“A magnificent achievement—a long, gripping, and enthralling account of the life of America’s premier conservative polemicist of the twentieth century.”—Max Boot, author of Reagan: His Life and Legend

“Exposes the roots of the modern conservative movement . . . authoritative . . . As Buckley’s only authorized biographer, Tanenhaus draws from troves of his private papers and extensive interviews with the man himself.”—The New York Times

In 1951, with the publication of God and Man at Yale, a scathing attack on his alma mater, twenty-five-year-old William F. Buckley, Jr., seized the public stage—and commanded it for the next half century as he led a new generation of conservative activists and ideologues to the peak of political power and cultural influence.

Ten years before his death in 2008, Buckley chose prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus to tell the full, uncensored story of his life and times, granting him extensive interviews and exclusive access to his most private papers. Thus began a deep investigation into the vast and often hidden universe of Bill Buckley and the modern conservative revolution.

Buckley vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases: founding editor of National Review, the twentieth century’s most influential political journal; syndicated columnist, Emmy-winning TV debater, and bestselling spy novelist; ally of Joseph McCarthy and Barry Goldwater; mentor to Ronald Reagan; game-changing candidate for mayor of New York.

Tanenhaus also has uncovered the darker trail of Bill Buckley’s secret exploits, including CIA missions in Latin America, dark collusions with Watergate felon Howard Hunt, and Buckley’s struggle in his last years to hold together a movement coming apart over the AIDS epidemic, culture wars, and the invasion of Iraq—even as his own media empire was unraveling.

At a crucial moment in American history, Buckley offers a gripping and powerfully relevant story about the birth of modern politics and those who shaped it.

“In novelistic detail, Tanenhaus writes of William F. Buckley Jr.’s privileged childhood and education, his founding of the influential magazine National Review, his more than 30 years hosting the weekly TV show ‘Firing Line,’ and his ideas about government that changed the country.”—The Washington Post

“[A] well-written, and intelligent take, both critical and admiring, on a complicated man. One relives a lot, and one learns a lot.”—The New Yorker

“Colorful, comprehensive . . . A biography not just of a prominent influencer but also of a potent movement . . . a milestone contribution to our understanding of the American Century.”—The Boston Globe

“[Tanenhaus] is a gifted writer and a diligent scholar.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Not so much a stranger to our times as a precursor to them . . . a rich chronicle.”—New York Times Book Review

“Marvelous, decades-in-the-making . . . offers a deeply affectionate portrait of Buckley’s personal life . . . [and] also methodically surfaces the darker strains of the movement.”—The New Republic

“Fascinating, with new and startling revelations . . . It’s not just about Buckley; it’s about now, and how Buckleyism is more similar to Trumpism than I initially understood. It’s about American conservatism as a whole.”—The Weekly Dish

“An enjoyable and fascinating romp through American political and cultural life in much of the 20th century.”—The Telegraph

“A magnificent, absorbing work about a man known as the father of postwar American conservatism, and one that will lead to a lot of debate.”—Chronicles Magazine

“This book, apparently 20 years in the making, is the product of immense learning and shows a rare familiarity with its subject and his times. . . . Tanenhaus is to be congratulated for his achievement.”—The Spectator World

“William F. Buckley forever changed America, and Tanenhaus’s Buckley will forever change how we understand America.”—John Ganz, author of When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s

“Sam Tanenhaus has done more than produce an engrossing biography of one of the most significant political and journalistic figures of the second half of the twentieth century. He has illuminated the often ugly ideological origins of our present predicament.”—Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life

“A stone-cold masterpiece . . . Buckley is a brilliant portrait of man, movement, and age.”—Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party

“Buckley is all that a biography could and should be: penetrating, deeply researched, respectful but critical.”—Beverly Gage, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century

“Writing with superb insight into celebrity culture, Tanenhaus nails Buckley for many lapses of judgment, while also revealing his countless acts of unpublicized generosity.”—Richard Wightman Fox, author of Lincoln’s Body