Keeping the tablets.(American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia )(Book review)

'CONSERVATISM," like "liberalism," has been in the United States a remarkably capacious term. Social conservatives, libertarians, paleos, neos, Burkeans, Agrarians, Austrianschool economists, and many other types of thinkers have all sheltered under the word-umbrella "conservatism." In examining a work like American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia (ISI, 979 pp., $35)--the massive new reference book shepherded by Bruce Frohnen, Jeremy Beer, and Jeffrey O. Nelson, under the auspices of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute--probably the key question to ask is: Does the book include everybody? Not, of course, every figure of some importance within conservatism--even the more than half a million words contained in this volume couldn't promise that--but every important type of conservative?

And it is the highest achievement of this book that, yes, all varieties are here, and all are fairly treated. The editors in their introduction disclaim any intention "to establish any orthodox definition of conservatism"; they seek, rather, to provide "information and insight on the persons, schools, ... and other topics of major importance to the nature and development of the conservative intellectual movement in America since World War II." The two key limitations to be noted here are a) "intellectual"--that is to say, the book has a bias toward theorists, as opposed to those engaged in the daily work of politics and punditry; and b) "since World War II"--pre-1945 issues and events are treated only if they had a direct bearing on postwar American conservatism. And both of these limits are well judged, making the work much more useful than it would otherwise have been. The tone throughout is polite; few intra-conservative body blows are exchanged. David Boaz of the Cato Institute writes the article on libertarianism; paleo historian Paul Gottfried contributes the entry on paleoconservatism.

It is all the more striking, then, that among the few lapses from the overall geniality and evenhandedness is the entry on the most important issue of the day. To write the entry on the Iraq War, the editors chose John Zmirak, who is a passionate and eloquent opponent of the war; and he writes with his customary elan. Zmirak compares some supporters of the war to the French right-wingers who continued, "against all evidence," to persecute Dreyfus, and declares: "Whether the nationalist Right in America will suffer a comparable loss of moral credibility is an open question." I suppose we supporters of the war can be grateful that Zmirak believes our loss of moral credibility remains an open question; but from our perspective, a war to overthrow a tyrannical regime--when it is accompanied by a resolve, simultaneously idealistic and prudent, to help the people liberated from that regime build a better one to succeed it--can certainly be presumed morally legitimate. Zmirak's skeptical view is not uncommon among conservatives, but it is far from a majority view within the movement. The editors would have been better advised to choose a more balanced approach on this issue.

More entries of the Zmirak type would, of course, have made the book more entertaining for the casual browser; but a reference work need not be especially amusing. This Encyclopedia is, on the whole, fair, solid, and reliable--an important contribution to the conservative bookshelf, and a good resource for others who want to learn about conservatism in all its manifestations.

* Seeing Through the Eye: Malcolm Muggeridge on Faith (Ignatius, 241 pp., $18.95) is an essential book: an anthology of the best religious writings by one of the most eloquent men of faith of the 20th century. Edited by Cecil Kuhne and with an introduction by William F. Buckley Jr., the book captures the tone of Muggeridge, in writing and in conversation.

The title comes from one of Muggeridge's favorite passages in English poetry, from Blake: "This life's dim windows of the soul / Distorts the ...