Wall Street Journal "Compelling. Yuval Levin has written an incisive and irenic critique of contemporary American society, together with a series of reflections that offer a way forward without trafficking in the false hope of ''solutions.' That he has done so in fewer than 250 pages of clear, well-organized prose ought to make the book famous for a generation. Maybe, in time, we can stop asking why the former days were better than these." New York Times, David Brooks "There are just a few essential reads if you want to understand the American social and political landscape today. Today, I'd add Yuval Levin's fantastic new book, The Fractured Republic . I learned something new on every page." Washington Post "He explains the illusory appeal of nostalgia-driven politics in the United States, the kind that Trump stokes in coarse, simplistic terms.
More important, he offers a path forward for the American right after this campaign, whether it is adjusting to life in Trump's America or coping again with another electoral setback." Washington Post , Michael Gerson "Instead of desperately trying to go back in time to recover lost unity, Levin urges citizens to look forward -- as well as downward, to improve the cultural patch around them. This future orientation may seem like an odd message for a conservative -- and it is all the more powerful for coming from one. The goal is not to make America great. again. It is to make America great in a distinctly 21st-century way." Los Angeles Times , Jonah Goldberg "[B]rilliant." New York Post "It does more to illuminate the depths of our contemporary political and social rut than anything I've read in years.
the great power of The Fractured Republic , the most important book of 2016, comes from its diagnosis of our ills, not its proposed cure." National Review "A rich, nuanced history of the last 70 years. It is a conceptually integrated guide for stepping back from the conventional conservative narrative--Fifties good, Sixties bad, Eighties good, Obama a disaster-- and seeing afresh what has brought us to 2016. This marvelous book appears at the worst possible time. It is erudite at a moment when erudition is ridiculed; nuanced at a moment when simplistic idiocies win elections; motivated by a devotion to human flourishing at a moment when ''human flourishing' is calibrated in disposable income. But Levin deals in verities, and verities have a long shelf life. The Fractured Republic is an invaluable resource for understanding how America came to its present predicament and what must be done to rescue it." American Thinker "Fascinating.
The book is a well-written historical analysis of what has led to the fracturing of the nation. Thankfully, Levin does not resort to instant push-button solutions. Rather he recognizes the need to propose ways to mend and meld these fractures over the long term. an important commentary on the present state of disunity and polarization. Levin has the courage to talk about the politically incorrect principle of subsidiarity. His work frames the debate where it should be framed--around those institutions of moral formation that really matter." Time "What remains of conservatism? I'm tempted to say: only the nasty bits-nativism, isolationism, protectionism. But a broad swath of the Democratic Party is every bit as nasty.
Bernie Sanders' supporters eschew nativism but adhere to the latter two isms, and socialism as well. For those of us unattached to either party, all these isms should be wasms-a point made with courage and insight by conservative thinker Yuval Levin in his new book, The Fractured Republic ." The Week "It''s a testament to Levin''s intelligence and (lamentably rare) commitment to civil debate about our nation's public life that his book is very much worth reading and pondering, despite the fact that it doesn't so much as mention the name of Donald Trump.[Levin's] distance from the anxieties of the present moment is actually a virtue, since it helps to provide us with much-needed perspective on the populist passions roiling the Republican Party and the nation. There is far more to Levin's historical analysis than my thumbnail sketch can convey. On almost every page that he devotes to elaborating on it, fair-minded readers from all points on the political spectrum will find fruitful provocations." Weekly Standard , the "Must Reading" section "[This book] couldn''t have come out at a better time. The Fractured Republic is half diagnosis and half prescription.
And both halves are essential reading, especially as we contemplate what the current election means for our body politic." Commentary "Superb. The Fractured Republic is not a manual or blueprint for reform, and it does not offer a checklist of repairs to make America whole again. Instead, it merges a deep philosophic understanding of the American experiment and a conceptual analysis of American history into a practical basis from which we can examine contemporary American problems with crystalline clarity. Levin calls his book an ''essay,' and it provides the bracing shock of illumination that is the hallmark of all great essays." Commentary "In a bleak political year, there comes a shaft of light in the form of an extraordinary new book, The Fractured Republic . [Levin] is among America's most important and humane conservative thinkers. Yuval Levin's brilliant new book offers social conservatives a more effective approach to social engagement not only because it's more positive but because it's more true, because it appeals to people on a deeper level, because offering people a healing grace and hope is what is likely to be especially attractive and powerful in this time of disorientation, distemper, and confusion.
" City Journal " The Fractured Republic is exhilarating because Levin doesn't just demand that policymakers jettison nostalgia and come up with creative new approaches--he walks the walk, offering a model answer of his own. it's no small accomplishment that Levin manages to give readers a thorough diagnosis, a usable vocabulary, and a foundation to build from. Agree or disagree with Levin's prescription, he has made the need for a novel and aggressive course of treatment impossible to deny." RealClearPolitics "In these precarious times, Yuval Levin's The Fractured Republic: Renewing America's Social Contract in the Age of Individualism arrives not a moment too soon. With a rare mix of public policy expertise, historical and social analysis, and political philosophy, it presents a deft diagnosis of our predicament and outlines a package of reforms that takes seriously American circumstances and American character." Newsmax "Characteristically brilliant. Thomas Sowell has usefully reminded us of the damage wrought by intellectuals. If more of them were like Yuval Levin, the country would be in better shape.
" The Corner, National Review's blog "As original, illuminating, and incisive as you'd expect. If you want to understand this moment in our politics, you have to read it." Kirkus Reviews "Refreshingly optimistic; in our diversity lies great strength, Levin writes, a strength that can be tapped once all the rancor is put aside. Highly recommended for readers of whatever political stripe." Representative Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives "Yuval Levin is one of the most insightful and original thinkers of our time. In this book, he shows why conservatives are best-equipped to help Americans navigate this new and fragmented world we're in. This is required reading for anyone interested in saving the American Idea." Peggy Noonan, columnist, The Wall Street Journal "Yuval Levin's thinking is serious, substantive, and deeply informed, yet his tone is always heartening and serene.
His style itself is an element of his thought. The Fractured Republic helps us think clearly about this moment in the life of our country that almost refuses to be clearly understood. He finds solutions in the best of the American tradition. Our weaknesses, he says, are only the opposite side of our strengths. Anyone looking for a realistic source of hope will find it here." Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind "What on Earth has happened to our country? This is the question of the decade, and Levin offers the most compelling answer. His history and sociology are magisterial. Whatever your politics, after accompanying Levin on this grand tour, you'll leave behind failed partisan frameworks and see our recent past--and therefore our future--in a new and more hopeful light.
This is the book America most needs to read in 2016." George Packer, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America "Yuval Levin is the most interesting American conservative writing today. He starts from assumptions and commitments that I don''t share, but The Fractured Republic persuaded me on.