of what conservatism really means. Originally titled The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Conservatism, this little book was essentially a popular version of The Conservative Mind. Now, a century after its author’s birth, this neglected gem has been recovered. It remains what Kirk intended it to be: an accessible introduction to conservative ideas, especially for the young.
-
-
Prophetic
- By KSa on 04-23-24
By: Russell Kirk, and others
-
Conservatism
- A Rediscovery
- By: Yoram Hazony
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiricist, religious, and nationalist traditions of America and Britain—the conservative traditions that brought greatness to the English-speaking nations and became the model for national freedom for the entire world. Conservatism: A Rediscovery explains how Anglo-American conservatism became a distinctive alternative to divine-right monarchy, Puritan theocracy, and liberal revolution.
-
-
An essential read for conservatives
- By Peter on 10-24-22
By: Yoram Hazony
-
The Great Debate
- Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Yuval Levin explores the roots of the left/right political divide in America by examining the views of the men who best represented each side at its origin: Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. Striving to forge a new political path in the tumultuous age of the American and French revolutions, these two ideological titans sparred over moral and philosophical questions about the nature of political life and the best approach to social change: radical and swift, or gradual and incremental. The division they articulated continues to shape our political life today.
-
-
absolutely worth your time
- By Coffin Family on 10-30-22
By: Yuval Levin
-
Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
-
-
Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
-
The Conservative Sensibility
- By: George F. Will
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist's "astonishing" and "enthralling" New York Times best seller and Notable Book about how the Founders' belief in natural rights created a great American political tradition (Booklist) - "easily one of the best books on American Conservatism ever written" (Jonah Goldberg).
-
-
Conservativism explained and in practice
- By kevinf on 06-13-19
By: George F. Will
-
Conservatism
- An Invitation to the Great Tradition
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Conservatism, Roger Scruton offers listeners an invitation into the world of political philosophy by explaining the history and evolution of the conservative movement over the centuries. With the clarity and authority of a gifted teacher, he discusses the ideology's perspective on civil society, the rule of law, freedom, morality, property, rights, and the role of the state. In a time when many claim that conservatives lack a unified intellectual belief system, this book makes a very strong case to the contrary, one that politically-minded listeners will find compelling and refreshing.
-
-
Better studied...
- By Mao Dom on 08-03-19
By: Roger Scruton
-
Russell Kirk's Concise Guide to Conservatism
- By: Russell Kirk, Wilfred M. McClay - introduction
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern conservative intellectual movement began in 1953 with Russell Kirk’s groundbreaking book The Conservative Mind. Four years later, he published a pithy, wry, philosophical summary of what conservatism really means. Originally titled The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Conservatism, this little book was essentially a popular version of The Conservative Mind. Now, a century after its author’s birth, this neglected gem has been recovered. It remains what Kirk intended it to be: an accessible introduction to conservative ideas, especially for the young.
-
-
Prophetic
- By KSa on 04-23-24
By: Russell Kirk, and others
-
Conservatism
- A Rediscovery
- By: Yoram Hazony
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiricist, religious, and nationalist traditions of America and Britain—the conservative traditions that brought greatness to the English-speaking nations and became the model for national freedom for the entire world. Conservatism: A Rediscovery explains how Anglo-American conservatism became a distinctive alternative to divine-right monarchy, Puritan theocracy, and liberal revolution.
-
-
An essential read for conservatives
- By Peter on 10-24-22
By: Yoram Hazony
-
The Great Debate
- Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Yuval Levin explores the roots of the left/right political divide in America by examining the views of the men who best represented each side at its origin: Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. Striving to forge a new political path in the tumultuous age of the American and French revolutions, these two ideological titans sparred over moral and philosophical questions about the nature of political life and the best approach to social change: radical and swift, or gradual and incremental. The division they articulated continues to shape our political life today.
