The Black Book of the American Left: Volume 9 Ruling Ideas

collected conservative writings of David Horowitz #9

by David Horowitz

"Ruling Ideas" is the ninth and final volume of The Black Book of the American Left, a collection of David Horowitz's conservative writings over the last 30 years. The previous eight volumes of this magisterial work have explored the battlegrounds—the university, racial relations, popular culture, etc.—where the left attempts to “radically transform” America. “Ruling Ideas” is a summary look at the ideas in the bone marrow of the left, the ideas that give it momentum and make its war against America a forever war.

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2018

About the author

David Joel Horowitz was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website FrontPage Magazine; and director of Discover the Networks, a website that tracks individuals and groups on the political left. Horowitz also founded the organization Students for Academic Freedom.
Horowitz wrote several books with author Peter Collier, including four on prominent 20th-century American families. He and Collier have collaborated on books about cultural criticism. Horowitz worked as a columnist for Salon.
From 1956 to 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left. He later rejected progressive ideas and became a defender of neoconservatism. Horowitz recounted his ideological journey in a series of retrospective books, culminating with his 1996 memoir Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey.

Reviews

[Christopher (Donut) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if "Ruling Ideas" is the best title for what is basically a miscellaneous collection, and nearly forty percent bibliography and index.

At any rate, the two 'open letters' to former leftist colleagues I remember reading before. The case against reparations also seemed very familiar, and the piece on Christopher Hitchens, a review of his memoir, Hitch-22, was worthwhile. Any notion that the two men were close friends, having made the same journey from left to right, is disabused here. I would say, based on what Horowitz says here, that they were friendly but not friends, and politically still not close.

[Ronald J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read 8 out of the 9 volumes in this series, and they are all just excellent. No one understands, and can articulate better, the mentality and motivations of the left more precisely than David Horowitz. He is an extremely gifted writer and polemicist, and he knows of where he speaks. I try to read everything he writes. This volume takes on the ideas of the left, from Marxism, slavery, reparations, Christopher Hitchens (who never had the deep second thoughts that Horowitz did) and a summary of the life and work of Horowitz by Jamie Glazov. There’s also a useful bibliography of all of Horowitz’s writings, from books, articles and posts, as well as a summary of the volumes in this series. Highly recommended.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been brought up in a Communist home and having been a part of the New Left, David Horowitz really understands the radical mind and explains its fatal flaws.

[Prentice House · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent summary of the other eight books in the series. The letter to Christopher Hutchins and the dialog that ensued is worth the time just in itself. Incredible insight into current battles with progressives.