Ideas have consequences, and this book is an explanation of how the lives of people serve as a base for their political ideology.  

​Here are seven 20th century conservative thinkers whose experiences in life led to their academic works. Fundamental to all of them was their Christian faith, and its expression in the political world. Both Catholic and Protestant thinkers are here, both their private and public lives are explained. Some of them were highly visible in the public arena while others were more obscure, working in private arenas. 

​A characteristic of each of them is that they took their responsibilities seriously.  If asked, they understood the deep effects fascism and communism had on the daily lives of the people oppressed.

They believed they knew those people.  That made the lives of: Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley, Carl F.H. Henry, Richard J. Neuhaus, Michael Novak, Francis Schaeffer and Charles Colson familiar to many readers.