An insight into the mind of idiots

I’ve always been puzzled by this question: why do people vote conservative? Especially: why do poor people vote against their own interest? And why do conservatives have so abhorrent views?

This series of lectures gives a true insight into the warped mind of these people, and a good understanding of why the UK and the US are so fundamentally rotten as pseudo-democracies.

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A thorough overview

Patrick N. Allitt's overview of conservative tendencies in politics makes for fascinating listening. Professor Allitt is forthright in stating that he takes no position on the views he presents; his aim is to deliver the course in a politically neutral manner. The course covers UK and US politics from Burke to Blair, examining all of the key talking points along the way. Professor Allitt is frank about the vagueness of political categories and the seeming contradiction of policies and figures who were viewed in their day as 'radical' but by later generations as 'conservative'. He deliberately ends the course in 2000 in order to avoid raising questions that could open up new avenues of controversy. The accompanying booklet gives a thorough synopsis of and reading list for each lesson. Highly recommended.

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Excellent overview of conservatism

The conservative tradition gives an excellent and engaging overview of the history of British and American conservatism. Professor Allitt briefly touches on the main figures, ideas and events of conservatism from the glorious revolution of 1688 to the financial crisis of 2008. The course is presented in a politically neutral tone as promised in the first lecture. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in politics, philosophy and /or history, no matter on which side of the political aisle you sit.

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The history of British and American conservatism

An interesting and detailed account of British and American Conservatism - narrated from a (moderate) Conservative point of view.

As a non-Conservative I profoundly disagreed with a lot of the conservative arguments and points of view that were discussed - but the professor's likable manner and great story telling skills helped me get through all the lectures.

The lectures only cover the history of conservatism in Britain and the USA.

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6 people found this helpful

Fantastic listen and Unbiased

If your interested in conservatism in the UK and USA and want something without opinion then this is well worth it

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2 people found this helpful

Very interesting and well balanced lecture

This is a well balanced history of conservatism. Prof Allitt accent (Midlands I think) makes for an engaging listening.

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Good overview, but bias shows through

Good summary from the perspective of a hard-right lecturer, but not much critical engagement from outside the right perspective and the bare minimum consideration of how left perspectives changes conservative approaches. Rather than consider how the changing nature of Conservative thought is inectricably linked to it's left opposition, we are presented it as if it mattered nought and all chance was from within. It's also out of date - lecture doesn't move past 2008 or 2009.

I'd recommend it for what I wrote in the first line, bearing in mind it's limitations

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2 people found this helpful

Get your terminology correct

This is now the second time that I have had to write about historians not using the correct terminology in the Great Courses series. On a number of occasions Patrick Allitt refers to England when he quite clearly means Great Britain or the United Kingdom. For those who are Welsh or Irish or Scots it is particularly annoying. At one point he even refers to the impact that Walter Scott had on England and does not even recognise the impact that he had on his own country. This very narrow english-centric view was also illustrated in a comment that he made at the end of the series on his own life experiences. He was born in 1956, I was born in 1955, so we are very much of the same age. He talked about a natural feeling of difference that people had in the United Kingdom to the monarchy and people in authority, and that he had never heard anyone question this. I grew up in Edinburgh, in a family that I would certainly not regard as radical in any way, but they certainly did not display deference to authority. Also, to me, his conservative leanings shone through.

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A History of Conservatism

I bought this title hoping to understand the political philosophy of conservatives in the UK, and although the history of conservatism in the UK and the US is examined in detail in this course, I found the philosophical discussions of ideas and concepts to be lacking. Although the Prof. does take some lectures to entirely devote some time to discussion of specific debates and books written, it does get rather lost amidst a sea of 'he said, she said' discussions of who was on who's team at what point.

If you want to know who were the main proponents of a kind of conservatism, and what specific conservative leaders believed then this is a good listen. If you want to understand the philosophical underpinnings of any kind of conservatism, I would go elsewhere.

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6 people found this helpful