Linda Bridges and her co-author John Coyne – two National Review veterans – deliver a well-rounded and insightful portrait of William F. Buckley Jr. and the magazine he founded. They show how Buckley and his National Review journal gave shape and coherence to American conservatism over the last 50 years as the movement grew from minority status to the majority coalition that elected Ronald Reagan.  Rich in anecdotes that put readers in the middle of conservative concerns and controversies, the book provides a picture of Buckley that illuminates his beliefs, his personal passions, the ideas he espouses, and the strength and talents that have earned him universal recognition as a writer, debater, polemicist, and founding father of one of the most significant social, political, and philosophical movements of the past half century.

With this graceful homage to Bill Buckley, two people who have known the pleasure of his company, as friends and colleagues, place him where he incontestably belongs, at the center of the conservative political movement that moved the center of American politics to the right.        – George F. Will, Newsweek

Linda Bridges has worked for National Review for all her adult life. She was Managing Editor for ten years and is currently an Editor at Large.  Previously, she co-authored with William F. Rickenbacker The Art of Persuasion: A National Review Rhetoric for Writers.