Barbarians in the Saddle

<p>Richard M. Weaver was one of the founders of modern conservatism and an enduring intellectual figure of twentieth-century America. He was dedicated to examining the dual nature of human beings and the quest for civilized communities in a corrupted age that believed in the religion of science and in the natural goodness of man. Weaver's <em>Ideas Have Consequences </em>sowed the seeds for the traditionalist wing of modern American conservatism. On the brink of the twenty-first century the triumph of science and technology looms larger than ever. Weaver's prophetic writings on post-World War II Western decline and his visionary talents however bleak can easily extend into many facets of modern life: high divorce rates a declining standard of living the dehumanizing aspects of a corporate economy and the destruction of civil communities.</p><p><em>Barbarians in the Saddle </em>is Joseph Scotchie's intellectual biography of Richard M. Weaver. It is an in-depth study of each of Weaver's published works and an examination of the significant influence he had on the formation of conservative America. <em>Ideas Have Consequences </em>and <em>Visions of Order </em>examine the problem of life in megalopolis where the best of everything is promised to the restless masses by their leaders and a cradle-to-grave social security state results in dangerous levels of decadence resentment and the loss of civility and culture. In <em>The Southern Tradition at Bay </em>and other essays on the American South Weaver expresses his preference for the nonmaterialistic virtuous ethos of the Old South. Finally <em>The Ethics of Rhetoric </em>highlights Weaver's devotion to a discipline increasingly out of favor with academia.</p><p>Thirty years after his untimely death Richard Weaver remains a heroic figure to many concerned about the state of American culture and its alienated rootless conditions. Now a new generation of leaders can understand the importance of this pioneer of thought. <em>Barbarians in the Saddle </em>will be of significant value to political theorists philosophers and students of American civilization.</p>