Up From Liberalism

Book excerpt: William Frank Buckley Jr.’s third book, originally published in 1959, is an urbane and controversial attack on the manners and meaning of American Liberalism in the 1950s. His thesis is that the leading American liberals can be shown, in their speeches and statements, in the tacit premises that underlie their words and deeds, to be suffering from a long, but definable list of social and philosophical prejudices. “Up From Liberalism” examines the root assumptions of the Liberalism of his era and asks the startling question: do the actions of prominent liberalism derive from the attributes of Liberalism? “This book of mind and heart, wit and eloquence, by the chief spokesman for the young conservative revival in this country, must be read and understood, to understand what is going on in America.”—Senator Barry Goldwater “A guide for Americans who want to stay free in a country where pressures against individual freedom are coming from every direction.”—Charleston Nines & Courier “He is at top form...clear and penetrating...A slashing attack against the thinking of today’s pseudo-liberals.”—Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph “The most exciting book of the Fall.”—New York Mirror “Mr. Buckley is one of the most articulate of the critics of today’s liberalism and deserves to be heard.”—Washington Star “Buckley brilliantly excoriates a philosophy he calls liberalism.”—Newsweek “A skilled debater, a trenchant stylist...a man of agile and independent mind...He belongs in the great American tradition of protest and he deserve his audience.”—New York Herald Tribune