Tag: Socialism

Topics

Books

Other People’s Nerve

– “Other People's Nerve” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, May 1943.
Excerpt: The January-February and March-April issues of  Partisan Review have featured a discussion of the “New Failure of Nerve.”  It has been interesting, provocative… More

James Burnham’s “The Machiavellians”

– “James Burnham's 'The Machiavellians'" (as William Ferry), Enquiry, July 1943. (A review of The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham.)
Excerpt: The atmosphere, these days, contains a good deal more of what is called ‘realism’ than is usually considered desirable for healthy progress. In some measure this is a… More

The Indefatigable Fabian

– “The Indefatigable Fabian,” New York Times Book Review, August 24, 1952. (A review of Beatrice Webb's Diaries: 1912-1924, edited by Margaret I. Cole.)

Notes on Margate

– “Notes on Margate,” The New Leader, October 24, 1955.

The Heterodox Conformist

– “The Heterodox Conformist,” Encounter, April 1956.  (A review of Socialism and the New Despotism by R. H. S. Crossman.)

Socialism without Socialists

– “Socialism without Socialists,” Encounter, August 1956. (A review of Twentieth Century Socialism by Socialist Union.)

India to Us

– “India to Us,” Encounter, November 1956.  (A review of Conversations with Mr. Nehru by Tibor Mende.)

Keeping Up with Ourselves

– “Keeping Up with Ourselves,” Yale Review, June 1960. (A review of The End of Ideology by Daniel Bell.)
Excerpt: There is no question that terribly important things have happened to America in recent decades; but “the end of ideology” is not one of them, and Mr. Bell’s title… More

Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.

– “Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.,” Encounter, August 1963.  (A review of New Statesmanship by Edward Hyams and The New Statesman by Edward Hyams.)

The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange

– “The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange” (with Irving Howe), Commentary, January 1969.
Excerpt: Behind Mr. Howe’s perspective there lies an unexamined premise: that there is something unnatural in an intellectual being anything but politically radical, a man of the… More

Barbarians from Within

– “Barbarians from Within,” Fortune, March 1970. (A review of Decline of Radicalism: Reflections on America Today by Daniel Boorstin.)

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

Reflections of a Neoconservative

– “Reflections of a Neoconservative,” Partisan Review, no. 4, 1984.
Excerpt: Even to raise that question, of course, is to define oneself as some kind of conservative, if only an incipient kind of conservative. Just what “conservative” means,… More

New York Intellectuals

– “New York Intellectuals,” Washington Times, April 7, 1986. (A review of Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World by Alexander Bloom.)

What Every Soviet Leader Wants

– "What Every Soviet Leader Wants," Fortune, September 1, 1986. (A review of The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline by Seweryn Bialer.)
Excerpt: What should American policy toward the Soviet Union be? Nobody can answer that question without confronting another: What are Soviet intentions? I am not referring to short-term,… More

Liberalism and American Jews

– "Liberalism and American Jews," Commentary, October 1988.
Excerpt: How long this condition of “cognitive dissonance” will continue, and where it will end, is not now foreseeable. Everything will depend on how the Western democracies themselves… More

Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective

– “Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective,” Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties, ed. Peter Collier and David Horowitz (New York: Madison Books, 1989).

Interview with Tom Bethell

– Interview with Tom Bethell, American Spectator, December 1991.
Excerpt: “The Democratic party is falling apart,” he said. “Which is lucky for us. It’s completely out of sync with the public. What’s happening to the… More

My Cold War

– “My Cold War,” The National Interest, Spring 1993.
Excerpt: The truth is that, by the time I came to Encounter, anticommunism or anti-Marxism or anti-Marxist-Leninism or anti-totalitarianism had pretty much ceased to interest me as an… More

Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday

– Christopher DeMuth, George Will, Walter Berns, Midge Decter, Charles Krauthammer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William Kristol, "Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday," The American Enterprise Institute, January 21, 1995.
Excerpt: If what is called neoconservatism is by now an institution of sorts, it truly is what Emerson said institutions are–the lengthening shadow of a man. And the man is Irving… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

An Old Friend’s Image

– Earl Raab, "An Old Friend's Image," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol’s Moral Realism

– Philip Selznick, "Irving Kristol's Moral Realism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Letter from Paris

– H. J. Kaplan, "A Letter from Paris," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Booknotes

– "Booknotes" (An interview with Brian Lamb), September 5, 1995.

