Konservatismen framstod länge som en utdöende idétradition. Konservativa partier tycktes bli mer liberala för varje år som gick, i en ständig anpassning  till det liberala, moderna samhället. På senare år har något hänt. Konservatismen har blivit en av de mest inflytelserika inriktningarna inom samtida politik. Men därmed uppstår också nya slitningar: hur långt är man villig att gå i kompromissen med liberalismen? Vilka värderingar ska tas strid för, och i så fall hur? 

I Konservatism skildrar Edmund Fawcett den politiska konservatismens historia,  nyckelfigurer och motsättningar från dess rötter i 1700-talet till vår tid där konservativa i både USA och Europa pressas av den högerpopulistiska vågen. 

A fresh and sharp-eyed history of political conservatism from its nineteenth-century origins to today’s hard RightFor two hundred years, conservatism has defied its reputation as a backward-looking creed by confronting and adapting to liberal modernity. By doing so, the Right has won long periods of power and effectively become the dominant tradition in politics. Yet, despite their success, conservatives have continued to fight with each other about how far to compromise with liberalism and democracy—or which values to defend and how. In Conservatism, Edmund Fawcett provides a gripping account of this conflicted history, clarifies key ideas, and illuminates quarrels within the Right today.Focusing on the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, Fawcett’s vivid narrative covers thinkers and politicians. They include the forerunners James Madison, Edmund Burke, and Joseph de Maistre; early friends and foes of capitalism; defenders of religion; and builders of modern parties, such as William McKinley and Lord Salisbury. The book chronicles the cultural critics and radical disruptors of the 1920s and 1930s, recounts how advocates of laissez-faire economics broke the post 1945 consensus, and describes how Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and their European counterparts are pushing conservatism toward a nation-first, hard Right.An absorbing, original history of the Right, Conservatism portrays a tradition as much at war with itself as with its opponents.

Konservatismen framstod länge som en utdöende idétradition. Konservativa partier tycktes bli mer liberala för varje år som gick, i en ständig anpassning  till det liberala, moderna samhället. På senare år har något hänt. Konservatismen har blivit en av de mest inflytelserika inriktningarna inom samtida politik. Men därmed uppstår också nya slitningar: hur långt är man villig att gå i kompromissen med liberalismen? Vilka värderingar ska tas strid för, och i så fall hur? 

I Konservatism skildrar Edmund Fawcett den politiska konservatismens historia,  nyckelfigurer och motsättningar från dess rötter i 1700-talet till vår tid där konservativa i både USA och Europa pressas av den högerpopulistiska vågen. 

A fresh and sharp-eyed history of political conservatism from its nineteenth-century origins to today’s hard RightFor two hundred years, conservatism has defied its reputation as a backward-looking creed by confronting and adapting to liberal modernity. By doing so, the Right has won long periods of power and effectively become the dominant tradition in politics. Yet, despite their success, conservatives have continued to fight with each other about how far to compromise with liberalism and democracy—or which values to defend and how. In Conservatism, Edmund Fawcett provides a gripping account of this conflicted history, clarifies key ideas, and illuminates quarrels within the Right today.Focusing on the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, Fawcett’s vivid narrative covers thinkers and politicians. They include the forerunners James Madison, Edmund Burke, and Joseph de Maistre; early friends and foes of capitalism; defenders of religion; and builders of modern parties, such as William McKinley and Lord Salisbury. The book chronicles the cultural critics and radical disruptors of the 1920s and 1930s, recounts how advocates of laissez-faire economics broke the post 1945 consensus, and describes how Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and their European counterparts are pushing conservatism toward a nation-first, hard Right.An absorbing, original history of the Right, Conservatism portrays a tradition as much at war with itself as with its opponents.