Buckley - by Sam Tanenhaus (Hardcover)

About the Book

"At age 25 in 1951, with the publication of God and Man at Yale, a scathing attack on his alma mater, William F. Buckley, Jr. instantly seized the public stage-and commanded it for the next half century, leading a new generation of activists and ideologues to the heights of political power while he himself attained unique fame and public influence. Ten years before his death in 2008, Buckley chose prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus to tell the full story of his life and times, granting him extensive interviews, entrâee to his intimate circle, and unrestricted access to his most private papers. Thus began a deep investigation into the vast and often hidden universe of Bill Buckley and the conservative revolution. Buckley vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases-founding editor of National Review, best-selling novelist and memoirist, jet-setting clubman and socialite, downhill skier and sailboat racer, wisecracking candidate for mayor of New York, flamboyant antagonist of James Baldwin and Gore Vidal, mentor and idol to hundreds who today populate the worlds of politics and media. Tanenhaus also reveals the private and at times secret life of Bill Buckley: his backstage collaborations with Senator Joseph McCarthy and Watergate felon Howard Hunt; thorny relationships with Presidents Nixon and Reagan; flirtations with financial ruin and legal censure-and, late in life, Buckley's lonely struggle to hold together a movement coming apart over AIDS, the culture wars, and the invasion of Iraq. Majestic in its sweep, lushly detailed, rich in ideas and argument, packed with news and revelations, Buckley is the definitive account of an American giant and the revolution he led"--

Book Synopsis

"A magnificent achievement--a long, gripping, and enthralling account of the life of America's premier conservative polemicist of the twentieth century."--Max Boot, author of Reagan: His Life and Legend

"A rich, immersive biography exposes the roots of the modern conservative movement through the life of the firebrand writer and commentator who shaped it."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

In 1951, with the publication of God and Man at Yale, a scathing attack on his alma mater, twenty-five-year-old William F. Buckley, Jr., seized the public stage--and commanded it for the next half century as he led a new generation of conservative activists and ideologues to the peak of political power and cultural influence.

Ten years before his death in 2008, Buckley chose prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus to tell the full, uncensored story of his life and times, granting him extensive interviews and exclusive access to his most private papers. Thus began a deep investigation into the vast and often hidden universe of Bill Buckley and the modern conservative revolution.

Buckley vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases: founding editor of National Review, the twentieth century's most influential political journal; syndicated columnist, Emmy-winning TV debater, and bestselling spy novelist; ally of Joseph McCarthy and Barry Goldwater; mentor to Ronald Reagan; game-changing candidate for mayor of New York.

Tanenhaus also has uncovered the darker trail of Bill Buckley's secret exploits, including CIA missions in Latin America, dark collusions with Watergate felon Howard Hunt, and Buckley's struggle in his last years to hold together a movement coming apart over the AIDS epidemic, culture wars, and the invasion of Iraq--even as his own media empire was unraveling.

At a crucial moment in American history, Buckley offers a gripping and powerfully relevant story about the birth of modern politics and those who shaped it.

Review Quotes

"Painstakingly researched and beautifully crafted, Buckley is a capacious and incisive history of the modern conservative movement's formative years, seen through the eyes of its intellectual leader--a man who, in Tanenhaus's hands, is enthralling and infuriating by turns, but never boring."--The Washington Post

"[A] well-written, and intelligent take, both critical and admiring, on a complicated man."--The New Yorker

"A biography not just of a prominent influencer but also of a potent movement . . . a milestone contribution to our understanding of the American Century."--The Boston Globe

"[Tanenhaus] is a gifted writer and a diligent scholar."--The Wall Street Journal

"Not so much a stranger to our times as a precursor to them . . . a rich chronicle."--New York Times Book Review

"Marvelous, decades-in-the-making . . . offers a deeply affectionate portrait of Buckley's personal life . . . [and] also methodically surfaces the darker strains of the movement."--The New Republic

"Fascinating, with new and startling revelations . . . about American conservatism as a whole."--The Weekly Dish

"An enjoyable and fascinating romp through American political and cultural life in much of the 20th century."--The Telegraph

"A magnificent, absorbing work about a man known as the father of postwar American conservatism, and one that will lead to a lot of debate."--Chronicles Magazine

"Shows a rare familiarity with its subject and his times. . . . Tanenhaus is to be congratulated for his achievement."--The Spectator World

"A lively, balanced and deeply researched book . . . engrossing."--The Guardian

"A chronicle of the life of a man but also a history of the era he helped to shape . . . worth the wait."--The Washington Free Beacon

"Buckley moves fast, propelled by Tanenhaus' prose, his jeweler's eye for fine detail, and the frankly incredible episodes he includes."--Unpopulist

"A grand biography . . . magnificent."--The Washington Monthly

"Tanenhaus gives us Buckley, his career and times in full, without idle praise or disapproval... The detail is meticulous, the feel for context assured and the ear ever open to a good story . . . Meticulous . . . unlikely to be bettered anytime soon."--The Financial Times

"Superb . . . Tanenhaus discovered some parts of the story that were largely unknown . . . fair and balanced story of a life of purpose, one that was actively lived and whose echoes are still felt today."--The Christian Science Monitor

"Runs to more than 1,000 pages--yet is not a word too long."--The Economist

"Monumental, honest, fair-minded, and spectacularly enlightening."--Foreign Affairs

"Stunning [A] stunning new biography . . . [Over] pages that fly by thanks to his lively writing, Tanenhaus chronicles Buckley's . . . sprawling career as a right-wing revolutionary."--Nicole Hemmer, Democracy Journal

"Unfurls a remarkable canvas . . . a vivid portrait of a singular man."--Law and Liberty

"William F. Buckley forever changed America, and Tanenhaus's Buckley will forever change how we understand America."--John Ganz, author of When the Clock Broke

"Sam Tanenhaus has done more than produce an engrossing biography of one of the most significant political and journalistic figures of the second half of the twentieth century. He has illuminated the often ugly ideological origins of our present predicament."--Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best

"A stone-cold masterpiece . . . Buckley is a brilliant portrait of man, movement, and age."--Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule and Ruin

"Buckley is all that a biography could and should be: penetrating, deeply researched, respectful but critical."--Beverly Gage, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of G-Man

"Writing with superb insight into celebrity culture, Tanenhaus nails Buckley for many lapses of judgment, while also revealing his countless acts of unpublicized generosity."--Richard Wightman Fox, author of Lincoln's Body

"Tanenhaus is clear-eyed about Buckley's many failures but also does justice to his eccentric charisma, humanity, and wit."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

About the Author

Sam Tanenhaus, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, is the author of the national bestsellers Whittaker Chambers: A Biography (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize) and The Death of Conservatism. His feature articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and many other publications in the United States and abroad.