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Small Men on the Wrong Side of History: How To Be A Modern Conservative
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Expected 10 Dec 30Exploring why conservatives have lost almost every political argument since 1945, Ed West looks at this endless litany of failure from the perspective of one of the losers, in a semi-autobiographical, self-deprecating way. Since the 1950s the western world has gone through a huge cultural shift, comparable to the rise of Christianity during the late Roman period and the 16th century religious revolution unleashed by Martin Luther. Both of these led to profound changes in public ideas about morality and sexuality, and eventually to 'culture wars' between two deeply opposed groups. Today what we're witnessing is a sort of second Reformation, and that's why it's going to be long, painful and boring, and both sides are going to get more idiotic and hysterical, just as religious divisions once drove Catholics and Protestants into prolonged insanity. Conservatives, like the pagans and Catholics before them, are very much on the losing side. The future appears progressive and their defeat is inevitable, part of an 'arc of history' that leads irrevocably to a progressive utopia in which they're left in the dustbin. As Barack Obama said of al-Qaeda, another group of guys not entirely comfortable with the modern world, conservatives are 'Small Men on the Wrong Side of History'. Too many polemics and articles on the Right are tediously shouty, and too few of them explore where their arguments have fallen flat and why people find conservatives so repulsive. Small Men on the Wrong Side of History is aimed at being the rare conservative book that someone on the Left will enjoy. West will look at some of the idiocies of the modern Right and the strange characteristics shared by conservatives, including himself, but he will also offer explanations as to why people are conservative, and explain some of the benefits conservatism offers. In particular he argues it's now necessary as a break on 'runaway liberalism', the competitive desire to appear Woker Than Thou which is driving progressive politics to extremes, and which has provoked a reaction with figures like the psychologist Jordan Peterson and his legion of fans.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2020
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384 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 22, 2020
‘Small Men On The Wrong Side Of History’ is basically two books for the price of one. Its a first-rate pop-political science book for a mass audience but also a first rate humorous political memoir. So imagine a Matthew Goodwin/Eric Kauffman-esque book but written by Nick Hornby. Recommended.
August 27, 2020
A little disorganized as West bounces around memoir to the historical telling of conservatism to prognostication, but it's fun (and funny) enough for me to give it four stars regardless. The central theme of "Small Men on the Wrong Side of History" is that the right has lost the culture wars. West discusses the changes in academia, media, education, and other institutions that give the left hegemony in the cultural sphere. Progressivism, which he sees as a sort of religion, has filled these spaces, leading to the dominance of liberalism in these institutions and the further exit of conservatives. But he also believes that conservatism can come back, especially with higher birthrates among right-leaners than left-leaners. West doesn't cast this as a totally good thing, because as he notes, educated young conservative men are moving really rightward. So he ends with a discussion of stepping back from politics, which seems awfully easier said than done. And not entirely positive either. West ends on a resigned tone, not the belligerent one we so often hear from the right. It's refreshing albeit unrealistic.
This book reads both like a cultural study and a political science work, which provides a more comprehensive perspective than just focusing on one element would. He's also got a hilarious way of breaking down the history and philosophy of conservatism. I'd read a West book solely about that topic! The personal parts, while fragmented, are also strong. Especially in the autobiographical sections, West engages in conversation with himself and his biases, primarily calling out the left but not sparing the right. He skewers libertarians and calls out the aggressively bigoted alt-right. When it comes to the left, he's unafraid to concede some points and refrains from the excessive villainization that too often infects discourse. While I certainly don't agree with everything he says, readers are sure to emerge with a better understanding of the trends fueling polarization and how the right lost ground. All in all, an entertaining, captivating book.
This book reads both like a cultural study and a political science work, which provides a more comprehensive perspective than just focusing on one element would. He's also got a hilarious way of breaking down the history and philosophy of conservatism. I'd read a West book solely about that topic! The personal parts, while fragmented, are also strong. Especially in the autobiographical sections, West engages in conversation with himself and his biases, primarily calling out the left but not sparing the right. He skewers libertarians and calls out the aggressively bigoted alt-right. When it comes to the left, he's unafraid to concede some points and refrains from the excessive villainization that too often infects discourse. While I certainly don't agree with everything he says, readers are sure to emerge with a better understanding of the trends fueling polarization and how the right lost ground. All in all, an entertaining, captivating book.
October 19, 2023
This is a very well-written, very erudite book that will make you laugh out loud in several places. It is too long (hence the missing star): West sways from historical anecdotes to memoir to political science analysis…and you occasionally miss the laser-sharp focus of other writers.
Apart from that, it’s great! I completely agreed with some of the points he made: I was nodding throughout the chapter on free speech in universities. With others, I didn’t agree so much (especially his generalisation that uni makes people unhappier for pointless reasons - because “so few jobs require a degree”. Is this right? He also opposed the EU, a stance I do not share.)
