Foreword by Charles R. Kesler
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Revolt against the Constitution
2. The Real Presence of Christ
3. Gray in Gray: The Strange History of Progressive History in the 1940s and 1950s
4. Progressive Historiography in a Countercultural Age
5. Intellectual Consolidation and Counterattack: Conservatism and Revisionism from the 1980s to the Present
6. The Shades of History
Notes
Index
Bradley C. S. Watson teaches at the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C.. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence and Progressive Challenges to the American Constitution: A New Republic.
Charles R. Kesler is the Dengler-Dykema Distinguished Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University. He is editor of the Claremont Review of Books.
“Progressivism is novel because neither is it in thrall to
progressivism nor does it consider progressivism as inevitable and
inevitably domesticated. Rather, the author is capable of
criticizing progressivism at a fundamental level.” —Johnathan
O’Neill, author of Originalism in American Law and Politics
“This is a singularly original contribution. I know of no such
comprehensive review of the historiography of progressivism.” —Paul
Moreno, author of Black Americans and Organized Labor
“Watson has crafted, not so much a historical genealogy of
Progressivism, as its historiography. . . . Along the line of
Watson’s march appear some of the brightest stars in the firmament
of American historical writing (and political-history writing) in
the 20th century: Richard Hofstadter, . . . Henry Steele Commager,
Daniel Boorstin, C. Vann Woodward, David Potter, Louis Hartz,
Arthur Link, Gabriel Kolko, Henry F. May, and Robert Wiebe.”
—Claremont Review of Books
"The book is more than an extended review of the literature . . . ;
it is an indictment. And it is hard not to agree with Watson’s
assessment that these historians were guilty of obscuring as much
as they illuminated about the Progressives." —Law and Liberty
"Bradley C. S. Watson’s new book Progressivism: The Strange History
of a Radical Idea points scholars in new and productive directions
regarding the political thought of the Progressive Era. Watson
writes with vigor and verve, making the book of great appeal to
anyone trying to take the true measure of the legacy of Progressive
political thought in American history." —Public Discourse
"In this new offering from Watson, Progressivism is put under the
microscope and examined during its 20th-century development. . . .
The book proceeds chronologically through the 20th century to the
current day, which gives readers a solid accounting of how
Progressive ideas evolved and then merged with still later ideas."
—Choice
"This book leaves the reader with a deep suspicion of several
generations of progressive historians who wrote without being fully
honest or fully aware of the tensions between progressivism and the
American founders. Beyond that, [it] requires us to think about the
challenges of progressive thought to the legitimacy of American
institutions and to the American regime as a whole. By provoking
these questions, Watson leads us to the deepest level of American
politics which is nothing other than a continuous dialogue and
critical engagement with the American Founders." —VoegelinView
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