The Enduring Edmund Burke: Bicentennial Essays - Hardcover

Essays in Honor of the Bicentennial of Burke's Death
The greatest man since Milton. Thus was Edmund Burke described by Thomas Babington Macaulay, one of the most admired English historians of the last two centuries. The Enduring Edmund Burke commemorates the bicentenary of Burke’s death by exploring the breadth of his interests and the profundity of his insights into political philosophy and human nature. Here, for the first time, academics, politicians, and journalists from America, Great Britain, Ireland, and France come together to celebrate, in eighteen original essays penned specifically for this occasion, the many and diverse features of Burke’s life and legacy. Appropriately, this celebration occurs during a time of transformation and crisis for those conservative political movements of America and Britain which regard Burke as their greatest founding father. The distinguishing and founding principals of any political enterprise must be understood and accepted if it is to face an uncertain future with confidence and imagination. This volume explores, in particular, one of Burke’s most enduring contributions to political theory -- his understanding of the relationship between the timeless principles upon which any stable polity is built, and the changing circumstances which must be faced by those engaged in political action. At the close of our century, a century which has suffered much from the rash actions of men unburdened by the knowledge of timeless principles, there exist compelling reasons for exposing the genius and writings of Edmund Burke to the widest possible audience. This volume is offered in that spirit, and with that purpose.