Now available for the first time in a paperback edition, "The Swordof Imagination represents the capstone on the career of one ofAmerica's most influential conservative thinkers, Russell Kirk. This highly praised memoir, written dispassionately in thethird person, vividly portrays Kirk's intellectual life. Characterizedby verve, insight, and wit, the book ranges fully over the last halfof the twentieth century, pausing on such themes as Kirk's mentorsand opponents, the day's political figures, and those aspects of themodern world that he loved or despised. Throughout, readers find-- and are challenged by -- the conservative values, the "permanentthings, " for which Kirk became America's ardent champion.