-
-
absolutely worth your time
- By Coffin Family on 10-30-22
By: Yuval Levin
-
Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
-
-
Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
-
The Conservative Sensibility
- By: George F. Will
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist's "astonishing" and "enthralling" New York Times best seller and Notable Book about how the Founders' belief in natural rights created a great American political tradition (Booklist) - "easily one of the best books on American Conservatism ever written" (Jonah Goldberg).
-
-
Conservativism explained and in practice
- By kevinf on 06-13-19
By: George F. Will
-
Witness
- By: Whittaker Chambers
- Narrated by: John MacDonald
- Length: 30 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1952, Witness came on the heals of America's trial of the century, in which Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss, a full-standing member of the political establishment, of spying for the Soviet Union. In this penetrating philosophical memoir, Chambers recounts the famous case as well as his own experiences as a Communist agent in the United States, his later renunciation of communism, and his conversion to Christianity.
-
-
Great history about Communism
- By Susan on 03-04-10
-
Deception
- The Great COVID Cover-Up
- By: Rand Paul
- Narrated by: Joe Louis
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
COVID-19 was deadly, but the real killer was the coverup, led by America’s most durable medical bureaucrat—a man for whom the truth was too often expendable. Senator Paul makes a powerful case that funding dangerous bioengineering in a totalitarian country is madness.
-
-
Not so much a book for today...
- By Mermaid on 10-15-23
By: Rand Paul
-
Democracy in America
- By: Alexis de Tocqueville
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 34 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through the eastern United States. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s evolving politics. His insightful work has become one of the most influential political texts ever written on America.
-
-
Most Listenable, if not the Best Translation
- By Michael Allen on 10-04-13
-
So Help Me God
- By: Mike Pence
- Narrated by: Mike Pence
- Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Pence spent more hours in the Oval Office than any of his predecessors. On the surface, the affable evangelical Christian from a gas-station-owning family in Indiana wouldn’t seem to have much in common with a brash real estate mogul from New York. But the unlikely duo formed a tight bond. So Help Me God is the chronicle of the events and people who forged Mike Pence’s character. This is the inside story of the Trump administration by its second highest official—what he said to the president and how he was tested.
-
-
Struggled to finish this
- By L. Brown on 11-20-22
By: Mike Pence
-
The Right
- The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism
- By: Matthew Continetti
- Narrated by: Carl Sayles
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Authors bias shows
- By Mary Lou Vodar on 04-30-22
-
Why Liberalism Failed
- By: Patrick J. Deneen
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of the three dominant ideologies of the 20th century - fascism, communism, and liberalism - only the last remains. This has created a peculiar situation in which liberalism's proponents tend to forget that it is an ideology and not the natural end-state of human political evolution. As Patrick Deneen argues in this provocative book, liberalism is built on a foundation of contradictions.
-
-
a fine idea stuffed in a dead horse and beat
- By David on 09-26-18
-
How to Be a Conservative
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger Scruton’s How to be a Conservative presents the case for modern conservatism not in the terms of an elegy but rather as a practical example of how to live as a conservative despite the pressures to live otherwise. As he writes, the book ‘is not about what we have lost, but about what we have retained, and how to hold on to it’. In this witty and frank account, Scruton draws on his years of experience as a counter-cultural presence in public life.
By: Roger Scruton
-
The Closing of the American Mind
- By: Allan Bloom
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In one of the most important books of our time, Allan Bloom, a professor of social thought at the University of Chicago and a noted translator of Plato and Rousseau, argues that the social and political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis.
-
-
VERY IMPORTANT WORK!
- By Douglas on 06-29-10
By: Allan Bloom
-
Regime Change
- Toward a Postliberal Future
- By: Patrick J. Deneen
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Notre Dame professor and author of Why Liberalism Failed comes a provocative call for replacing the tyranny of the self-serving liberal elite with conservative leaders aligned with the interests of the working class.
