What do you think?
Rate this book
Whatever Happened to Tradition?: History, Belonging and the Future of the West
The West feels lost. Brexit, Trump, the coronavirus: we hurtle from one crisis to another, lacking definition, terrified that our best days are behind us. The central argument of this book is that we can only face the future with hope if we have a proper sense of tradition – political, social and religious. We ignore our past at our peril. The problem, argues Tim Stanley, is that the Western tradition is anti-tradition, that we have a habit of discarding old ways and old knowledge, leaving us uncertain how to act or, even, of who we really are.
In this wide-ranging book, we see how tradition can be both beautiful and useful, from the deserts of Australia to the court of nineteenth-century Japan. Some of the concepts defended here are highly controversial in the modern West: authority, nostalgia, rejection of self and the hunt for spiritual transcendence. We'll even meet a tribe who dress up their dead relatives and invite them to tea.
Stanley illustrates how apparently eccentric yet universal principles can nurture the individual from birth to death, plugging them into the wider community, and creating a bond between generations. He also demonstrates that tradition, far from being pretentious or rigid, survives through clever adaptation, that it can be surprisingly egalitarian.
The good news, he argues, is that it can also be rebuilt. It's been done before. The process is fraught with danger, but the ultimate prize of rediscovering tradition is self-knowledge and freedom.
In this wide-ranging book, we see how tradition can be both beautiful and useful, from the deserts of Australia to the court of nineteenth-century Japan. Some of the concepts defended here are highly controversial in the modern West: authority, nostalgia, rejection of self and the hunt for spiritual transcendence. We'll even meet a tribe who dress up their dead relatives and invite them to tea.
Stanley illustrates how apparently eccentric yet universal principles can nurture the individual from birth to death, plugging them into the wider community, and creating a bond between generations. He also demonstrates that tradition, far from being pretentious or rigid, survives through clever adaptation, that it can be surprisingly egalitarian.
The good news, he argues, is that it can also be rebuilt. It's been done before. The process is fraught with danger, but the ultimate prize of rediscovering tradition is self-knowledge and freedom.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published December 14, 2021
19 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 8, 2022
This book was surprisingly engaging. It is well written and captures the readers interest quickly and hold it throughout. One might not anticipate it, given the subject matter of tradition and cultural change in the West, but it is also often quite light hearted and occasionally down-right funny.
It is slightly patchy, some chapters are stronger than others. He is on rather weak ground when discussing the monarchy and using this as an example of the positive role of tradition in society but much stronger when on subject areas which are obviously his strong points. His chapters on faith and religion are very strong and, as an agnostic, I found these aspects of the book the most illuminating and thought provoking.
This is not a calumny about the West having lost its heritage and tradition and falling into decay. Rather it is a serious exploration of the role of tradition, and regard for the past and societal authority, in society and what we may lose if we jettison all of these safeguards in a culture which increasingly lauds iconoclasm and taboo busting.
It is slightly patchy, some chapters are stronger than others. He is on rather weak ground when discussing the monarchy and using this as an example of the positive role of tradition in society but much stronger when on subject areas which are obviously his strong points. His chapters on faith and religion are very strong and, as an agnostic, I found these aspects of the book the most illuminating and thought provoking.
This is not a calumny about the West having lost its heritage and tradition and falling into decay. Rather it is a serious exploration of the role of tradition, and regard for the past and societal authority, in society and what we may lose if we jettison all of these safeguards in a culture which increasingly lauds iconoclasm and taboo busting.
October 24, 2021
We’re often told that if we fail to learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. In the modern world where history can sometimes seem like a dirty word, historian and journalist Tim Stanley provides a timely reminder of why tradition is important.
This is a very readable book, and indeed quite funny in parts, but it’s also thought provoking. It looks at traditions from around the world that still hold fast and some that have fallen by the wayside – or indeed been banned. It also, inevitably, looks at the role of faith, driven by Stanley’s own Catholic beliefs.
It would perhaps benefit from a sharper focus in places, Stanley seems keen to pack in lots of information and examples, but it should be essential reading for anyone interested in the role of tradition and why we sometimes abandon it at our peril.
(I received a free copy of this book having signed up for an online author event.)
This is a very readable book, and indeed quite funny in parts, but it’s also thought provoking. It looks at traditions from around the world that still hold fast and some that have fallen by the wayside – or indeed been banned. It also, inevitably, looks at the role of faith, driven by Stanley’s own Catholic beliefs.