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Great Persuader by James W. Ceaser

– James W. Ceaser, "The Great Persuader," The Weekly Standard, February 14, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Of public intellectuals so conceived, there have been only a handful: George Bancroft, whose famous History of the United States and orations sketched out much of the Jacksonian… More

Three Cheers

– Jeremy Rozansky, "Three Cheers," Counterpoint, Winter 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
“I myself have accepted the term, perhaps, because, having been named Irving, I am relatively indifferent to baptismal caprice.” So said Irving Kristol of having been called a… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Essays

Other People’s Nerve

– “Other People's Nerve” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, May 1943.
Excerpt: The January-February and March-April issues of  Partisan Review have featured a discussion of the “New Failure of Nerve.”  It has been interesting, provocative… More

James Burnham’s “The Machiavellians”

– “James Burnham's 'The Machiavellians'" (as William Ferry), Enquiry, July 1943. (A review of The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham.)
Excerpt: The atmosphere, these days, contains a good deal more of what is called ‘realism’ than is usually considered desirable for healthy progress. In some measure this is a… More

The Indefatigable Fabian

– “The Indefatigable Fabian,” New York Times Book Review, August 24, 1952. (A review of Beatrice Webb's Diaries: 1912-1924, edited by Margaret I. Cole.)

Notes on Margate

– “Notes on Margate,” The New Leader, October 24, 1955.

The Heterodox Conformist

– “The Heterodox Conformist,” Encounter, April 1956.  (A review of Socialism and the New Despotism by R. H. S. Crossman.)

Socialism without Socialists

– “Socialism without Socialists,” Encounter, August 1956. (A review of Twentieth Century Socialism by Socialist Union.)

India to Us

– “India to Us,” Encounter, November 1956.  (A review of Conversations with Mr. Nehru by Tibor Mende.)

Keeping Up with Ourselves

– “Keeping Up with Ourselves,” Yale Review, June 1960. (A review of The End of Ideology by Daniel Bell.)
Excerpt: There is no question that terribly important things have happened to America in recent decades; but “the end of ideology” is not one of them, and Mr. Bell’s title… More

Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.

– “Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.,” Encounter, August 1963.  (A review of New Statesmanship by Edward Hyams and The New Statesman by Edward Hyams.)

The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange

– “The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange” (with Irving Howe), Commentary, January 1969.
Excerpt: Behind Mr. Howe’s perspective there lies an unexamined premise: that there is something unnatural in an intellectual being anything but politically radical, a man of the… More

Barbarians from Within

– “Barbarians from Within,” Fortune, March 1970. (A review of Decline of Radicalism: Reflections on America Today by Daniel Boorstin.)

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

Reflections of a Neoconservative

– “Reflections of a Neoconservative,” Partisan Review, no. 4, 1984.
Excerpt: Even to raise that question, of course, is to define oneself as some kind of conservative, if only an incipient kind of conservative. Just what “conservative” means,… More

New York Intellectuals

– “New York Intellectuals,” Washington Times, April 7, 1986. (A review of Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World by Alexander Bloom.)

What Every Soviet Leader Wants

– "What Every Soviet Leader Wants," Fortune, September 1, 1986. (A review of The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline by Seweryn Bialer.)
Excerpt: What should American policy toward the Soviet Union be? Nobody can answer that question without confronting another: What are Soviet intentions? I am not referring to short-term,… More

Liberalism and American Jews

– "Liberalism and American Jews," Commentary, October 1988.
Excerpt: How long this condition of “cognitive dissonance” will continue, and where it will end, is not now foreseeable. Everything will depend on how the Western democracies themselves… More

Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective

– “Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective,” Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties, ed. Peter Collier and David Horowitz (New York: Madison Books, 1989).

