Over the past century, Americans have seen several iterations of the Republican Party, from the post-WWII Eisenhower days to Reaganomics to the rise of Trump’s MAGA movement. Amid so much change, how does one define the modern-day Republican Party, and what does it mean to be a conservative in 2022?  

Political scholar Matthew Continetti seeks to answer these questions and more in his book, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism. In The Right, Continetti takes readers through the history of the party and how the ideology that drives it has evolved over the decades, in the face of changing social, political, and economic circumstances. From a “network of intellectuals” to a 21st century political organization, Continetti explains the intricacies behind what many see as the party’s “desire for mainstream acceptance and the pull of extremism.” 

Matthew Continetti is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies American political thought and history, emphasizing on the Republican Party and conservative movements throughout the 20th century. Continetti has written two books, The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star and The K Street Gang: The Rise and Fall of the Republican Machine. He is also the founding editor of The Washington Free Beacon, as well as a contributing editor at National Review. He holds a B.A. in history from Columbia University.