It would perhaps benefit from a sharper focus in places, Stanley seems keen to pack in lots of information and examples, but it should be essential reading for anyone interested in the role of tradition and why we sometimes abandon it at our peril.
(I received a free copy of this book having signed up for an online author event.)
December 27, 2021
For a lot of this book, I was really unsure what the author was trying to say. While for the most part a defense of the importance of tradition, particularly religious tradition, it was not a hagiography of “tradition” as it shined a bright light on contradictions, hypocrisy, and misunderstandings. But despite the elusive focus, I enjoyed it throughout. It came together in the end, but more to the point there is a lot of gold in here, insights that just pop up and surprise with their profundity. A very worthwhile rumination.
November 2, 2022
Absolutely Fantastic! Here is a brilliant look at tradition and why we need it. But Tim Stanley also deals with some myths about tradition. Highly reccommend!
June 15, 2025
A defence and exploration of tradition from a spiritual and religious perspective. It looks at traditions from across the globe. The book avoids exaggerating the eternal nature of tradition freely accepting the recency of some traditions.
Stanley admits that indoctrination and force is often the easiest way to keep traditions going avoiding critical perspectives or choice.
The book is quite abstract. Stanley does not really engage with any particular traditions that he wishes to be brought back in the West. Given the importance of tradition to him it leaves the reader wondering what he specifically wants. There are some claims that are unconvincing or unexplored like his claim that "true tradition" is not puritanical or how the enlightenment pushed women as breeders and emphasised subservience while the church was progressive. But these don't distract from the broader arguments being made too much.
Given its conservative leanings on tradition it is nice that the book examines the flaws of some traditional institutions like monarchy or marriage. The writing is clear and engages with a variety of figures from Maistre to Foucault.
Basing tradition on religious grounds does pose Stanley some problems: he admits as much when he speaks of his preferred biblical interpretations. Any "true" meaning is ultimately unresolvable leaving conflicting interpretations and therefore conflicting traditions. It is hard to square supporting traditions evolving over time with a supreme gods wishes being final.
The book gives the impression that Stanley conflates what he feels is necessary to be psychologically secure with society. Stanley like Jordan Peterson believes liberals are racked by an existential meaning crisis. This seems like projection/overstatement to me. The meaning crisis is acute for Stanley no doubt. Throughout he worries about a world without divine justice, a world without purpose, a world without objective morality, a world without authority and a world without community obligations/hierarchy. Stanley needs religious transcendence and all the above above, but does society?
Stanley admits that indoctrination and force is often the easiest way to keep traditions going avoiding critical perspectives or choice.
The book is quite abstract. Stanley does not really engage with any particular traditions that he wishes to be brought back in the West. Given the importance of tradition to him it leaves the reader wondering what he specifically wants. There are some claims that are unconvincing or unexplored like his claim that "true tradition" is not puritanical or how the enlightenment pushed women as breeders and emphasised subservience while the church was progressive. But these don't distract from the broader arguments being made too much.
Given its conservative leanings on tradition it is nice that the book examines the flaws of some traditional institutions like monarchy or marriage. The writing is clear and engages with a variety of figures from Maistre to Foucault.
Basing tradition on religious grounds does pose Stanley some problems: he admits as much when he speaks of his preferred biblical interpretations. Any "true" meaning is ultimately unresolvable leaving conflicting interpretations and therefore conflicting traditions. It is hard to square supporting traditions evolving over time with a supreme gods wishes being final.
The book gives the impression that Stanley conflates what he feels is necessary to be psychologically secure with society. Stanley like Jordan Peterson believes liberals are racked by an existential meaning crisis. This seems like projection/overstatement to me. The meaning crisis is acute for Stanley no doubt. Throughout he worries about a world without divine justice, a world without purpose, a world without objective morality, a world without authority and a world without community obligations/hierarchy. Stanley needs religious transcendence and all the above above, but does society?
December 23, 2021
This is an excellent work to which I have listened as an audio book - expertly delivered by the author.
This is a subtle, measured and humane survey of the way in which tradition has been misinterpreted and twisted by thinkers and writers across the centuries. Although the author writes from a conservative and Catholic perspective, he is broad minded and balanced in his assessments, and is concerned to criticise both political left and right approaches to the past and the traditions from which they have sprung.
Two things in particular stand out. First, Tim Stanley ranges far and wide in his examples of the use of tradition: this is not just about Western culture, but he embraces other cultures such as those of Japan. Secondly, there is a breadth of reading and referencing which encourages the reader to explore these issues further.
This is a well-argued and reasonable piece which I thoroughly recommend.