-
-
A New Political Vision
- By SMW on 06-14-23
-
Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written in the form of a letter to a Frenchman, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France is an impassioned attack on the French Revolution and its hasty destruction of the Church, the old elites, and the Crown. Burke tackles the new republic and its allegiance to principles such as liberty and equality, as well as its failure to recognize the complexities of human nature, society, and wisdom accumulated over time, contending that gradual change and adjustment is far better than immediate upheaval.
By: Edmund Burke
-
Understanding Power
- The Indispensable Chomsky
- By: Noam Chomsky, John Schoeffel - editor, Peter R. Mitchell - editor
- Narrated by: Robin Bloodworth
- Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" ( The New York Times). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's recent talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power.
-
-
Current times demand you get this into your head.
- By Comatoso on 08-12-15
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
-
Mere Natural Law
- Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution
- By: Hadley Arkes
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this profoundly important reassessment of constitutional interpretation, the eminent legal philosopher Hadley Arkes argues that "originalism" alone is an inadequate answer to the judicial activism of the left. Without recourse to "mere Natural Law"—the moral principles knowable by all—our legal and constitutional system is doomed to incoherence. Brilliant in its analysis, essential in its argument, Mere Natural Law is a must-listen for everyone who cares about the Constitution, morality, and the rule of law.
-
-
A must read/listen for those concerned for the USA
- By CheerfulGiver on 06-27-23
By: Hadley Arkes
Critic reviews
"Kirk is assured a place of prominence in the intellectual histories for helping to define the ethical basis of conservatism. He has tried to pull conservatism away from the utilitarian premises of liberalism, toward which conservatism often veers, toward a philosophy rooted in ethics and culture." (Wall Street Journal)
Related to this topic
-
On Revolution
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hannah Arendt's penetrating observations on the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, have been fundamental to our understanding of our political landscape. On Revolution is her classic exploration of a phenomenon that has reshaped the globe. From the 18th-century rebellions in America and France to the explosive changes of the 20th century, Arendt traces the changing face of revolution and its relationship to war while underscoring the crucial role such events will play in the future.
-
-
Insightful Analysis of Differing Revolutions
- By Roger on 01-10-18
By: Hannah Arendt
-
Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
-
-
Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
-
The Irony of American History
- By: Reinhold Niebuhr
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forged during the tumultuous but triumphant postwar years when America came of age as a world power, The Irony of American History is more relevant now than ever before. Cited by politicians as diverse as Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Niebuhr's masterpiece on the incongruity between personal ideals and political reality is both an indictment of American moral complacency and a warning against the arrogance of virtue.
-
-
Superlative Book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-29-10
By: Reinhold Niebuhr
-
On Liberty
- By: John Stuart Mill
- Narrated by: Alastair Cameron
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Liberty is a book by John Stuart Mill, one of the most celebrated philosophers on the subject of leadership and governing ideals. The book focuses on Mill's philosophy on utilitarianism which is one of his defining principles. The principles of the book are focused on developing a relationship between the ruling authority and liberty.
-
-
Must read
- By Trevor M. on 08-04-21
By: John Stuart Mill
-
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- By: Bernard Bailyn
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment", as a postscript. Here he discusses the intense nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution.
-
-
Bernard Bailyn is a genius!
- By John M. Crean on 04-21-19
By: Bernard Bailyn
-
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic work explains the evolution of American political thought from the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution. In so doing, it greatly illuminates the origins of the present American political system.
-
-
This Audible book is NOT for a popular audience!
- By BigWally on 11-22-18
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
On Revolution
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hannah Arendt's penetrating observations on the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, have been fundamental to our understanding of our political landscape. On Revolution is her classic exploration of a phenomenon that has reshaped the globe. From the 18th-century rebellions in America and France to the explosive changes of the 20th century, Arendt traces the changing face of revolution and its relationship to war while underscoring the crucial role such events will play in the future.
