The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right
Max Boot
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right
Max Boot
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Like many of the best memoirs of ideas, Boot’s story is one of conversion and de-conversion—of faith gained and then lost.
This is a decisive break with conservatism ...But the truly radical act in The Corrosion of Conservatism is its clear-eyed excavation of the movement’s history.
Boot’s faux confessional is instructive [regarding the stubborn absurdities of our time] since despite his dizzying reversals and non-sequiturs, he ends up arguing that there is a direct line to be drawn from William F. Buckley to Donald J. Trump—the latter just corroded (as opposed to doubled down on) the former. Likewise, he admits America has always been beset by misogyny, racism, and an unstable class imbalance, but argues that the answer is to restore the same center-right politics that built and maintained this crisis-ridden order.
He lays out his beliefs and asks which party represents him. His conclusion is none as currently constituted, but he hopes a new center right will emerge from the ashes of today’s Republican Party. Readers across the political spectrum will appreciate Boot’s thoughtful personal and political analysis..
As much autobiography of a conservative as a political book, the narrative discusses Boot’s arrival in Los Angeles from the Soviet Union at age 7 and his early awakenings to politics.
In this memoir-manifesto, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Boot...frankly explores his tumultuous relationship with the Republican Party.