It is an incontestable fact of history that the United States,
although a multiethnic nation, derives its language, mores,
political purposes, and institutions from Great Britain. The two
nations share a common history, religious heritage, pattern of law
and politics, and a body of great literature. Yet, America cannot
be wholly confident that this heritage will endure forever.
Declining standards in education and the strident claims of
multiculturalists threaten to sever the vital Anglo-American link
that ensures cultural order and continuity. In "America's British
Culture," now in paperback, Russell Kirk offers a brilliant summary
account and spirited defense of the culture that the people of the
United States have inherited from Great Britain.
Kirk discerns four essential areas of influence. The language
and literature of England carried with it a tradition of liberty
and order as well as certain assumptions about the human condition
and ethical conduct. American common and positive law, being
derived from English law, gives fuller protection to the individual
than does the legal system of any other country. The American form
of representative government is patterned on the English
parliamentary system. Finally, there is the body of mores--moral
habits, be-liefs, conventions, customs--that compose an ethical
heritage. Elegantly written and deeply learned, "America's British
Culture" is an insightful inquiry into history and a plea for
cultural renewal and continuity.
Adam De Vore in "The Michigan Review" said of the book: "A
compact but stimulating tracta contribution to an overdue cultural
renewal and reinvigoration. Kirk evinces an increasingly uncommon
reverence for historical accuracy, academic integrity and the
understanding of one's cultural heritage," and Merrie Cave in "The
Salisbury Review" said of the author: "Russell Kirk has been one of
the most important influences in the revival of American
conservatism since the fifties. Kirk] belongs to an almost extinct
species on both sides of the Atlantic--an independent man of
letters."
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