-
-
Insightful Analysis of Differing Revolutions
- By Roger on 01-10-18
By: Hannah Arendt
-
Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
-
-
Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
-
The Irony of American History
- By: Reinhold Niebuhr
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forged during the tumultuous but triumphant postwar years when America came of age as a world power, The Irony of American History is more relevant now than ever before. Cited by politicians as diverse as Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Niebuhr's masterpiece on the incongruity between personal ideals and political reality is both an indictment of American moral complacency and a warning against the arrogance of virtue.
-
-
Superlative Book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-29-10
By: Reinhold Niebuhr
-
On Liberty
- By: John Stuart Mill
- Narrated by: Alastair Cameron
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Liberty is a book by John Stuart Mill, one of the most celebrated philosophers on the subject of leadership and governing ideals. The book focuses on Mill's philosophy on utilitarianism which is one of his defining principles. The principles of the book are focused on developing a relationship between the ruling authority and liberty.
-
-
Must read
- By Trevor M. on 08-04-21
By: John Stuart Mill
-
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- By: Bernard Bailyn
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment", as a postscript. Here he discusses the intense nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution.
-
-
Bernard Bailyn is a genius!
- By John M. Crean on 04-21-19
By: Bernard Bailyn
-
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic work explains the evolution of American political thought from the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution. In so doing, it greatly illuminates the origins of the present American political system.
-
-
This Audible book is NOT for a popular audience!
- By BigWally on 11-22-18
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
The Idea of America
- Reflections on the Birth of the United States
- By: Gordon S Wood
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The preeminent historian of the American Revolution explains why it remains the most significant event in our history
-
-
Sophisticated analyses
- By Roger on 01-25-12
By: Gordon S Wood
-
The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
-
-
A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
-
The Demon in Democracy
- Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies
- By: Ryszard Legutko, John O'Sullivan, Teresa Adelson
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature.
-
-
Important book on political philosophy
- By Wayne on 08-02-19
By: Ryszard Legutko, and others
-
The Story of Philosophy
- The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
-
-
Fantastic and insightful book
- By ESK on 01-25-13
By: Will Durant
-
America's Revolutionary Mind
- A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It
- By: C. Bradley Thompson
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The purpose of this book is twofold: first, to elucidate the logic, principles, and significance of the Declaration of Independence as the embodiment of the American mind; and, second, to shed light on what John Adams once called the "real American Revolution"; that is, the moral revolution that occurred in the minds of the people in the 15 years before 1776.
-
-
Excellent study of Revolutionary Thinking
- By Amazon Customer on 03-24-21
-
Democracy in America
- By: Alexis de Tocqueville
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 34 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through the eastern United States. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s evolving politics. His insightful work has become one of the most influential political texts ever written on America.
-
-
Most Listenable, if not the Best Translation
- By Michael Allen on 10-04-13
-
Democracy in America (Excerpts)
- By: Alexis de Tocqueville
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alexis de Tocqueville's renowned analysis of American democracy still has relevance today. In 1831 de Tocqueville was sent to America by the French government to study the U.S. penal system, but his real aim was to observe a democratic republic firsthand to see if such an entity could function with dignity and humanity. His travels, which took him to the cities of the Northeast, to the frontier and the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi and through the South, showed him a great deal about the United States. In 1834, he wrote Democracy in America, in which he examines the advantages and pitfalls of democracy, the conditions and conflicts among the races, and the movements that grip the country.
-
-
Democracy in America
- By Michael on 02-18-10
-
The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
-
-
The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
-
Nature's God
- The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
-
-
Excellent exploration of this subject
- By Caroline on 01-13-15
By: Matthew Stewart
-
Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
-
-
Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
-
Fools, Frauds and Firebrands
- Thinkers of the New Left
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of the leading critics of leftist orientations comes a study of the thinkers who have most influenced the attitudes of the New Left. Beginning with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concluding with a critique of the key strands in its thinking, Roger Scruton conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Žižek, Ralph Milliband, and Eric Hobsbawm. Scruton delivers a critique of modern left-wing thinking.