Interview with Tom Bethell

– Interview with Tom Bethell, American Spectator, December 1991.
Excerpt: “The Democratic party is falling apart,” he said. “Which is lucky for us. It’s completely out of sync with the public. What’s happening to the… More

My Cold War

– “My Cold War,” The National Interest, Spring 1993.
Excerpt: The truth is that, by the time I came to Encounter, anticommunism or anti-Marxism or anti-Marxist-Leninism or anti-totalitarianism had pretty much ceased to interest me as an… More

Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday

– Christopher DeMuth, George Will, Walter Berns, Midge Decter, Charles Krauthammer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William Kristol, "Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday," The American Enterprise Institute, January 21, 1995.
Excerpt: If what is called neoconservatism is by now an institution of sorts, it truly is what Emerson said institutions are–the lengthening shadow of a man. And the man is Irving… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

An Old Friend’s Image

– Earl Raab, "An Old Friend's Image," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol’s Moral Realism

– Philip Selznick, "Irving Kristol's Moral Realism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Letter from Paris

– H. J. Kaplan, "A Letter from Paris," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Booknotes

– "Booknotes" (An interview with Brian Lamb), September 5, 1995.

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Great Persuader by James W. Ceaser

– James W. Ceaser, "The Great Persuader," The Weekly Standard, February 14, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Of public intellectuals so conceived, there have been only a handful: George Bancroft, whose famous History of the United States and orations sketched out much of the Jacksonian… More

Three Cheers

– Jeremy Rozansky, "Three Cheers," Counterpoint, Winter 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
“I myself have accepted the term, perhaps, because, having been named Irving, I am relatively indifferent to baptismal caprice.” So said Irving Kristol of having been called a… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Commentary

Other People’s Nerve

– “Other People's Nerve” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, May 1943.
Excerpt: The January-February and March-April issues of  Partisan Review have featured a discussion of the “New Failure of Nerve.”  It has been interesting, provocative… More

James Burnham’s “The Machiavellians”

– “James Burnham's 'The Machiavellians'" (as William Ferry), Enquiry, July 1943. (A review of The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham.)
Excerpt: The atmosphere, these days, contains a good deal more of what is called ‘realism’ than is usually considered desirable for healthy progress. In some measure this is a… More

The Indefatigable Fabian

– “The Indefatigable Fabian,” New York Times Book Review, August 24, 1952. (A review of Beatrice Webb's Diaries: 1912-1924, edited by Margaret I. Cole.)

Notes on Margate

– “Notes on Margate,” The New Leader, October 24, 1955.

The Heterodox Conformist

– “The Heterodox Conformist,” Encounter, April 1956.  (A review of Socialism and the New Despotism by R. H. S. Crossman.)

Socialism without Socialists

– “Socialism without Socialists,” Encounter, August 1956. (A review of Twentieth Century Socialism by Socialist Union.)

India to Us

– “India to Us,” Encounter, November 1956.  (A review of Conversations with Mr. Nehru by Tibor Mende.)

Keeping Up with Ourselves

– “Keeping Up with Ourselves,” Yale Review, June 1960. (A review of The End of Ideology by Daniel Bell.)
Excerpt: There is no question that terribly important things have happened to America in recent decades; but “the end of ideology” is not one of them, and Mr. Bell’s title… More

Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.

– “Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.,” Encounter, August 1963.  (A review of New Statesmanship by Edward Hyams and The New Statesman by Edward Hyams.)

The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange

– “The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange” (with Irving Howe), Commentary, January 1969.
Excerpt: Behind Mr. Howe’s perspective there lies an unexamined premise: that there is something unnatural in an intellectual being anything but politically radical, a man of the… More

Barbarians from Within

– “Barbarians from Within,” Fortune, March 1970. (A review of Decline of Radicalism: Reflections on America Today by Daniel Boorstin.)

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

Reflections of a Neoconservative

– “Reflections of a Neoconservative,” Partisan Review, no. 4, 1984.
Excerpt: Even to raise that question, of course, is to define oneself as some kind of conservative, if only an incipient kind of conservative. Just what “conservative” means,… More

New York Intellectuals

– “New York Intellectuals,” Washington Times, April 7, 1986. (A review of Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World by Alexander Bloom.)

What Every Soviet Leader Wants

– "What Every Soviet Leader Wants," Fortune, September 1, 1986. (A review of The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline by Seweryn Bialer.)
Excerpt: What should American policy toward the Soviet Union be? Nobody can answer that question without confronting another: What are Soviet intentions? I am not referring to short-term,… More

Liberalism and American Jews

– "Liberalism and American Jews," Commentary, October 1988.
Excerpt: How long this condition of “cognitive dissonance” will continue, and where it will end, is not now foreseeable. Everything will depend on how the Western democracies themselves… More

Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective

– “Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective,” Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties, ed. Peter Collier and David Horowitz (New York: Madison Books, 1989).