This is a subtle, measured and humane survey of the way in which tradition has been misinterpreted and twisted by thinkers and writers across the centuries. Although the author writes from a conservative and Catholic perspective, he is broad minded and balanced in his assessments, and is concerned to criticise both political left and right approaches to the past and the traditions from which they have sprung.
Two things in particular stand out. First, Tim Stanley ranges far and wide in his examples of the use of tradition: this is not just about Western culture, but he embraces other cultures such as those of Japan. Secondly, there is a breadth of reading and referencing which encourages the reader to explore these issues further.
This is a well-argued and reasonable piece which I thoroughly recommend.
February 21, 2022
I was disappointed. As a Telegraph newspaper reader, I was bound to sympathise with the content of a book written by one of its journalists, and hoped for new insights. I was not expecting anything this “woke”, nor promotion of Catholicism, nor, in particular, his view of capitalism as an evil that has to be constrained.
At the end of a confused and confusing book, I had, I felt, learned little or nothing.
At the end of a confused and confusing book, I had, I felt, learned little or nothing.
September 30, 2022
“Whatever Happened to Tradition” is a book in two parts. The first looks at the nature and history of tradition across the centuries, focussing mainly on the West. The second looks at present and future, and how tradition can help humankind navigate a changing world.
Much of the book confirmed my own thoughts on tradition, which can be summed up by the oft-misattributed quotation: “Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire” (or similar). There were also some moments of eye-opening insight as well as a few sections where I was slightly lost, although I don’t think you need to be an intellectual or an academic to get something out of this book.
The mistake that is often made is to equate tradition with “history” or “the past” or the specifics of rituals or ways of doing things, which are only the outward manifestations of a tradition. These “expressions” of tradition are mutable, so long as they remain true to the essence of what the tradition is about.
I like the idea that tradition is about belonging, a way to connect the individual with the universal or collective. And about passing on social knowledge from generation to generation - and in this respect, it has much in common with the notions of sustainability and generativity. The author writes how tradition transcends time and place, which reflects the idea of a particular tradition having a meaningful essence or truth at its heart, which can be expressed in myriad ways.
Despite - or maybe beacuse of - its rather meandering nature, along with the many fascinating examples that I’d definitely like to follow up on, the book is easy to read and full of insightful ideas. My slight criticisms are that occasionally I felt the author was over-generalising about the past, and despite his plea for leaving politics out of certain spheres of life, some of the language felt political to me.
A worthwhile book with an optimistic viewpoint: “The job of the old is to inculcate tradition, while the job of the young is to bring energy and creativity to it, while remaining true to its essence - true to its truth."
Much of the book confirmed my own thoughts on tradition, which can be summed up by the oft-misattributed quotation: “Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire” (or similar). There were also some moments of eye-opening insight as well as a few sections where I was slightly lost, although I don’t think you need to be an intellectual or an academic to get something out of this book.
The mistake that is often made is to equate tradition with “history” or “the past” or the specifics of rituals or ways of doing things, which are only the outward manifestations of a tradition. These “expressions” of tradition are mutable, so long as they remain true to the essence of what the tradition is about.
I like the idea that tradition is about belonging, a way to connect the individual with the universal or collective. And about passing on social knowledge from generation to generation - and in this respect, it has much in common with the notions of sustainability and generativity. The author writes how tradition transcends time and place, which reflects the idea of a particular tradition having a meaningful essence or truth at its heart, which can be expressed in myriad ways.
Despite - or maybe beacuse of - its rather meandering nature, along with the many fascinating examples that I’d definitely like to follow up on, the book is easy to read and full of insightful ideas. My slight criticisms are that occasionally I felt the author was over-generalising about the past, and despite his plea for leaving politics out of certain spheres of life, some of the language felt political to me.
A worthwhile book with an optimistic viewpoint: “The job of the old is to inculcate tradition, while the job of the young is to bring energy and creativity to it, while remaining true to its essence - true to its truth."
November 20, 2022
I was given this book by a journalist friend who is quite the intellectual, so I was looking forward to reading it. I was somewhat sceptical heading out because - while I have a lot of sympathy for conservatives and their desire to hold on to past traditions - this can sometimes be seen as an excuse not to change anything. So I was expecting it to be a book that conservatives would love and would be utterly unconvincing to anyone of a more liberal persuasion.
It wasn't as bad as that. Stanley instead gently argues the point that traditions - even if some of them aren't necessarily perfect - give us levels of stability and things to hang on to, that rampant individualism does not. Thus, he talks about all sorts of strange traditions from the across the world, that we might think a bit ridiculous - but shows what benefit they play in those cultures. (e.g. the Indonesians that literally spruce up the corpses of their ancestors every year).
