Introduction

First, a word of explanation.  The reader may be struck by the fact that the overwhelming majority of books listed in this bibliography are written by American or Australian authors.  Thus this volume focuses on conservatism primarily as represented in America and Australia.  There are, however, a number of English and European authors also included.  Moreover, this bibliography mainly features titles written during the second half of the 20th century, although there are some volumes written earlier (19th and early 20th century) that are included as well.

AMERICAN CONSERVATISM

Historically and ideologically, the term "conservatism" has stood for many things.  In many respects it reflects thinking that has arisen out of the tenets of classical liberalism, with its emphasis on the individual.  Chronologically, many put Edmund Burke and his Reflections on the Revolution in France at the starting point of modern conservatism.

Several varieties of American conservatism can be distinguished in the works presented here.  One major grouping is that known as "traditional conservatism".  This branch of conservatism is represented by such figures as Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley, Willmoore Kendall, Walter Berns and Richard Weaver.  Some major emphases of this group include:

• The importance of the individual and of individual liberty.
• The importance of authority, order and tradition, with a corresponding distrust of utopianism, romanticism, anarchism and radicalism.
• The importance of religion and/or a transcendent moral/spiritual foundation.  The cultivation of virtue, both public and private, is viewed as an important goal.
• The importance of resisting the threat of totalitarianism, especially as manifest in communism.
• The necessity to limit the scope and power of government.
• The rejection of revolution and sudden change as a means of correcting social ills.  Slow reform is preferred to violent upheaval.
• The defence of private property and the free market as a bulwark against statism and as a guarantor of human freedom.

Another major grouping is that of libertarianism.  This group shares with traditional conservatism its stress on individual freedom and its dislike of big government.  Libertarianism finds representatives in such thinkers as John Hospers, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School of Economics.  Libertarians put their heaviest intellectual artillery to use on the encroaching powers of the state.  Indeed, the extreme dislike of statism on the part of some libertarians of the right can at times seem indistinguishable from the anarchism espoused by some of the radical left.

An important area of conflict between libertarianism and traditional conservatism centres on the matter of moral and spiritual concerns.  Most libertarians reject any state control over areas of morals and ethics, and seek to abolish all laws concerning the use of drugs, pornography and the like.  Ayn Rand is an example of one who has so defended moral and civil libertarianism that she has alienated many traditional conservatives.  Her atheism and advocacy of the "virtue of selfishness" has offended most traditional conservatives (including this author), and thus only a small sampling of her works appears in this bibliography.

Another group represented here is known as the neo-conservatives;  men such as Irving Kristol, Michael Novak, Peter Berger and Norman Podhoretz.  Most of these were former radicals and socialists who have now come to embrace conservatism.  Or as Kristol put it, neoconservatives are "liberals who have been mugged by reality".  They tend to be somewhat less supportive of free market capitalism than their traditional conservative and libertarian brethren however.  Thus they tend to be less critical of the welfare state and other means of government help for social problems.

A fourth group that can be mentioned here are those called "fusionists".  These thinkers seek to fuse traditional conservatism with libertarianism, a venture which many regard as a failed endeavour.  Frank Meyer is a leading figure in this group.

One further group which has had an important role in contemporary American conservatism is the New Right.  This group, represented by Richard Viguerie, Paul Weyrich and others, was a major contributor to the Reagan Revolution.  Members of the New Right are populists who make their appeals to the masses.  In this they differ from the Old Rightists (traditional conservatives), who tend to be elitist, more ideological, and somewhat anti-democratic.  The main concern of the New Right is domestic social issues:  issues like media and educational biases;  soft criminology;  welfare spending;  abortion;  high taxes;  racial quotas;  etc.  A close cousin of this group is the Religious Right, led by such men as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

These groupings are by no means exhaustive.  They are also not clearly separate entities, and much overlap can and does take place between them.  Furthermore, some authors listed in this work may not fit into any of the above classifications.  But these groupings show the kinds and varieties of American conservatism included in this bibliography.  Conservatism, far from being a monolithic ideological structure, is a diverse and multi-faceted phenomenon.

AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATISM

It is perhaps only recently that Australian thinkers of the Right have come to feel comfortable with the term "conservative".  And it is only recently that conservatism in Australia has come to be regarded as a major intellectual force to be reckoned with.  The number of leading conservative voices still seems to be few and far between.  Nonetheless, a collection of competent conservative voices is beginning to be heard, and some of the best of them are included in this bibliography.  While the conservative scene in Australia may not be quite as diverse as in America, there nonetheless does exist some differences.  For example, many Australian conservatives would find some disagreement with Mr Santamaria on economic issues.  Yet they all tend to find common ground in their distrust of unchecked statism;  their fear of Soviet communism;  and their contempt for revolutionary radicalism.

It should be noted that there are a number of Australian conservative think tanks and organisations -- e.g., The Centre for Independent Studies (based in Sydney), the Australian Institute for Public Policy (based in Perth), Santamaria's National Civic Council (based in Melbourne), the Tasman Institute (also Melbourne) -- which publish quite a few books and booklets of interest.  Except for a few notable (book-length) exceptions, I have not included their publications.  The reader is encouraged to get in touch with these groups for full listings of all their available literature.

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This bibliography is unique in a number of respects.  First, to a large extent it features books which have been recently written.  Most of the books cited here were written within the last ten years.  Some are just hot off the press.  Thus this work is an up-to-date, "state of the art" bibliography.  Future supplements will be forthcoming to keep this a useful reference tool.

Second, a good number of the works listed here -- perhaps a third -- are authored by Christians (e.g., Catholic, Lutheran, Evangelical).  Thus both the religious as well as the secular reader will find much of interest here.

Third, as well as giving a brief annotation, I have provided a description of the author and his background for many of the titles.

Obviously this work is not meant to be exhaustive, but merely representative of the top books in several areas written from a conservative perspective.  I am sure that each reader will be asking, "Why wasn't this book included?," or, "Why did he omit that volume?"  I have tried to give some of the cream of the crop, but regretfully many titles had to be left off this list.  Some books, for example, while of value, have simply become too outdated.  A good case in point would be Andrei Amalrik's Will the Soviet Union Survive until 1984?!  Also, books on conservative social thought seem to be pouring from the presses lately.  It is almost a full-time job just to keep up with all this new conservative literature.  However, most of the important conservative titles written up until mid-1990 have been included in this bibliography.

Concerning the classification system:  it is by necessity somewhat arbitrary.  Many works listed under the Economics section, for example, could also fit under the Marxism section.  Also, some volumes do not really fit under any heading, thus the Miscellaneous section.

Most of the books listed here are still in print;  however, a number of them are now out of print and hard to locate.  I have found, nevertheless that (in America, at least), patient and persistent visitations of local second-hand bookstores often result in the discovery of a number of books thought to be long lost.  The reader living in Australia is invited to read the Appendix where help is offered for obtaining the harder-to-find American titles.

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It may well be that the major battle of this age is the war of ideas.  "Ideas have consequences," wrote Richard Weaver in 1948.  An important means of winning this ideological war is to be armed with the appropriate ammunition.  It is my hope that the ideas contained in these books will be of help to all who seek to successfully engage in this battle of ideas.