Interview with Tom Bethell

– Interview with Tom Bethell, American Spectator, December 1991.
Excerpt: “The Democratic party is falling apart,” he said. “Which is lucky for us. It’s completely out of sync with the public. What’s happening to the… More

My Cold War

– “My Cold War,” The National Interest, Spring 1993.
Excerpt: The truth is that, by the time I came to Encounter, anticommunism or anti-Marxism or anti-Marxist-Leninism or anti-totalitarianism had pretty much ceased to interest me as an… More

Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday

– Christopher DeMuth, George Will, Walter Berns, Midge Decter, Charles Krauthammer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William Kristol, "Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday," The American Enterprise Institute, January 21, 1995.
Excerpt: If what is called neoconservatism is by now an institution of sorts, it truly is what Emerson said institutions are–the lengthening shadow of a man. And the man is Irving… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

An Old Friend’s Image

– Earl Raab, "An Old Friend's Image," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol’s Moral Realism

– Philip Selznick, "Irving Kristol's Moral Realism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Letter from Paris

– H. J. Kaplan, "A Letter from Paris," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Booknotes

– "Booknotes" (An interview with Brian Lamb), September 5, 1995.

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Great Persuader by James W. Ceaser

– James W. Ceaser, "The Great Persuader," The Weekly Standard, February 14, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Of public intellectuals so conceived, there have been only a handful: George Bancroft, whose famous History of the United States and orations sketched out much of the Jacksonian… More

Three Cheers

– Jeremy Rozansky, "Three Cheers," Counterpoint, Winter 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
“I myself have accepted the term, perhaps, because, having been named Irving, I am relatively indifferent to baptismal caprice.” So said Irving Kristol of having been called a… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Multimedia

Other People’s Nerve

– “Other People's Nerve” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, May 1943.
Excerpt: The January-February and March-April issues of  Partisan Review have featured a discussion of the “New Failure of Nerve.”  It has been interesting, provocative… More

James Burnham’s “The Machiavellians”

– “James Burnham's 'The Machiavellians'" (as William Ferry), Enquiry, July 1943. (A review of The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham.)
Excerpt: The atmosphere, these days, contains a good deal more of what is called ‘realism’ than is usually considered desirable for healthy progress. In some measure this is a… More

The Indefatigable Fabian

– “The Indefatigable Fabian,” New York Times Book Review, August 24, 1952. (A review of Beatrice Webb's Diaries: 1912-1924, edited by Margaret I. Cole.)

Notes on Margate

– “Notes on Margate,” The New Leader, October 24, 1955.

The Heterodox Conformist

– “The Heterodox Conformist,” Encounter, April 1956.  (A review of Socialism and the New Despotism by R. H. S. Crossman.)

Socialism without Socialists

– “Socialism without Socialists,” Encounter, August 1956. (A review of Twentieth Century Socialism by Socialist Union.)

India to Us

– “India to Us,” Encounter, November 1956.  (A review of Conversations with Mr. Nehru by Tibor Mende.)

Keeping Up with Ourselves

– “Keeping Up with Ourselves,” Yale Review, June 1960. (A review of The End of Ideology by Daniel Bell.)
Excerpt: There is no question that terribly important things have happened to America in recent decades; but “the end of ideology” is not one of them, and Mr. Bell’s title… More

Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.

– “Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.,” Encounter, August 1963.  (A review of New Statesmanship by Edward Hyams and The New Statesman by Edward Hyams.)

The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange

– “The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange” (with Irving Howe), Commentary, January 1969.
Excerpt: Behind Mr. Howe’s perspective there lies an unexamined premise: that there is something unnatural in an intellectual being anything but politically radical, a man of the… More

Barbarians from Within

– “Barbarians from Within,” Fortune, March 1970. (A review of Decline of Radicalism: Reflections on America Today by Daniel Boorstin.)

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

Reflections of a Neoconservative

– “Reflections of a Neoconservative,” Partisan Review, no. 4, 1984.
Excerpt: Even to raise that question, of course, is to define oneself as some kind of conservative, if only an incipient kind of conservative. Just what “conservative” means,… More

New York Intellectuals

– “New York Intellectuals,” Washington Times, April 7, 1986. (A review of Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World by Alexander Bloom.)

