God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom”

Regnery Publishing, 1951.

Summary: “For God, for country, and for Yale… in that order,” William F. Buckley Jr. wrote as the dedication of his monumental work—a compendium of knowledge that still resonates within the halls of the Ivy League university that tried to cover up its political and… More

McCarthy and His Enemies

With L. Brent Bozell, Regnery Publishing, 1954.

Summary: An study of the record and purpose of the controversial Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

Up from Liberalism

McDowell, Obolensky, 1959.

Excerpt: I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to… More

Rumbles Left and Right: A Book About Troubling People and Ideas

G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1963.

Summary: WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY’S newest book deals mostly with people people on the political left, and on the political right, who have made and are making news. Here, Russell Kirk says in his Introduction, “is social criticism worthy of survival in its own right.” If the… More

The Unmaking of a Mayor

Viking Press, 1966.

Summary: John V. Lindsay was elected mayor of New York City in 1965. But that year’s mayoral campaign will forever be known as the Buckley campaign. “As a candidate,” Joseph Alsop conceded, “Buckley was cleverer and livelier than either of his rivals.” And Murray Kempton… More

Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?

Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1970.

Summary: If America has been an unsympathetic environment for conservatism, conservatism has, nevertheless, demonstrated an extraordinary tenacity in politics, literature, law, religion, economics, and social thought. Conservatism forms a dissent within the liberal tradition, and also… More

Inveighing We Will Go

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972.

Summary: This is the beloved 1972 collection of Bill Buckley’s then-most-recent columns, articles, and so much more, captured at the height of his cultural power and influence. From his first-hand reports on Richard Nixon’’s trip to China to an evaluation of Helen Gurley… More

Execution Eve And Other Contemporary Ballads
Summary: In Mr. Buckley’s fifth volume of collected material published by Putnam, he is in fine, inimitable form. He calls his book, with a wry look at the deteriorating strategic situation in the Middle East, in Southeast Asia; with the evanescence of democracy in Latin America and… More

Overdrive: A Personal Documentary

Doubleday, 1983.

Summary: The acerbic editor-cum-political commentator-cum-novelist reveals many of the less-well-known facets of his energetic life in a chronicle that covers seven days and numerous activities, people, and opinions.

Gratitude: Reflections on What We Owe to Our Country

Random House, 1990.

Summary: Buckley contends that what Americans owe their country is national service, and offers a plan for universal voluntary service as well as suggestions as to how a plan such as this might be structured and administered.

In Search of Anti-Semitism

Continuum International, 1992.

Summary: A thought-provoking extended essay first published in National Review–along with responses by distinguished commentators–on the the ways anti-Semitism reveals itself through the work of some of America’s leading journalists and intellectuals. The reactions are… More

Happy Days Were Here Again: Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist

Random House, 1993.

Summary: In Happy Days Were Here Again, William F. Buckley Jr. offers a collection of his finest essays from the latter part of his long career. Sometimes celebrating, sometimes assailing, Buckley takes on opponents ranging from Mikhail Gorbachev to Carl Sagan to Leonard Bernstein;… More

Buckley: The Right Word

Random House, 1996.

Summary: Buckley’s provocative observations on the use and abuse of English, gathered for the first time in a single volume – a “veritable cornucopia of language and logic that belongs in every library” (Library Journal). Edited by Samuel S. Vaughan.

Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith

Doubleday, 1997.

Summary: This is the story of one man’s faith, told with unrivaled reflection and candor. William F. Buckley, Jr., was raised a Catholic. As the world plunged into war, and as social mores changed dramatically around him, Buckley’s faith — a most essential part of his… More

Let Us Talk of Many Things: The Collected Speeches

Forum, 2000.

Summary: Let Us Talk of Many Things, first published in 2000, brings together Buckley’s finest speeches from throughout his career. Always deliciously provocative, they cover a vast range of topics: the end of the Cold War, manners in politics, the failure of the War on Drugs, the… More

Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography

Regnery Publishing, 2004.

Summary: Here is a unique collection of fifty years of essays chosen to form an unconventional autobiography and capstone to his remarkable career as the conservative writer par excellence. Included are essays that capture Buckley’s joyful boyhood and family life; his years as a… More

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Wiley, John & Sons, 2004.

Summary: The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 was the turning point in the struggle against Communism in Eastern Europe. In The Fall of the Berlin Wall, renowned author and conservative pioneer William F. Buckley Jr. explains why the wall was built, reveals its devastating impact… More

Flying High: Remembering Barry Goldwater

Basic Books, 2008.

Summary: In Flying High, William F. Buckley Jr. offers his lyrical remembrance of a singular era in American politics, and a tribute to the modern Conservative movement’s first presidential standard-bearer, Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was in many ways the perfect candidate:… More

The Reagan I Knew

Basic Books, 2008.

Summary: In The Regan I Knew, the late William F. Buckley Jr. offers a reminiscence of thirty years of friendship with the man who brought the American conservative movement out of the political wilderness and into the White House. Ronald Reagan and Buckley were political allies and close… More

Buckley vs. Vidal: The Historic 1968 ABC News Debates

Devault-Graves Digital Editions, 2015.

Summary: Conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. and liberal author Gore Vidal exploded onto the political scene during the presidential conventions of 1968 when they debated 11 times on ABC News as a part of the network’s “unconventional convention coverage.” The debates were… More