Above all, it ends on a fantastic note: ultimately, life is bigger than politics. He cites countless studies which show that deeply political people are often less happy and less able to nuance. He partly blames social media and digitalisation for our culture of hyperindividualism which ultimately makes people more extreme in their views. In the end, he calls for people to judge others based on the content of their character rather than their tribal identity (hear hear!).
Ed West is not too far gone from the right side of history after all.
Apart from that, it’s great! I completely agreed with some of the points he made: I was nodding throughout the chapter on free speech in universities. With others, I didn’t agree so much (especially his generalisation that uni makes people unhappier for pointless reasons - because “so few jobs require a degree”. Is this right? He also opposed the EU, a stance I do not share.)
Above all, it ends on a fantastic note: ultimately, life is bigger than politics. He cites countless studies which show that deeply political people are often less happy and less able to nuance. He partly blames social media and digitalisation for our culture of hyperindividualism which ultimately makes people more extreme in their views. In the end, he calls for people to judge others based on the content of their character rather than their tribal identity (hear hear!).
Ed West is not too far gone from the right side of history after all.
January 15, 2022
A sad lament for the rather pitiable state of conservatism in the anglosphere, interspersed with various biographical notes from Mr. West’s life. It’s a quite interesting book, if a bit parochial. A few brief takeaways from the book.
West spends some time detailing the two conservative traditions, that of Burke and that of De Maistre, and noting that American conservatism draws entirely from that of Burke. He views political correctness as the latest upwelling of a censorious tendency that is common in societies, where by rendering ideas unspeakable they can quickly become unthinkable. Some time is spent on the germ response theory of politics (where fear of germs makes people more conservative), which has certainly taken a beaten over the past two years.
West views the 80s as a time of conservative victories on the economic questions, as even Blair had to recant the old labor dogmas, while the left won sweeping victories on cultural questions in a liberalizing society quickly moving away from the Britain that had cheered Powell so loudly. The American polemicist and political candidate Pat Buchanan embodied a similar tendency to Powell, but after the 90s his ideas were “not only dead but damned”. As a sidebar, there have been comparisons between Buchanan and Trump because they were both relatively restrictionist on immigration, but Buchanan was far more staunchly so, and Trump’s position on immigration, so relatively conservative in 2020, would have marked him as a moderate liberal in the 1990s.
Since the 90s, too, conservatism has been far more déclassé, with the example of ultra conservative Alan Clark’s victory in posh Kensington and Chelsea proffered. This example does suffer from the fact that the Tories hold both Kensington and Chelsea today.
West states his theory that the tabula rasa view of human nature is especially appealing to the childless, and to those who have never worked on a farm, who therefore have no experience of innate nature, and thus the great increase in urbanization and drop in fertility is responsible for the liberalization of values over the past two centuries.
On the topic of the sweeping liberalization of values, West returns to the comparison between the funerals of Churchill, marked by a stern stoicism, and the weeping emotionality that greeted the funeral of Diana. He also views artists as generally conformists, with their supposed taboo breaking views avoiding the real taboos of modern society, and instead breaking taboos long since passed.
All in all, it is a thoroughly gloomy book, and a well justified one given West’s conservative leanings. In Britain, conservatism is a dying faith. The British right managed 46% of the vote in 2019, yet just 27% of those under 35 voted for them. Yet this pessimism is odd in the context of other countries, such as France, just across the channel, where 46% of those under 35 intend to vote for candidates of the right. Perhaps a more detailed analysis of why conservatism has done so poorly among the young in Britain in particular ought to be added.
West spends some time detailing the two conservative traditions, that of Burke and that of De Maistre, and noting that American conservatism draws entirely from that of Burke. He views political correctness as the latest upwelling of a censorious tendency that is common in societies, where by rendering ideas unspeakable they can quickly become unthinkable. Some time is spent on the germ response theory of politics (where fear of germs makes people more conservative), which has certainly taken a beaten over the past two years.
West views the 80s as a time of conservative victories on the economic questions, as even Blair had to recant the old labor dogmas, while the left won sweeping victories on cultural questions in a liberalizing society quickly moving away from the Britain that had cheered Powell so loudly. The American polemicist and political candidate Pat Buchanan embodied a similar tendency to Powell, but after the 90s his ideas were “not only dead but damned”. As a sidebar, there have been comparisons between Buchanan and Trump because they were both relatively restrictionist on immigration, but Buchanan was far more staunchly so, and Trump’s position on immigration, so relatively conservative in 2020, would have marked him as a moderate liberal in the 1990s.
