December 7, 2020
Wilmington, DE – The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), an organization that teaches college students core conservative principles, today announced the finalists for its prestigious Conservative Book of the Year award. This annual award recognizes a thoughtful nonfiction book that contributes to the rich debate about important conservative ideas.
The finalists for the 2021 award are:
- Christopher Caldwell, The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties (Simon & Schuster)
- Ross Douthat, The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success (Avid Reader Press)
- Rod Dreher, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents (Sentinel)
- Yuval Levin, A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream (Basic Books)
- Robert R. Reilly, America on Trial: A Defense of the Founding (Ignatius Press)
- Bradley C. S. Watson, Progressivism: The Strange History of a Radical Idea (University of Notre Dame Press)
This year, ISI received more than 140 nominations for the award. A distinguished panel of third-party judges will select the winner from among the six finalists.
“The conservative intellectual movement is more exciting than it’s been in a generation,” said John A. Burtka, IV, president of ISI. “These finalists for the Conservative Book of the Year award reflect—and advance—the important debates happening right now. I congratulate all six finalists on their exceptional work.
“This award is all the more important because mainstream book honors like the Pulitzer and National Book Award often shut out conservative authors,” Burtka continued. “At ISI, we celebrate these thinkers and honor their commitment to thoughtfully advancing conservative principles in today’s heated political and social climate.”
The winner of the Conservative Book of the Year award will be announced in late January 2021 and will be honored at ISI’s annual Conservative Book of the Year award dinner on June 26 in Wilmington, Delaware. The winning author will receive ISI’s Paolucci Book Award, in addition to a $10,000 cash prize.
This marks the second time Rod Dreher has been a finalist for Conservative Book of the Year. His book The Benedict Option won the 2018 award.
Yuval Levin makes his third appearance as a finalist for Conservative Book of the Year. He was named a finalist in 2014 for The Great Debate and in 2018 for The Fractured Republic.
The Conservative Book of the Year award has been in place for more than fifteen years. Notable past winners include Wilfred M. McClay’s Land of Hope, Yoram Hazony’s The Virtue of Nationalism, Bradley J. Birzer’s Russell Kirk: American Conservative, and Richard Brookhiser’s Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln.
For more information, please visit bookaward.isi.org.
About the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute inspires college students to discover, embrace, and advance the principles and virtues that make America free and prosperous. Too many college students feel isolated or attacked for questioning progressive orthodoxy and the ever-narrowing range of debate on campus. ISI introduces them to the American tradition of liberty and to a vibrant community of students and scholars. Our students get an education and a community they don’t find at their universities—and in the process they become articulate voices for conservative principles. ISI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. For more information, visit isi.org.
