The New Republic Reader
Eighty Years of Opinion and Debate
A collection of articles and essays from America's most influential periodical of politics and culture encompasses contributions by some of the twentieth century's most distinguished statesmen, scholars, and politicians.
The first major anthology of essays from The New Republic, published in honor of the magazine's 80th year. The collection "traces the evolution of twentieth-century liberal thought and the role that the magazine has played in shaping it."
Includes essays by Virginia Woolf, Malcolm Cowley, Bertrand Russell, George Orwell, Charles Krauthammer, Margaret Sanger, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, C. Vann Woodward, and Lewis Mumford, among many others. Edited by Dorothy Wickenden.
PRAISE FOR
THE NEW REPUBLIC READER
“As this thick compendium attests, The New Republic has been one of the nation's most vital journals of current affairs since its founding in 1914. Among its early contributors were Rebecca West, Alfred Kazin, George Orwell, John Dewey and Edmund Wilson; in more recent years, Ronald Steel, Adam Michnik, Arthur M. Schlesinger and Irving Howe. Sections on world affairs, American issues, racial matters and debates among liberals embrace challenging, thoughtful, lively writing. Wickenden, the magazine's former managing editor, and now national affairs editor at Newsweek , contributes a frank introduction that traces TNR 's role in defining liberalism and acknowledges its neoliberal drift since Martin Peretz bought the magazine in 1974.”
— PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
“Along with the Nation, the New Republic is one of the two great weekly organs of opinion in the United States. It was established in 1914 by Herbert Croly, Walter Lippman, and other notable proponents of pragmatic liberalism. In subsequent decades, the journal has published many great authors, such as Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, Edmund Wilson, Irving Howe, and Lewis Mumford. The editors of the New Republic have always had a tendency to sway with the prevailing ideological winds. In the 1930s, the journal championed large-scale economic planning; in the 1980s, it editorialized in favor of arming the Nicaraguan contras. Editor Wickenden has done an impressive job of pulling together a collection that brilliantly reflects the journal's history and its strengths and weaknesses.”
— LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Nearly 100 passionate, often confrontational essays and editorials from the first 80 years of the New Republic. Selected by former managing editor Wickenden (now national affairs editor at Newsweek), the pieces debate such issues as isolationism, Zionism, abortion, and affirmative action. Among the writers represented are Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, W.H. Auden, and Irving Howe…. A valuable chronicle of the 20th century's most crucial debates, culled from the pages of one of our most influential periodicals.”
— KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Eighty years ago, The New Republic was launched to advance the cause of liberalism while starting "little insurrections in the realm of [its readers'] convictions," according to founder Herbert Croly. After almost a century of ideological change in the national government, two world wars, and the sudden recent shift in global politics, it's anybody's guess as to how close the magazine remains to that early manifesto. What is certain is that some amazing articles have appeared in the periodical. That some are of lasting value this anthology proves.”