Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private
Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman
enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time.

He lucidly unfolds Burkes philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete
historical situations in the eighteenth century and how Burke, through his philosophy,
speaks to our age.

This volume makes vivid the four great struggles in the life of Burke: his work for conciliation
with the American colonies; his involvement in cutting down the domestic power of George III;
his prosecution of Warren Hastings, the Governor-General of India; and his resistance to
Jacobinism, the French Revolutions armed doctrine.

In each of these great phases of his public life, Burke fought with passionate eloquence and
relentless logic for justice and for the proper balance of order and freedom. With sure instinct
born of his sympathy and understanding, Russell Kirk gives us the incisive quotation, the
illuminating highlight, the moving, all-too-human elements that bring Burke and his times to
vivid life.

San Francisco's Jeff Riggenbach has narrated more than fifty titles for Blackstone Audiobooks. He is an author, contributing editor, and producer and has worked in radio for the last thirty years. He is a recipient of the "Golden Mike" Award for his work in radio.