The Revolt Against the Masses by Fred Siegel

Mainstream (read: liberal) historiography takes the likes of Stevenson, Hiss, and Croly as Very Important People who preached the truth. Snarky asides about Croly and Stevenson deflate the historical remains of the massive egos who have dominated the left since its beginnings.

Rather, his goal is to rip apart the ideology's self-understanding, so he can present it as he sees it. Siegel is not at all interested in dealing with liberalism on its own terms. This is, at its core, a subversive work of deconstruction. Such asides may give Revolt Against the Masses a seemingly shambolic quality, but as one moves along through the book, one begins to appreciate the centrality of the digressions to the project at hand. Adlai Stevenson, he correctly says without elaboration, was a 'patrician' and 'a Southerner in his racial sentiments.' Alger Hiss was 'guilty as charged.' Herbert Croly acted as though he was 'Crolier than thou.' He approaches his subjects with a well-attuned sense of irony, and fills the pages with plenty of asides meant to tweak the liberal sensibility. This is a canon with which he obviously and deeply disagrees, yet he never gets bogged down by anger or resentment (though at times his visceral frustration is quite apparent). Siegel clearly has spent a lot of time reading the intellectual heavyweights of the American left.

This is a fast-paced tour through 150 or so years of history, and Siegel simply has no time to indulge in notes, nor does he have any interest in distracting your attention. This is strange, considering he is writing an intellectual history. Right off the bat, one notices with Siegel that he does not have footnotes (save a humorous aside about 'foodies' toward the end of the book).

The Revolt Against the Masses by Fred Siegel