Books in Brief

The American Republic, by Orestes Brownson (ISI, 450 pp., $29.95)

PERHAPS the strangest thing about American conservatives is that they cannot ever agree on what American conservatism is. Some snarl at the name of Lincoln, others become enraptured; some celebrate the Declaration of Independence, others find it embarrassing; some fear majorities, others wish to unfetter them. Neither side in these disputes is above accusing the other of collusion with the enemy.