Includes bibliographical references and index.

National Review has been the leading conservative national magazine since it was founded in 1955, and in that capacity it has played a decisive role in shaping the conservative movement in the United States. Here, senior editor Hart provides an authoritative history of how the magazine has come to define and defend conservatism for the past fifty years. He also gives a firsthand account of the thought and sometimes colorful personalities--including James Burnham, Willmoore Kendall, Russell Kirk, Frank Meyer, William Rusher, Priscilla Buckley, Gerhart Niemeyer, and, of course, the magazine's founder, William F. Buckley Jr.--who contributed to National Review's life and wide influence. As Hart sees it, the magazine has regularly veered between ideology and a "politics of reality." Its catholicity and originality--attributable to Buckley's magnanimity and sense of showmanship--has made the magazine the most interesting of its kind in the nation, concludes Hart.--From publisher description.

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