Donald Trump is not a big thinker, but his 2016 presidential victory presented a grand opportunity for people who are, and it set off a radicalization and reconfiguration of the American conservative intellectual world. In Furious Minds, Laura Field, who spent close to a decade in conservative academic circles, chronicles the rise of the New Right—the network of academics, public intellectuals, and influencers who provide ideological fuel to Trumpism. This movement includes figures such as Patrick Deneen, Christopher Rufo, Peter Thiel, and JD Vance. Their agenda is built to last, and it has dire long-term implications for liberal democracy.
The New Right has precedents in American history, but it is distinct for its youthfulness, misogyny, and extraordinary successes—most notably the elevation of Vance to the vice presidency. The movement—which draws together associates of the right-wing Claremont Institute, National Conservatives, Postliberals, and the Hard Right—advocates nationalist economics, tight borders, isolationism, and reactionary social values. It helped to strategize January 6th and created Project 2025. But above all, the New Right is engaged in a vast culture war against modern liberal pluralism. It is determined to harness state power and use it in new, illiberal ways, from college campuses to the international scene—all driven by the fantasy of restoring a pure America.
Incisive and urgent, Furious Minds tells the story of the thinkers of the New Right—and their powerful assault on American freedoms, values, and ideals.
Laura K. Field is a political theorist who has written about the New Right for The New Republic, Politico, The Bulwark, and other publications. She holds a PhD in government from the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Washington, DC.
“A pathbreaking intellectual history from the world’s preeminent researcher of the contemporary American right. Furious Minds scrupulously chronicles the coalescence of a modern movement that took place as much online as in the seminar room or the corridors of power. Essential reading to understand today’s political situation.”—John Ganz, New York Times–bestselling author of When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s
“Why should we care about the obscure and often fanatical right-wing intellectuals that populate Furious Minds? Because as Laura Field deftly shows, they now have access to the corridors of power, with many now serving as advisers to President Trump and designing his hard-right policies. Readers should be rushing to this book to understand how and why conservative elites embraced extremism.”—Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan
“No one has done more than Laura Field to shine a spotlight on the arcane but enormously important ecosystem of New Right intellectuals that now drives the second Trump administration. Writing with precision and passion, she makes clear why liberals have grievously underestimated these thinkers and their ideas, and why the New Right’s radical plans for remaking the world are appealing, ambitious, and extremely dangerous.”—Geoffrey Kabaservice, author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party
“Every now and then, a book comes along that makes precisely the inquiry called for by the times. Furious Minds is one of those books. It is rich and relentlessly probing, yet at the same time altogether fair. Field has done several remarkable things: She has taken the ideas that lie behind Donald Trump seriously and held them up for moral and critical scrutiny. This is a genuinely important book.”—Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare and coauthor of Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump’s War on the World’s Most Powerful Office
“Laura Field’s Furious Minds is a literary event of the highest order. With seriousness, care, and precision, Field mines the depths of the ‘MAGA mind.’ There is no Ivory Tower tall enough or corner of the internet dark enough to escape her critical eye. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the thinking that led to this era of American politics.”—Nicholas Buccola, author of One Man’s Freedom: Goldwater, King, and the Struggle over an American Ideal
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