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Title: Invisible Hands

Subtitle: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan

Author: Kim Phillips-Fein

Narrator: Lorna Raver

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-03-09

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Long before the "culture wars" usually associated with the rise of conservative politics, these driven individuals funded think tanks, fought labor unions, and formed organizations to market their views. These nearly unknown, larger-than-life, and sometimes eccentric personalities - such as General Electric's zealous, silver-tongued Lemuel Ricketts Boulware and the self-described "revolutionary" Jasper Crane of DuPont - make for a fascinating, behind-the-scenes view of American history.

The winner of a prestigious academic award for her original research on this book, Kim Phillips-Fein is already being heralded as an important new young American historian. Her meticulous research and narrative gifts reveal the dramatic story of a pragmatic, step-by-step, check-by-check campaign to promote an ideological revolution---one that ultimately helped propel conservative ideas to electoral triumph.

Editorial Reviews:

What lies behind the dramatic rise of American conservative politics in the 20th century? Invisible Hands, a painstakingly researched historical book by Kim Phillips-Fein, offers new insight into the backroom dealings of businessmen who united against the New Deal's "nanny state", culminating in the triumph of Ronald Reagan's conservatism. Actress Lorna Raver narrates this revealing history with depth and aplomb, her gravelly, character-filled voice lending gravitas to Phillips-Fein's research. Along the way, listeners discover how the zealous efforts of people like General Electric's Lemuel Ricketts Boulware and DuPont's Jasper Crane tamped down the power of labor unions and dismantled socialist policies that restricted the free market - insuring the bottom line of the massively lucrative corporations these men represented.

Critic Reviews:

"Incisive.... An important contribution to our understanding of American conservatism." (Publishers Weekly)

"Engaging history from a talented new scholarly voice." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Phenomenal research paired with excellent storytelling. Must read.

Phenomenal research paired with excellent storytelling. People tend to assume that Hayek + Friedman + Thatcher + Reagan = neoliberalism, eliding the essential role played by businessmen and the organizations they founded or sponsored. To know our present political economic condition is to know the story of the American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, et al., and the ideas and men (always men) leading them. It is also to know how these men were activated by ideologues such as Hayek, and how they would go on to influence politicians in Washington. Phillips-Fein gives you all this.