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1  1 For just one example, see Nisbet 1986: 21–74; see also Freeden 1996: 331–2.

2  2 Ironically, Huntington did not in fact himself remain loyal to his definition of conservatism as essentially reactive, also claiming that ‘the essence of conservatism can be summed up in a small number of basic ideas’ (Huntington 1957: 457).

3  3 See below, Chapters 2 and 5, and Gray 1997a.

4  4 See below, Chapter 2.

5  5 It is true that to some extent Oakeshott and Gilmour both admitted that a conservative approach to tradition was more complex than this. Oakeshott, in particular, especially in his later work, emphasized that a tradition is not a monolithic entity, but instead composed of a set of diverse practices (see, for example, Oakeshott 1975: 55–60 and Oakeshott 1976). This did not, however, dislodge Oakeshott from his fundamental conviction that there is a dominant tendency within the Western European tradition favouring individualism. As such, he believed those opposing it were not merely in disagreement, but mistaken (Oakeshott 1991: 363–83).

6  6 See Mannheim: ‘the conservative mode of experience thus preserves itself … by raising to the level of reflection and methodical control those attitudes to the world which would otherwise have been lost to authentic experience’ (1986: 101).

7  7 Although conservatism apparently advocates a huge variety of different positions, Freeden argues that as an ideology it does much more than simply provide a knee-jerk reaction to progressive ideologies at any given moment, as Huntington would contend. Rather, while it deploys political concepts more eclectically than progressive ideologies do, it does not do so in a purely reactive manner, but instead seeks to establish counter-progressive positions which may have considerable potential to endure.

8  8 Compare, by contrast, the approach taken by Eatwell and O’Sullivan (1989) on ‘the nature of the Right’.

9  9 It should be emphasized that I am definitely not implying that conservatism is a uniquely Western phenomenon – the idea that historical change should be managed cautiously, that human limitations should be accepted, and that human actions are subject to an ‘extra-human’ force, can be found in a number of non-Western traditions of thought, including, for example, Confucianism. Moreover, at least some Western thinkers have been well aware of this. Despite often being regarded as a ‘quintessentially English’ conservative thinker, Oakeshott in fact gives a number of Confucian examples to illustrate his arguments, particularly in the essays collected in Rationalism in Politics (see Oakeshott 1991: 41 n. 41, 236 n. 8, 480 n. 2).

10 10 In Chapter 2, I consider Britain, France and the United States separately, while Chapters 3, 4 and 5 unfold more thematically. There are obviously arguments for and against such a structure but the greater interconnectedness of the world after the mid-nineteenth century gives it at least some plausibility.