Paperback, 688 pages
English language
Published April 15, 2002 by Hill and Wang.
Acclaimed historian Rick Perlstein chronicles the rise of the conservative movement in the liberal 1960s. At the heart of the story is Barry Goldwater, the renegade Republican from Arizona who loathed federal government, despised liberals, and mocked “peaceful coexistence” with the USSR. Perlstein’s narrative shines a light on a whole world of conservatives and their antagonists, including William F. Buckley, Nelson Rockefeller, and Bill Moyers. Vividly written, Before the Storm is an essential book about the 1960s.
I cannot recommend this (or Perlstein's other books in the "conservative trilogy") highly enough. If you want to understand the origins of the modern conservative movement, and how it came to be, you will not find a more thoroughly-researched exposition. This book is fantastic.
