Chapter 1 Introduction: Persecution and the Art of Writhing Chapter 2 Chapter 1. All Hate Leo Strauss Chapter 3 Chapter 2. "Careless Scholarship and a Tendency to Quote out of Context": Early Drury on Strauss, Locke, and Xenophon Chapter 4 Chapter 3. The American Right, Pious Frauds, and Secret Kingship Chapter 5 Chapter 4. "A Great Enemy of Democracy"? Strauss on Plato's Republic, Germany, and Empire Chapter 6 Chapter 5. "Mired in Perpetual War": Confrontations with Cyber-Age Vilification Chapter 7 Chapter 6. "Untold Mischief" and "Enigmatic Works": Appreciating Strauss on Machiavelli and Modernity Chapter 8 Chapter 7. From the Peloponnesus to Iraq-and Michigan
Peter Minowitz is associate professor of political science at Santa Clara University and author of Profits, Priests, and Princes: Adam Smith's Emancipation of Economics from Politics and Religion.
The very strange need of the political left to believe in
right-wing conspiracies and secret cabals reached its absurd limits
when they crowned Leo Strauss as the teacher of evil, par
excellence. For anyone who cares about evidence and about the real
Leo Strauss and his teachings, Professor Minowitz has utterly
destroyed the credibility of those who choose to slander for
political reasons rather than argue in search of the truth.
*Ted V. McAllister, Pepperdine University*
Straussophobia is a brilliant counter-attack against Shadia Drury
and those who share her phobias of Leo Strauss. Minowitz now
occupies the commanding high ground in all directions. No longer
will sloppy quotes, silly mistakes or sillier misinterpretations
do. Those who might wish to challenge Minowitz will have to respond
in kind to his provocative and comprehensive scholarship or leave
the field in tatters. My guess is that the responses will either be
pro forma or—more likely—simply silence.
*John Murley*
There have been several recent attempts to explicate and defend the
work of Leo Strauss. Peter Minowitz, however, is accurate in
claiming that his effort represents the most systematic and
comprehensive response to what he refers to as Shadia Drury's
"inflammatory" statements and "diatribes," as well as the
aspersions cast by Tim Robbins, Anne Norton, Nicholas Xenos, and a
variety of others....fascinating.
*Perspectives on Politics, September 2010*
Minowitz's main but by no means sole target is the Canadian
political scientist Shadia Drury….To his credit, Minowitz is more
thorough than any of Strauss' previous defenders in exposing
Drury's "exaggerations, misquotations, contradictions, factual
errors, and defective documentation"….The books biggest revelation
is Minowitz's contention that Straussians are treated in the
Straussophobic literature in much the same way that other
"out-groups" are treated by prejudiced majorities…..The author is
quick to recognize the many important differences between
Straussians and more recognized out-groups, but his observations
about the similarly bigoted patterns of though directed against
them are striking.
*Claremont Review of Books, Summer 2010*
With a truly unique approach, Minowitz ably refutes many of the
wilder allegations about Strauss and some of his students that have
recently found their way into American media.
*Thomas L. Pangle, University of Texas at Austin*
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