Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey

David Horowitz underwent the most dramatic political conversion since Whittaker Chambers. And at every stop of his intellectual journey, he has produced sparkling and provocative commentary. From his youthful days as a leader of the New Left in the 1960s to his current role as master strategist of the right, Horowitz’s polemical legacy is unmatched in wit and integrity.

Horowitz’s newest book, Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey, provides the first map of his intellectual development. Complementing his acclaimed autobiography, Radical Son, the selections in Left Illusions range from his first book, published over forty years ago, to his most recent writings on the war against terror. The pieces include his polemics, journalism, and scholarship, along with select chapters from most of his books. Their subjects range from the origins of the New Left to the Cold War, from the fall of communism to political radicalism, race relations, the war on terror, the intellectual culture wars, and modern conservatism. Twenty-eight of the selections have not been published in book form or are contained in texts that are generally unavailable.

"I make no apologies for my present position," Horowitz writes. "My values have not changed, but my sense of what supports them and makes them possible has." He became profoundly disillusioned with the radical movement because of a tragedy both personal and political. The whole fascinating story is here for the reader to follow as it unfolded. Left Illusions is really the story of our times, lived out by an extraordinary individual.

DAVID HOROWITZ is the author of Hating Whitey and Other Progressive Causes and The Art of Political War and Other Radical Pursuits, and How to Beat the Democrats and Other Subversive Ideas. One of America’s most sought-after political strategists and commentators, Horowitz is the editor of FrontPage magazine and president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. He lives in Los Angeles.