What Every Soviet Leader Wants

– "What Every Soviet Leader Wants," Fortune, September 1, 1986. (A review of The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline by Seweryn Bialer.)
Excerpt: What should American policy toward the Soviet Union be? Nobody can answer that question without confronting another: What are Soviet intentions? I am not referring to short-term,… More

Liberalism and American Jews

– "Liberalism and American Jews," Commentary, October 1988.
Excerpt: How long this condition of “cognitive dissonance” will continue, and where it will end, is not now foreseeable. Everything will depend on how the Western democracies themselves… More

Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective

– “Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective,” Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties, ed. Peter Collier and David Horowitz (New York: Madison Books, 1989).

Interview with Tom Bethell

– Interview with Tom Bethell, American Spectator, December 1991.
Excerpt: “The Democratic party is falling apart,” he said. “Which is lucky for us. It’s completely out of sync with the public. What’s happening to the… More

My Cold War

– “My Cold War,” The National Interest, Spring 1993.
Excerpt: The truth is that, by the time I came to Encounter, anticommunism or anti-Marxism or anti-Marxist-Leninism or anti-totalitarianism had pretty much ceased to interest me as an… More

Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday

– Christopher DeMuth, George Will, Walter Berns, Midge Decter, Charles Krauthammer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William Kristol, "Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday," The American Enterprise Institute, January 21, 1995.
Excerpt: If what is called neoconservatism is by now an institution of sorts, it truly is what Emerson said institutions are–the lengthening shadow of a man. And the man is Irving… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

An Old Friend’s Image

– Earl Raab, "An Old Friend's Image," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol’s Moral Realism

– Philip Selznick, "Irving Kristol's Moral Realism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Letter from Paris

– H. J. Kaplan, "A Letter from Paris," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Booknotes

– "Booknotes" (An interview with Brian Lamb), September 5, 1995.

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Great Persuader by James W. Ceaser

– James W. Ceaser, "The Great Persuader," The Weekly Standard, February 14, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Of public intellectuals so conceived, there have been only a handful: George Bancroft, whose famous History of the United States and orations sketched out much of the Jacksonian… More

Three Cheers

– Jeremy Rozansky, "Three Cheers," Counterpoint, Winter 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
“I myself have accepted the term, perhaps, because, having been named Irving, I am relatively indifferent to baptismal caprice.” So said Irving Kristol of having been called a… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More

Teaching

Other People’s Nerve

– “Other People's Nerve” (as William Ferry), Enquiry, May 1943.
Excerpt: The January-February and March-April issues of  Partisan Review have featured a discussion of the “New Failure of Nerve.”  It has been interesting, provocative… More

James Burnham’s “The Machiavellians”

– “James Burnham's 'The Machiavellians'" (as William Ferry), Enquiry, July 1943. (A review of The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham.)
Excerpt: The atmosphere, these days, contains a good deal more of what is called ‘realism’ than is usually considered desirable for healthy progress. In some measure this is a… More

The Indefatigable Fabian

– “The Indefatigable Fabian,” New York Times Book Review, August 24, 1952. (A review of Beatrice Webb's Diaries: 1912-1924, edited by Margaret I. Cole.)

Notes on Margate

– “Notes on Margate,” The New Leader, October 24, 1955.

The Heterodox Conformist

– “The Heterodox Conformist,” Encounter, April 1956.  (A review of Socialism and the New Despotism by R. H. S. Crossman.)

Socialism without Socialists

– “Socialism without Socialists,” Encounter, August 1956. (A review of Twentieth Century Socialism by Socialist Union.)

India to Us

– “India to Us,” Encounter, November 1956.  (A review of Conversations with Mr. Nehru by Tibor Mende.)

Keeping Up with Ourselves

– “Keeping Up with Ourselves,” Yale Review, June 1960. (A review of The End of Ideology by Daniel Bell.)
Excerpt: There is no question that terribly important things have happened to America in recent decades; but “the end of ideology” is not one of them, and Mr. Bell’s title… More

Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.

– “Learning to Live with the N.S. & N.,” Encounter, August 1963.  (A review of New Statesmanship by Edward Hyams and The New Statesman by Edward Hyams.)

The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange

– “The New York Intellectuals: An Exchange” (with Irving Howe), Commentary, January 1969.
Excerpt: Behind Mr. Howe’s perspective there lies an unexamined premise: that there is something unnatural in an intellectual being anything but politically radical, a man of the… More

Barbarians from Within

– “Barbarians from Within,” Fortune, March 1970. (A review of Decline of Radicalism: Reflections on America Today by Daniel Boorstin.)

Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism

– "Capitalism, Socialism and Nihilism," The Public Interest, Spring 1973.
Excerpt: WHENEVER and wherever defenders of “free enterprise,” “individual liberty,” and “a free society” assemble, these days, one senses a peculiar kind of nostalgia in the… More

How Equal Can We Be?

– “How Equal Can We Be?” (An interview), Business and Society Review, Fall 1977.

Two Cheers for Capitalism

– New York: Basic Books, March 1978.
PART ONE: The Enemy of Being is Having 1. Corporate Capitalism in America 2. Business and the “New Class” 3. Frustrations of Affluence 4. Ideology and Food 5. The… More

The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism

– “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism and Socialism,” in Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, ed. Michael Novak (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1979).

Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer

– Peter Steinfels, "Irving Kristol, Standard-Bearer," a chapter in The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979).

Kristol’s Red Persuasion?

– Robert Lekachman, "Kristol's Red Persuasion?" The Nation, October 29, 1983. (A review of Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: In sum, at their worst these polemics are diatribes against the world supposedly made by liberals and those to the left of them. At their best, they convey much thoughtful, somber… More

Reflections of a Neoconservative

– “Reflections of a Neoconservative,” Partisan Review, no. 4, 1984.
Excerpt: Even to raise that question, of course, is to define oneself as some kind of conservative, if only an incipient kind of conservative. Just what “conservative” means,… More

New York Intellectuals

– “New York Intellectuals,” Washington Times, April 7, 1986. (A review of Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World by Alexander Bloom.)

What Every Soviet Leader Wants

– "What Every Soviet Leader Wants," Fortune, September 1, 1986. (A review of The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline by Seweryn Bialer.)
Excerpt: What should American policy toward the Soviet Union be? Nobody can answer that question without confronting another: What are Soviet intentions? I am not referring to short-term,… More

Liberalism and American Jews

– "Liberalism and American Jews," Commentary, October 1988.
Excerpt: How long this condition of “cognitive dissonance” will continue, and where it will end, is not now foreseeable. Everything will depend on how the Western democracies themselves… More

Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective

– “Second Thoughts: A Generational Perspective,” Second Thoughts: Former Radicals Look Back at the Sixties, ed. Peter Collier and David Horowitz (New York: Madison Books, 1989).

Interview with Tom Bethell

– Interview with Tom Bethell, American Spectator, December 1991.
Excerpt: “The Democratic party is falling apart,” he said. “Which is lucky for us. It’s completely out of sync with the public. What’s happening to the… More

My Cold War

– “My Cold War,” The National Interest, Spring 1993.
Excerpt: The truth is that, by the time I came to Encounter, anticommunism or anti-Marxism or anti-Marxist-Leninism or anti-totalitarianism had pretty much ceased to interest me as an… More

Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday

– Christopher DeMuth, George Will, Walter Berns, Midge Decter, Charles Krauthammer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William Kristol, "Toasts and Remarks Delivered at a Dinner in Honor of Irving Kristol on His Seventy-fifth Birthday," The American Enterprise Institute, January 21, 1995.
Excerpt: If what is called neoconservatism is by now an institution of sorts, it truly is what Emerson said institutions are–the lengthening shadow of a man. And the man is Irving… More

A Man without Footnotes

– Nathan Glazer, "A Man without Footnotes," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

An Old Friend’s Image

– Earl Raab, "An Old Friend's Image," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol’s Moral Realism

– Philip Selznick, "Irving Kristol's Moral Realism," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Irving Kristol in London

– Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, "Irving Kristol in London," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

A Letter from Paris

– H. J. Kaplan, "A Letter from Paris," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

The Common Man’s Uncommon Intellectual

– Michael S. Joyce, "The Common Man's Uncommon Intellectual," in The Neoconservative Imagination: Essays in Honor of Irving Kristol, ed. Christopher DeMuth and William Kristol, (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1995).

Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

– New York: Free Press, 1995.
SECTION I 1. An Autobiographical Memoir   SECTION II: RACE, SEX, AND FAMILY 2. Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 3. The Tragedy of “Multiculturalism” 4.… More

Booknotes

– "Booknotes" (An interview with Brian Lamb), September 5, 1995.