-
-
Deconstructing the New Left
- By Wayne on 01-17-20
By: Roger Scruton
-
Anarchy
- By: Errico Malatesta
- Narrated by: Caroline Collins
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Anarchy" (1907) is a political classic written by famous anarchist Errico Malatesta. "Anarchy is a word which comes from the Greek, and signifies, strictly speaking, without government: the state of a people without any constituted authority. Before such an organization had begun to be considered possible and desirable by a whole class of thinkers, so as to be taken as the aim of a party (which party has now become one of the most important factors in modern social warfare)."
-
-
Malatesta is a Fantastic writer.
- By Elly on 08-28-21
By: Errico Malatesta
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Russell Kirk's Concise Guide to Conservatism
- By: Russell Kirk, Wilfred M. McClay - introduction
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern conservative intellectual movement began in 1953 with Russell Kirk’s groundbreaking book The Conservative Mind. Four years later, he published a pithy, wry, philosophical summary of what conservatism really means. Originally titled The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Conservatism, this little book was essentially a popular version of The Conservative Mind. Now, a century after its author’s birth, this neglected gem has been recovered. It remains what Kirk intended it to be: an accessible introduction to conservative ideas, especially for the young.
-
-
Prophetic
- By KSa on 04-23-24
By: Russell Kirk, and others
-
Things That Matter
- Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics
- By: Charles Krauthammer
- Narrated by: Charles Krauthammer, George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Listeners will find here not only the country’s leading conservative thinker offering a passionate defense of limited government, but also a highly independent mind whose views - on feminism, evolution and the death penalty, for example - defy ideological convention. Things That Matter also features several of Krauthammer’s major path-breaking essays - on bioethics, on Jewish destiny and on America’s role as the world’s superpower - that have profoundly influenced the nation’s thoughts and policies.
-
-
Charles K, author and narrator ..... enuf said
- By Alan on 12-11-13
-
Conservatism
- A Rediscovery
- By: Yoram Hazony
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiricist, religious, and nationalist traditions of America and Britain—the conservative traditions that brought greatness to the English-speaking nations and became the model for national freedom for the entire world. Conservatism: A Rediscovery explains how Anglo-American conservatism became a distinctive alternative to divine-right monarchy, Puritan theocracy, and liberal revolution.
-
-
An essential read for conservatives
- By Peter on 10-24-22
By: Yoram Hazony
-
Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
-
-
Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
-
Ideas Have Consequences
- Expanded Edition
- By: Richard M. Weaver, Roger Kimball - foreword, Ted J. Smith III - afterword, and others
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard M. Weaver argues that the decline of Western civilization resulted from the rising acceptance of relativism over absolute reality. In spite of increased knowledge, this retreat from the realist intellectual tradition has weakened the Western capacity to reason, with catastrophic consequences for social order and individual rights. But Weaver also offers a realistic remedy. These difficulties are the product not of necessity, but of intelligent choice.
-
-
A Prophetic Work
- By jdawg on 02-16-19
By: Richard M. Weaver, and others
-
Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke’s opinion on whether France’s new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order. Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true "social order". Blending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world.
-
-
A good historical perspective
- By CMC on 08-30-14
By: Edmund Burke
-
Russell Kirk's Concise Guide to Conservatism
- By: Russell Kirk, Wilfred M. McClay - introduction
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern conservative intellectual movement began in 1953 with Russell Kirk’s groundbreaking book The Conservative Mind. Four years later, he published a pithy, wry, philosophical summary of what conservatism really means. Originally titled The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Conservatism, this little book was essentially a popular version of The Conservative Mind. Now, a century after its author’s birth, this neglected gem has been recovered. It remains what Kirk intended it to be: an accessible introduction to conservative ideas, especially for the young.
-
-
Prophetic
- By KSa on 04-23-24
By: Russell Kirk, and others
-
Things That Matter
- Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics
- By: Charles Krauthammer
- Narrated by: Charles Krauthammer, George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Listeners will find here not only the country’s leading conservative thinker offering a passionate defense of limited government, but also a highly independent mind whose views - on feminism, evolution and the death penalty, for example - defy ideological convention. Things That Matter also features several of Krauthammer’s major path-breaking essays - on bioethics, on Jewish destiny and on America’s role as the world’s superpower - that have profoundly influenced the nation’s thoughts and policies.
-
-
Charles K, author and narrator ..... enuf said
- By Alan on 12-11-13
-
Conservatism
- A Rediscovery
- By: Yoram Hazony
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiricist, religious, and nationalist traditions of America and Britain—the conservative traditions that brought greatness to the English-speaking nations and became the model for national freedom for the entire world. Conservatism: A Rediscovery explains how Anglo-American conservatism became a distinctive alternative to divine-right monarchy, Puritan theocracy, and liberal revolution.
-
-
An essential read for conservatives
- By Peter on 10-24-22
By: Yoram Hazony
-
Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
-
-
Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
-
Ideas Have Consequences
- Expanded Edition
- By: Richard M. Weaver, Roger Kimball - foreword, Ted J. Smith III - afterword, and others
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard M. Weaver argues that the decline of Western civilization resulted from the rising acceptance of relativism over absolute reality. In spite of increased knowledge, this retreat from the realist intellectual tradition has weakened the Western capacity to reason, with catastrophic consequences for social order and individual rights. But Weaver also offers a realistic remedy. These difficulties are the product not of necessity, but of intelligent choice.
-
-
A Prophetic Work
- By jdawg on 02-16-19
By: Richard M. Weaver, and others
-
Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke’s opinion on whether France’s new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order. Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true "social order". Blending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world.
-
-
A good historical perspective
- By CMC on 08-30-14
By: Edmund Burke
-
Conservatism
- An Invitation to the Great Tradition
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Conservatism, Roger Scruton offers listeners an invitation into the world of political philosophy by explaining the history and evolution of the conservative movement over the centuries. With the clarity and authority of a gifted teacher, he discusses the ideology's perspective on civil society, the rule of law, freedom, morality, property, rights, and the role of the state. In a time when many claim that conservatives lack a unified intellectual belief system, this book makes a very strong case to the contrary, one that politically-minded listeners will find compelling and refreshing.
-
-
Better studied...
- By Mao Dom on 08-03-19
By: Roger Scruton
-
How to Be a Conservative
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger Scruton’s How to be a Conservative presents the case for modern conservatism not in the terms of an elegy but rather as a practical example of how to live as a conservative despite the pressures to live otherwise. As he writes, the book ‘is not about what we have lost, but about what we have retained, and how to hold on to it’. In this witty and frank account, Scruton draws on his years of experience as a counter-cultural presence in public life.
By: Roger Scruton
-
The Conservative Sensibility
- By: George F. Will
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist's "astonishing" and "enthralling" New York Times best seller and Notable Book about how the Founders' belief in natural rights created a great American political tradition (Booklist) - "easily one of the best books on American Conservatism ever written" (Jonah Goldberg).
-
-
Conservativism explained and in practice
- By kevinf on 06-13-19
By: George F. Will
-
10 Books Every Conservative Must Read
- Plus Four Not to Miss and One Imposter
- By: Benjamin Wiker Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Offering a “CliffsNotes guide” to some of the most important literary works of our time, Benjamin Wiker, author of 10 Books That Screwed Up the World, turns his discerning eye from the great texts that have done damage to Western civilization to the great texts that could help rebuild it.
-
-
A Surprisingly Dull Polemic
- By Ted on 07-12-10
-
Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written in the form of a letter to a Frenchman, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France is an impassioned attack on the French Revolution and its hasty destruction of the Church, the old elites, and the Crown. Burke tackles the new republic and its allegiance to principles such as liberty and equality, as well as its failure to recognize the complexities of human nature, society, and wisdom accumulated over time, contending that gradual change and adjustment is far better than immediate upheaval.
