ABSTRACT
From every book written by the late Richard Weaver surges a tide of intellectual force that critics, even the friendliest, have had difficulty in describing. To an unaccustomed reader Weaver's light may at first seem only exploratory and instructive. He may be tempted to think that it is merely picking out a devious way among heaps of ancient rubbish. He may also feel that he is in the company of a vision that is high and generous and very brave, and that this vision–the vision of Richard Weaver–is making irresistible claims upon his attention, indeed upon his life. When Weaver left Vanderbilt he had still not decided which road to take. At this stage, when he had not met the "mass man" face to face or seen the actual workings of socialism and centralism, he did not find it easy to reverse his course, although he felt the strong pull upon him of "the Agrarian ideal."
