They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons
Author: Jacob Heilbrunn
From its origins in 1930s Marxism to its unprecedented influence on George W. Bush's administration, neoconservatism has become one of the most powerful, reviled, and misunderstood intellectual movements in American history. But who are the neocons, and how did this obscure group of government officials, pundits, and think-tank denizens rise to revolutionize American foreign policy?
Political journalist Jacob Heilbrunn uses his intimate knowledge of the movement and its members to write the definitive history of the neoconservatives. He sets their ideas in the larger context of the decades-long battle between liberals and conservatives, first over communism, and now over the war on terrorism. And he explains why, in spite of their misguided policy on Iraq, they will remain a permanent force in American politics.
The Washington Post - Ted Widmer
They Knew They Were Right will fit nicely on the rapidly expanding shelf explaining Iraq. Heilbrunn candidly admits that he is not the first writer to probe the neocons (James Mann, Francis Fukuyama and Sidney Blumenthal, among others, preceded him), but he spends more time than most on the group's deep history. It is a wise choice, for the formative period remains poorly understood…his research is thorough and his judgments fair.
Publishers Weekly
News of neoconservatism's demise has been greatly exaggerated, according to prolific journalist Heilbrunn, who profiles the largely (though by no means exclusively) Jewish makeup of the movement. Heilbrunn roots his interpretation of neoconservatism's Jewish character in the American immigrant experience, the persistent memory of the Holocaust and Western appeasement of Hitler, among other phenomena. Charting the movement's philosophy from its inception through the foreign policy vision crafted in the 1970s and the culture wars of the 1980s and '90s, Heilbrunn employs a quasi-biblical spin echoed in Old Testament-inspired chapter headings. With the exception of his grasp of neoconservatism's right-wing Christian contingent, Heilbrunn displays an innate understanding of the movement. He argues persuasively that though these self-styled prophets embrace an outsider stance, and though he believes they are happiest when viewed as the opposition, they will remain a formidable influence for the foreseeable future. Heilbrunn's analysis lacks rigor concerning foreign policy assumptions and ideological and economic motives, thus unintentionally leaving his subjects more historically isolated than they really are. His proximity to the conservative movement brings benefits and limitations to this historical analysis. (Jan.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationKirkus Reviews
An in-depth analytical history of neoconservatism and the men and women who created perhaps the most significant foreign-policy shift of the past 25 years. How did the United States become embroiled in the current situation, mired in a seemingly endless war, with the rest of the world turned against us and with global threats apparently increasing by the day? Heilbrunn, a former editor at the New Republic, pegs this predicament on the backs of the neoconservatives, an obscure band of policy intellectuals who rose to prominence as cold warriors in the 1980s. He traces the group to their earliest forebearers in the 1930s, when a bunch of Jewish anti-communists formed in the heated intellectual environment of City College in New York. He then moves on to their later incarnations as anti-liberalists in the '60s, their triumph as Cold War hawks in the '80s and the culture wars of the '90s, up through their final disgrace with the Iraq War. The author is a decent storyteller, and he brings a keen eye to the rivalries, debates and endless founding of new magazines of the group. He also offers welcome profiles of various academic mentors and intellectual proteges, many of them coming off as misunderstood artists trying to bore their way into an establishment that considers them too uncultured and too distrustful. Heilbrunn cleverly disguises his own sympathies, but readers may be left with the sense that he admires the neocon's utopian sensibility and their ability to see through some of the contradictions of the Left. But he does fault them for their refusal to adjust their ideology to fit new facts and political and cultural scenarios. The book is nothing if not thorough, but may drift too farinto the weeds for the average reader. Heilbrunn is also a bit too optimistic about how ideas affect elections, but there are worse faults in political historians. A sturdy analysis of neoconservatism in American life.
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Border Patrol Exam: Third Edition
Author: LearningExpress
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