What Is Conservatism?: A New Edition of the Classic by 12 Leading Conservatives

What Is Conservatism? (1964) is a conservative classic—as relevant today as it was a half century ago.

Just what is conservatism? Many people are groping for answers, especially as conservatives seem to retreat into factions—Tea Partiers, traditionalists, libertarians, social conservatives, neoconservatives, and on and on. But this illuminating book shows what unites conservatives even as it explores conservatism’s rich internal debate.

Edited by Frank S. Meyer, who popularized the idea of “fusionism” that became the basis for modern conservatism, What Is Conservatism? features brilliant essays by such leading lights as:

• F. A. Hayek, Nobel Prize–winning economist and author of The Road to Serfdom
• William F. Buckley Jr., founder of National Review and the man perhaps most responsible for the rise of modern conservatism
• Russell Kirk, whose seminal book The Conservative Mind gave the conservative movement its name
• M. Stanton Evans, author of the conservative movement’s central credo, the “Sharon Statement” (1960)

In a foreword to this new edition, #1 New York Times bestselling author and National Review contributing editor Jonah Goldberg explains the influence of What Is Conservatism? on conservative thought and the book’s relevance today.