The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism

CARLOS LOZADA, THE WASHINGTON POST

"Continetti seems less interested in the numbers of politics than in its ideas, and the tension between them is the driving force of The Right ... Continetti revisits [William F.] Buckley's greatest hits: how he pushed out the fringe elements of mid-century conservatism; how he helped usher in 'fusionism,' the blend of economic and cultural conservatism that Frank Meyer articulated in National Review; and how he 'mainstreamed' American conservatism ... Yet to his credit, Continetti does not canonize Buckley ... [Continetti and another conservative author] not only write history; they take solace in it. Their works can illuminate the paths forward for party and movement, though only to a point. Their works can illuminate the paths forward for party and movement, though only to a point. History, after all, is not an interested party. But it can be an interesting one."