Buckley

“Exposes the roots of the modern conservative movement … authoritative … As Buckley’s only authorized biographer, Tanenhaus draws from troves of his private papers and extensive interviews with the man himself.”—The New York Times“In novelistic detail, Tanenhaus writes of William F. Buckley Jr.’s privileged childhood and education, his founding of the influential magazine National Review, his more than 30 years hosting the weekly TV show ‘Firing Line,’ and his ideas about government that changed the country.”—The Washington Post“[A] well-written, and intelligent take, both critical and admiring, on a complicated man. One relives a lot, and one learns a lot.”—The New Yorker “Fascinating, with new and startling revelations … It’s not just about Buckley; it’s about now, and how Buckleyism is more similar to Trumpism than I initially understood. It’s 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, and one that will lead to a lot of debate.”—Chronicles Magazine“This book, apparently 20 years in the making, is the product of immense learning and shows a rare familiarity with its subject and his times… . Tanenhaus is to be congratulated for his achievement.”—The Spectator World“Sam Tanenhaus’s Buckley is a magnificent achievement—a long, gripping, and enthralling account of the life of America’s premier conservative polemicist of the twentieth century. You cannot understand the rise of the conservative movement in modern America without understanding the life of William F. Buckley, Jr.”—Max Boot, author of Reagan: His Life and Legend“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: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s“Sam Tanenhaus has done more than produce an engrossing biography of one of the most significant political and journalistic figures of the second half of the twentieth century. He has illuminated the often ugly ideological origins of our present predicament.”—Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life“A stone-cold masterpiece … Buckley is a brilliant portrait of man, movement, and age.”—Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party“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: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century“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

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.