Since the 90s, too, conservatism has been far more déclassé, with the example of ultra conservative Alan Clark’s victory in posh Kensington and Chelsea proffered. This example does suffer from the fact that the Tories hold both Kensington and Chelsea today.
West states his theory that the tabula rasa view of human nature is especially appealing to the childless, and to those who have never worked on a farm, who therefore have no experience of innate nature, and thus the great increase in urbanization and drop in fertility is responsible for the liberalization of values over the past two centuries.
On the topic of the sweeping liberalization of values, West returns to the comparison between the funerals of Churchill, marked by a stern stoicism, and the weeping emotionality that greeted the funeral of Diana. He also views artists as generally conformists, with their supposed taboo breaking views avoiding the real taboos of modern society, and instead breaking taboos long since passed.
All in all, it is a thoroughly gloomy book, and a well justified one given West’s conservative leanings. In Britain, conservatism is a dying faith. The British right managed 46% of the vote in 2019, yet just 27% of those under 35 voted for them. Yet this pessimism is odd in the context of other countries, such as France, just across the channel, where 46% of those under 35 intend to vote for candidates of the right. Perhaps a more detailed analysis of why conservatism has done so poorly among the young in Britain in particular ought to be added.
April 9, 2020
There is a good, possibly great book waiting to be written about this subject, which is one of crucial importance. Sadly, this is a bad book. I like Ed West's journalism, but the longer format reveals him to be a poor prose stylist, with a penchant for non-sequiturs and a worrying habit of getting lost half way through a paragraph, so that the point he started off making gets forgotten by the end. The book is littered with sentences that don't parse, and it can't seem to make up its mind whether it's supposed to be a history of conservatism, a biography, or a polemic. I can't help but feel it was rushed out on a gamble that the Tories would lose the 2019 election and there'd be a market for post-mortems.
Want to read
June 18, 2020Really striking review from Derek Turner at the University Bookman, here.
June 29, 2023
Interesting to see the world through the eyes of a small C conservative. From my own perspective it is far from obvious that "the Left" has won most of the battles in recent decades. Brexit and thirteen years of continuous Conservative government argue strongly for a different conclusion.
Nevertheless, this is a well written and witty book, which gave me some things to think about. Although too many of the author's examples are from the US, he still has plenty of evidence from British politics.
The book is also known as "Tory Boy".
Nevertheless, this is a well written and witty book, which gave me some things to think about. Although too many of the author's examples are from the US, he still has plenty of evidence from British politics.
The book is also known as "Tory Boy".
April 12, 2021
A truly entertaining book, everything written with insight and wit. Would recommend this book to read for anyone who considers himself or herself to be right-of-centre, and indeed to anyone on the left (but I doubt they will). My only complaint is that it gets a bit repetitious towards the end could have done with an editing out of a chapter or two for that reason.
January 8, 2025
This was a book I couldn't put down. It was erudite, utterly engaging and very funny, all at the same time. And as someone who, like the author, lives in North London, the description of living in this neck of the woods with the 'wrong' politics rang very true!
I hope it gets the huge sales it so richly deserves.
I hope it gets the huge sales it so richly deserves.
July 11, 2024
Quelle surprise, I enjoyed this book. VERY self-effacing + ironic account of realising you’re a slytherin not a griffindor and why that’s ok (but annoying and very uncool). And a healthy amount of Michael Oakeshott quotes to keep me engaged.
December 27, 2020
Really enjoyed this. Fun and entertaining but with some real depth behind it.
May 18, 2021
3/4*. Entertaining but far too pessimistic!
September 30, 2021
Funny look at the history of conservatism in the UK. Depressing too!
June 26, 2020
I identified strongly with the author, as someone with political views more conservative than many people my age and who views much of progressive politics as quasi-religious.
There are some interesting thoughts in the book, however it felt like it could have been a lot shorter.
The thesis that progressive views dominate because high status people hold them probably has something to commend it, but this is a long book and there feels like there’s a lot of filler in there.
In places it repeats itself and at times it seems to ramble somewhat. The chapters exploring the psychological research on conservative political views felt like they were there just because the author wanted to share what he had read with us, rather than being part of a serious analysis. He also seems to cite the same people over and over (although that might reflect the general lack of serious conservative thinkers).
A worthwhile book, but could be sharpened up a bit.
There are some interesting thoughts in the book, however it felt like it could have been a lot shorter.
The thesis that progressive views dominate because high status people hold them probably has something to commend it, but this is a long book and there feels like there’s a lot of filler in there.
In places it repeats itself and at times it seems to ramble somewhat. The chapters exploring the psychological research on conservative political views felt like they were there just because the author wanted to share what he had read with us, rather than being part of a serious analysis. He also seems to cite the same people over and over (although that might reflect the general lack of serious conservative thinkers).
A worthwhile book, but could be sharpened up a bit.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews