Buckley

“Buckley is a magnificent work of history as well as of biography, and is as relevant to these parlous times as it is revelatory of Buckley and his times. Beautifully written.”—John Banville, The Times“A smart, stylish, and clear-eyed portrait of a complicated man—and of the rise of American conservatism, with Buckley in a starring role.”—The New Yorker“Painstakingly researched and beautifully crafted, Buckley is a capacious and incisive history of the modern conservative movement’s formative years, seen through the eyes of its intellectual leader—a man who, in Tanenhaus’s hands, is enthralling and infuriating by turns, but never boring.”—The Washington Post“[A] well-written, and intelligent take, both critical and admiring, on a complicated man.”—The New Yorker“A biography not just of a prominent influencer but also of a potent movement … a milestone contribution to our understanding of the American Century.”—The Boston Globe“Not so much a stranger to our times as a precursor to them … a rich chronicle.”—New York Times Book Review“Marvelous, decades-in-the-making … offers a deeply affectionate portrait of Buckley’s personal life … [and] also methodically surfaces the darker strains of the movement.”—The New Republic“Fascinating, with new and startling revelations … about American conservatism as a whole.”—The Weekly Dish“An enjoyable and fascinating romp through American political and cultural life in much of the 20th century.”—The Telegraph“A magnificent, absorbing work about a man known as the father of postwar American conservatism.”—Chronicles Magazine“Shows a rare familiarity with its subject and his times… . Tanenhaus is to be congratulated for his achievement.”—The Spectator World“A lively, balanced and deeply researched book … engrossing.”—The Guardian“A chronicle of the life of a man but also a history of the era he helped to shape … worth the wait.”—The Washington Free Beacon“Buckley moves fast, propelled by Tanenhaus’ prose, his jeweler’s eye for fine detail, and the frankly incredible episodes he includes.”—Unpopulist“A grand biography … magnificent.”—The Washington Monthly“Meticulous … unlikely to be bettered anytime soon.”—The Financial Times“Superb … Tanenhaus discovered some parts of the story that were largely unknown … fair and balanced story of a life of purpose, one that was actively lived and whose echoes are still felt today.”—The Christian Science Monitor“Runs to more than 1,000 pages—yet is not a word too long.”—The Economist“Monumental, honest, fair-minded, and spectacularly enlightening.”—Foreign Affairs“Stunning [A] stunning new biography … [Over] pages that fly by thanks to his lively writing, Tanenhaus chronicles Buckley’s … sprawling career as a right-wing revolutionary.”—Nicole Hemmer, Democracy Journal“Unfurls a remarkable canvas … a vivid portrait of a singular man.”—Law and Liberty“William F. Buckley forever changed America, and Tanenhaus’s Buckley will forever change how we understand America.”—John Ganz, author of When the Clock Broke“A superb biography. Writing a life is harder than it looks. Sam Tanenhaus’ contribution is up there with Robert Blake’s classic Disraeli.”—Niall Ferguson, author of Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist and The House of Rothschild“Sam Tanenhaus … has illuminated the often ugly ideological origins of our present predicament.”—Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best “A stone-cold masterpiece … Buckley is a brilliant portrait of man, movement, and age.”—Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule and Ruin“Buckley is all that a biography could and should be: penetrating, deeply researched, respectful but critical.”—Beverly Gage, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of G-Man“Writing with superb insight into celebrity culture, Tanenhaus nails Buckley for many lapses of judgment, while also revealing his countless acts of unpublicized generosity.”—Richard Wightman Fox, author of Lincoln’s Body“Tanenhaus is clear-eyed about Buckley’s many failures but also does justice to his eccentric charisma, humanity, and wit.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Sam Tanenhaus, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, is the author of the national bestsellers Whittaker Chambers- A Biography (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize) and The Death of Conservatism. His feature articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and many other publications in the United States and abroad.