By: Edmund Burke
-
The Conscience of a Conservative
- By: Barry Goldwater
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it was first published, The Conscience of a Conservative reignited the American conservative movement and made Barry Goldwater a political star. It influenced countless conservatives in the United States and helped to lay the foundation for the Reagan Revolution in 1980. Just as vital today as it was then, this book addresses many topics that could be torn from today's headlines.
-
-
Great American - great ideology
- By Arizona Sportsman on 03-10-15
By: Barry Goldwater
-
The Right
- The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism
- By: Matthew Continetti
- Narrated by: Carl Sayles
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Authors bias shows
- By Mary Lou Vodar on 04-30-22
-
The Great Debate
- Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author Yuval Levin explores the roots of the left/right political divide in America by examining the views of the men who best represented each side at its origin: Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. Striving to forge a new political path in the tumultuous age of the American and French revolutions, these two ideological titans sparred over moral and philosophical questions about the nature of political life and the best approach to social change: radical and swift, or gradual and incremental. The division they articulated continues to shape our political life today.
-
-
absolutely worth your time
- By Coffin Family on 10-30-22
By: Yuval Levin
-
God and Man at Yale
- The Superstitions of Academic Freedom
- By: William F. Buckley Jr.
- Narrated by: Michael Edwards
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the book that launched William F. Buckley, Jr.'s career. As a young, recent Yale graduate, he took on Yale's professional and administrative staffs, citing their hypocritical diversion from the tenets on which the institution was built. Yale was founded on the belief that God exists, and thus that virtue and individualism represent immutable cornerstones of education. However, when Buckley wrote this scathing expose, the institution had made an about face.
-
-
Good book....narrated by a $10 answering machine
- By Jose on 02-01-15
-
The Fatal Conceit
- The Errors of Socialism
- By: F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Everett Sherman
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hayek gives the main arguments for the free-market case and presents his manifesto on the "errors of socialism." Hayek argues that socialism has, from its origins, been mistaken on factual, and even on logical, grounds and that its repeated failures in the many different practical applications of socialist ideas that this century has witnessed were the direct outcome of these errors. He labels as the "fatal conceit" the idea that "man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes."
-
-
If more had these insights we'd be better off
- By Doug on 11-12-12
By: F. A. Hayek
-
The Soul of the World
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Soul of the World, renowned philosopher Roger Scruton defends the experience of the sacred against today’s fashionable forms of atheism. He argues that our personal relationships, moral intuitions, and aesthetic judgments hint at a transcendent dimension that cannot be understood through the lens of science alone. To be fully alive - and to understand what we are - is to acknowledge the reality of sacred things.
-
-
"Against Reductionism"
- By Edmund Schilvold on 10-08-15
By: Roger Scruton
-
Beauty
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful and examining how we can compare differing judgments of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely.
-
-
Introduction to Beauty
- By Adam Shields on 05-03-19
By: Roger Scruton
What listeners say about The Conservative Mind
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Scott
- 04-08-19
Amazing. A must have!
Great review, history & summary of Conservative thought & philosophy throughout the ages. Kirk does a wonderful job. A must have for anyone interested in politics.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thucydides
- 08-06-21
necessary reading for all political sides
well articulated on the full range of political thinkers, including poets. Kirk helps elevate political discussion on all sides of the recurring issues of how to get along with one another and make life more worth living.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen Minter
- 01-23-21
Very good, although it was too deep to follow in-depth while working
I listen to a lot of books while I work my construction job and I thought this was excellent. It was difficult to follow while working do to the depth of material but definitely worth the read. I plan to get a hard copy to revisit and make notes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luigi Grimaldi
- 07-14-15
Excellent
A must read for conservatives of all ages. I really enjoyed the historical context of this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- James
- 09-18-09
An interim review
I have only "read" about a third of the book, but felt I needed to add to the comments available. The book addresses the contributions of significant individuals to conservative thought. It attempts to put their thoughts in the context of the times and lives of those people. I would not consider the book a collection of biographies. I believe that one of the purposes of the book is to create an interest in the reader that will lead him to go to the writings of the people mentioned. In my case it succeeded. A couple of other comments: Mr. Kirk tends not to define the terms that he uses, so the reader is left to find the definitions himself, or find the definition well after the term is first used. I also sometimes found the book a little hard to follow as I was listening, and had to refer to a text copy. I would definitely recommend the book, especially to those looking for the basis of conservative thought.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nieves Fragapane
- 01-30-23
Thank you Audible!
Incredible insight and scope from one of the chief voices for the Conservative point of view. Left me with a daunting list of other poets, thinkers and leaders that I now want to read for myself. This has opened my mind to a world of scholarship and thought that I cannot wait to explore. I started with the Audible Great Course on “The Conservative Tradition”. That wonderful Course introduced me to Russell Kirk (embarrassed to admit I had not heard of him before) and it clicked. Now reading Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk and many others.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Ted
- 11-22-10
Worth the time and effort
This book should be read/listened to - not for correctness - and not for conclusions - but because it broadens the background of almost every reader by presenting competing viewpoints to those propagated by academia and the popular media.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- blazered02
- 02-02-19
A remarkable must-read with some glaring flaws
Things started off pretty well. Near the end, this book started to get really repetitive--the only thing that alerts you to the fact that you're not listening to an earlier part of the book is a change in names.
The Conservative Mind eloquently traces the history and rout of philosophical conservatism. One can't help but wish that we had more of this and far less of the awful populist nationalism we see today. But some of Kirk's ideas are probably best left behind.
He seems to develop an odd insistence on dualism later--this doesn't make sense in orthodox Christian belief or in science. That's a minor issue. Kirk also hates cars because they enable people to move more than before. My biggest gripe, which nearly got me to stop listening altogether, was Kirk's admiration for the old ways of the old South. This he does without mentioning slavery at all. I don't care how conservative you are, there's no legitimate worldview that seeks the preservation of slavery. I say this as a conservative--and to put it in Burkean terms, Providence broke that southern yoke of oppression.
Kirk's conservatism is eloquent and powerful, but seems unnecessarily cruel and arrogant. The prose in this book is also awful. Obscure references and an apparently strong preference for words with Latin roots makes it a somewhat grating thing to listen to.
All that said, I'm better off having read this book. Its cultural importance should not be ignored, and I think a renewal of conservative values based on the permanent things would do the world much good.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt & Meghan
- 11-09-18
Missing sections of text
This is a great work of intellectual history. Davidson does a great job reading this book. My review *would* be five stars but there are sections of the text that are, very occasionally, skipped over. One example is that in (audible) chapter 17, which should be the being of chapter 9 in the book, pages 298-319 are simply skipped over. Shame!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mira Krishnan
- 12-12-18
A classic, thoughtful work
Kirk's voyage through history essentially makes a case for conservatism that is neither associated with rightist collectivism nor libertarian or classically liberal philosophy. While his work is dated by his minimal discussion of any voices of women from the eras he considers, and he never really fully comes to terms with conservatism's reluctance to tackle ills such as slavery, he articulates the place for a thoughtful, tolerant, institution and tradition upholding conservatism that has almost disappeared from 21st century American discourse. The kind of conservatism he argues for would do well as something to recreate both amongst Republicans and Democrats. As others have commented, the narrator, Mr. Davidson, has a delightful, thoughtful style, but his cadence is uneven and there is inadequate compression and pop filtering in the audio recording, and the result makes parts of this difficult to hear especially for those of us who listen to audio books during commutes, but the book is really more worth it for a feel for a notion of conservatism being advanced here rather than as a means to learn all the specifics of this history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!