Edwards tells the stories of how conservatives built a movement from the ground up by starting magazines, by building grass-roots organizations, and by seizing control of the Republican party from those who espoused collaboration with the liberals and promised only to manage the welfare state more efficiently and not to dismantle it.

But most of all he tells the story of four men, four leaders who put their personal stamp on this movement and helped to turn it into the most important political force in our country today: Robert Taft, "Mr. Republican," the beacon of conservative principle during the lean Roosevelt and Truman years; Barry Goldwater, "Mr. Conservative," the flinty Westerner who inspired a new generation; Ronald Reagan, "Mr. President," the optimist whose core beliefs were sturdy enough to subdue an evil empire; and Newt Gingrich, "Mr.

Speaker," the fiery visionary who won a Congress but lost control of it.