An Autobiographical Memoir

– “An Autobiographical Memoir” from Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, (New York, NY: The Free Press, 1995).
Excerpt: Is there such a thing as a “neo” gene? I ask that question because, looking back over a lifetime of my opinions, I am struck by the fact that they all quality as “neo.” I… More

Godfather

– Wilfred M. McClay, "Godfather," Commentary, February 1996. (A review of Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Perhaps, then, there is another sense in which Kristol deserves the appellation of “godfather.” Ever since the appearance of Mario Puzo’s book of that title, there has been a… More

The Family Way

– Jacob Weisberg, "The Family Way," The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996.
Excerpt: Someone imperfectly versed in the idiosyncrasies of American political life might have found Irving Kristol’s seventy-fifth-birthday party a bit peculiar. Gathered to… More

Arguing the World

– "Arguing the World" (A documentary), written and directed by Joseph Dorman, January 7, 1998.

Arguing the World

– Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in Their Own Words, ed. Joseph Dorman (New York: Free Press, 2000). (Transcript of TV interviews from 1998.)

Farewell to the Godfather

– Christopher Hitchens, "Farewell to the Godfather," Slate, September 20, 2009.
Excerpt: The neoconservative faction, or should we say movement, is generally secular and often associated with the name of Leo Strauss. Kristol was one of those who never minded saying… More

Three Cheers for Irving by David Brooks

– David Brooks, "Three Cheers for Irving," The New York Times, September 21, 2009.
Excerpt: Kristol championed capitalism and wrote brilliantly about Adam Smith. But like Smith, he could only give two cheers for capitalism, because the system of creative destruction has… More

The Interested Man

– Nathan Glazer, "The Interested Man," The New Republic, November 4, 2009.
Excerpt: I think back to these early days because it seems to me that Irving was all of a piece, almost from the beginning. No comment on his passing has failed to mention the young… More

The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol by Eric Cohen

– Eric Cohen, "The Moral Realism of Irving Kristol," National Affairs, Winter 2010.
Excerpt: Neoconservatism was, as Kristol always described it, merely a “­persuasion” that tried to “imagine the world as it might be,” but also to “live and… More

Irving Kristol’s Brute Reason

– Paul Berman, "Irving Kristol's Brute Reason," New York Times Book Review, January 30, 2011.
Excerpt: And, in this new spirit, he plunged into his magnum opus, which, instead of a book, was the constructing of something called “neoconservatism.” This was intended to be a new… More

Irving Kristol’s Neoconservative Persuasion

– Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Irving Kristol's Neoconservative Persuasion," Commentary, February 2011.
Excerpt: Much has been made of the consistency of tone in his writings—bold and speculative but never dogmatic or academic, always personal, witty, ironic. That tone is not only a matter… More

The Neoconservative Persuasion

– Amy Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Irwin Stelzer, Leon Kass, and William Kristol, "The Neoconservative Persuasion" (A panel discussion), February 2, 2011.

The Great Persuader by James W. Ceaser

– James W. Ceaser, "The Great Persuader," The Weekly Standard, February 14, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Of public intellectuals so conceived, there have been only a handful: George Bancroft, whose famous History of the United States and orations sketched out much of the Jacksonian… More

Three Cheers

– Jeremy Rozansky, "Three Cheers," Counterpoint, Winter 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
“I myself have accepted the term, perhaps, because, having been named Irving, I am relatively indifferent to baptismal caprice.” So said Irving Kristol of having been called a… More

The Flexible Temperament

– James Piereson, "The Flexible Temperament," The New Criterion, March 2010. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: Kristol’s intellectual contribution was to bring these fundamental ideas into contemporary debates about politics and public policy through his writings in outlets like the Wall… More

Ideas Rule the World

– Franklin Foer, "Ideas Rule the World," The New Republic, March 17, 2011. (A review of The Neoconservative Persuasion by Irving Kristol.)
Excerpt: We are still living in the world of total ideological combat that Irving Kristol created (or re-created, since it was also the world into which he was born) in the course of… More

The Brooklyn Burkeans

– Jonathan Bronitsky, "The Brooklyn Burkeans," National Affairs, Winter 2014.
Excerpt: By the time Kristol and Himmelfarb moved back home to New York in 1958, they were entrenched in the classical-liberal tradition and, therefore, primed to react negatively to the… More