Before the Storm - by Rick Perlstein (Paperback)

About the Book

In an astute and surprising history of the 1960s as the cradle of the conservative movement, Perlstein's gutsy narrative history profiles the rise of Barry Goldwater, the rich, handsome Arizona Republican who scorned the federal bureaucracy and despised liberals on sight.16 pp. of photos.

Book Synopsis

Acclaimed historian Rick Perlstein chronicles the rise of the conservative movement in the liberal 1960s. At the heart of the story is Barry Goldwater, the renegade Republican from Arizona who loathed federal government, despised liberals, and mocked "peaceful coexistence" with the USSR. Perlstein's narrative shines a light on a whole world of conservatives and their antagonists, including William F. Buckley, Nelson Rockefeller, and Bill Moyers. Vividly written, Before the Storm is an essential book about the 1960s.

Review Quotes

"Combining prodigious research with journalistic flair, Rick Perlstein. . .has produced a detailed and dramatic narrative of the rise of the modern right...It's an amazing story, and Perlstein, a man of the left, does it justice."--William Kristol, "The New York Times Book Review"
"Daring, virtuosic writing, and encyclopedic mastery make . . . [Before the Storm] one of the most stylish, riveting achievements in narrative history to appear in years . . . An exciting volume, an outstanding debut. It goes beyond conservatism. It ups the ante on what popular history can, and should, do."--Mark Greif, "The Village Voice"

About the Author

Rick Perlstein is the bestselling author of The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan and Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. His reviews, reporting, and essays have appeared in the New York Times, New York Observer, New Republic, Washington Post, London Review of Books, Columbia Journalism Review, the Nation, and the New Yorker. He has received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for independent scholars. He lives in Chicago.

www.rickperlstein.org