Some chapters were weaker than others, and there was a general tendency to say some interesting things without a necessarily clear landing point. But overall, the point was made.
To me, the strongest chapter was the one on Tradition and Equality, where he surprisingly argued the case that free market capitalism has not been something that keeps traditions alive, and in fact, has been quite destructive of traditions, and yet capitalism seems to be almost paradoxically popular and unquestioned with conservatives. I've been starting to arrive at this conclusion myself more recently and so very much appreciated Stanley's insights.
It wasn't as bad as that. Stanley instead gently argues the point that traditions - even if some of them aren't necessarily perfect - give us levels of stability and things to hang on to, that rampant individualism does not. Thus, he talks about all sorts of strange traditions from the across the world, that we might think a bit ridiculous - but shows what benefit they play in those cultures. (e.g. the Indonesians that literally spruce up the corpses of their ancestors every year).
Some chapters were weaker than others, and there was a general tendency to say some interesting things without a necessarily clear landing point. But overall, the point was made.
To me, the strongest chapter was the one on Tradition and Equality, where he surprisingly argued the case that free market capitalism has not been something that keeps traditions alive, and in fact, has been quite destructive of traditions, and yet capitalism seems to be almost paradoxically popular and unquestioned with conservatives. I've been starting to arrive at this conclusion myself more recently and so very much appreciated Stanley's insights.
April 2, 2023
Stanley's analysis is always from a kind of right-leaning thinking that tacitly goes along with the idea that those in power have some kind of inherent superiority and Stanley doesn't seem to see his wilful blindness. This leads to the conclusion Stanley has a kind of faux-intellectualism that means that his thesis lacks teeth. So a read that purports to be thoughtful just feels pretty empty. Stanley's argument that traditions give us something to hang onto and preserve only works if he can get past his deference to those (like Boris Johnson) who have seized power by preying on the concept of Conservatism when in fact they are debasing what there is to conserve, not least the rigour of political discourse, and conserving only their interests. This fault-line in Stanley's thinking means that potentially interesting investigations into other cultures are undercut as there is always this superficiality in thinking. Unless he can see opportunism and self-interest in such political figures for what it is, and condemn it, this hankering for tradition will always be a trojan horse for figures like Johnson and Trump, which he is clearly too in thrall of (witness him on Question Time saying Johnson was sacked for 'eating cake') to properly appraise.
May 16, 2022
I was excited to read this book and quite interested in the topic. The author covered many aspects of tradition and was not over the top in promoting tradition. Although the book covered many different dimensions of tradition, the lack of integration of these topics to address a common thesis was not as strong as I would have liked. Also missing is more actionable responses to the disappearance of tradition. The book is worth reading; I just feel that its arguments could have been better centered around a common thesis with a clear call to action.
October 5, 2022
This book is a contemporary look at the human world. It weighs news items, world leaders, and events in the public eye and remarks on the state of the modern world. The book is interesting because of the frank commentary offered by the author.
January 16, 2024
I basically enjoyed this, and found Stanley's critique of much of what passes for Conservatism compelling. Well written, for sure. That said, I think the traditions of men are as likely to enslave as to preserve - and I don't share Stanley's affection for Roman Catholicism.
June 9, 2024
Meandering, some interesting points I guess. Skipped most of the footnotes/asides. Basically, Catholicism is the only way to have a society with any morality. His examples didn't really tie in to any point - he just went back to the same quotes from the same people, like Chesterson.
November 22, 2021
Fantastic read. I highlighted so much. Definitely recommend.
December 2, 2021
Absolutely splendid, worth a read
January 2, 2022
Found this book to be just great. Really well written and interesting. Thank you Tim. Will be doing a re-read.
July 21, 2022
Well said, Mr Stanley.
August 31, 2023
He makes some interesting points, but I'm not totally clear on what his main arguments are.
April 26, 2025
Interesting argument but was a bit repetitive
December 28, 2022
Insightful analysis of our culture and its losses as we move steadily to reject the values of our past.
July 20, 2022
This work looks to explain why and how “tradition”, especially in the West, appears to be fragile and faltering. It is a concise amalgamation of anthropology, history, religion and politics. It does offer justification for those who seek to leave the past in the past and for those who want to “return” to a better past for the future. There is validity in his views. The reading does tend towards dryness, but given the lack of concrete-ness of much of the subject, that can be a side effect. Worth a read, but maybe not dwelt upon afterwards.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews