Böcker av John Patrick Diggins

In this bold, revisionist biography, distinguished historian John Patrick Diggins shows that Ronald Reagan, in his distrust of big government, his pursuit of libertarian ideals, and his negotiations with Gorbachev, was a far more active and sophisticated president than we previously knew. Affirming the fortieth president to be an exemplar of the truest conservative values, Diggins "identifies Reagan as the 'Emersonian President,' who believed that power is best when it resides in people, not government" (Library Journal).

Fired by Stanford and the University of Chicago but recommended by his peers to the presidency of the American Economic Association, Thorstein Veblen remains a baffling figure in American intellectual history. This title unravels the riddles that surround his reputation and assesses his varied and important contributions to modern social theory.

For a theologian who died in 1971, Reinhold Niebuhr maintains a remarkably high profile in the twenty-first century. This title begins by working through Niebuhr's theology, which focuses less on God's presence than his absence - and the ways that absence abets the all-too-human sin of pride.

"Informative and useful. . . . A balanced history of leftist American politics in the 20th century. . . . Admirably nonpartisan." -Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

"Richly instructive. . . . With characteristic cogency and verve John Diggins has painted a memorable portrait of the United States at a triumphant moment in its history."-David M. Kennedy, Stanford University