Books by Sir Roger Scruton

'His moral courage shines through from the start.' - Sunday TelegraphThe definitive edition of the late Sir Roger Scruton's philosophical and political essays and reviews, now collected in one volume.The philosopher Roger Scruton was the leading conservative thinker of the post-war years. In this book are assembled the very best of his essays and commentaries, arranged thematically. The selection has been made and edited by Mark Dooley, Scruton's literary executor.Throughout this collection, Scruton proves himself to be at his most scintillating and controversial. He writes with passion and conviction about such varied topics as feminism, racism, fascism, Tony Blair and Donald Trump, as well as subjects like global warming, music and architecture. He takes aim at those who defy conservative common sense in favour of liberal falsehoods.This book shows Scruton at his most brilliant and demonstrates how his influence will remain strong and enduring.

Renowned philosopher Roger Scruton draws on his own experience as a counter-culture presence in public life to explain conservatism in a skeptical age.

We are familiar with the medical opinion that a daily glass of wine is good for the health and also the rival opinion that any more than a glass or two will set us on the road to ruin. Whether or not good for the body, Scruton argues, wine, drunk in the right frame of mind, is definitely good for the soul. And there is no better accompaniment to wine than philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn not only to drink in thoughts but to think in draughts.This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which civilisation has been founded.In vino veritas.

In this poignant and personal tribute Roger Scruton gives an account of England which is both an illuminating analysis of its institutions and culture, and a celebration of its virtues.  Covering all aspects of the English inheritance, and informed by a unique philosophical vision, England: An Elegy shows that there is such a country as England, that it has a distinct personality and endows its residents with a distinct moral ideal.

The word, 'culture' lies at the centre of contemporary debates about the past and future of society. Here, the author argues for the religious origin of culture in all its forms, and mounts a defence of the 'high culture' of our civilization against its radical and 'deconstructionist' critics.

What principles should govern our relations to the nation-state, to the environment, to other species, to other cultures and to other ways of life? How should we approach marriage, religion, evil and mortality? What is Enlightenment, and what residue has it left in our view of ourselves? This book addresses these questions.

What does the Left look like today and how has it evolved? Is there any foundation for resistance to its agenda without religious faith?

Music as an Art begins by examining music through a philosophical lens, engaging in discussions about tonality, music and the moral life, music and cognitive science and German idealism, as well as recalling the author's struggle to encourage his students to distinguish the qualities of good music. Scruton then explains - via erudite chapters on Schubert, Britten, Rameau, opera and film - how we can develop greater judgement in music, recognising both good taste and bad, establishing musical values, as well as musical pleasures.As Scruton argues in this book, in earlier times, our musical culture had secure foundations in the church, the concert hall and the home; in the ceremonies and celebrations of ordinary life, religion and manners. Yet we no longer live in that world. Fewer people now play instruments and music is, for many, a form of largely solitary enjoyment. As he shows in Music as an Art, we live at a critical time for classical music, and this book is an important contribution to the debate, of which we stand in need, concerning the place of music in Western civilization.

The Disappeared is a story of our times, of kidnap and rescue, of abuse and healing. It is the story of Stephen, a teacher whose love for the pupil who shares his dreams brings him face to face with ruin; of Sharon, the child of a feckless stepmother, and her criminal abusers; of Laura, the investigative high-flyer, now faced with rape and sexual slavery; of Justin, environmentalist and Heavy Metal fan, whose obsession with Muhibbah, rescued from forced marriage, spells disaster for them both. It is the story of a police force fearful of charges of racism, and a social worker, Iona, expected to make a viable community from fragments that will not join.With dizzying speed The Disappeared uncovers the chaotic underworld of a Yorkshire city, its characters eventually stumbling across one another in a single catastrophe. A victim may bring redemption: but who will it be?

With Understanding Music and The Aesthetics of Music (1997) Roger Scruton set a new standard of rigour and seriousness in the philosophy of music. This collection of wide-ranging essays covers all aspects of the theory and practice of music, showing the significance of music as an expression of the moral life. The book is split into two parts, the first is devoted to the aesthetics and theory of music and the second consists of critical studies of individual composers, thinkers and works including essays on Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven's Ninth, Janácek & Schoenberg, Szymanowski and Adorno. Understanding Music will appeal to specialists in philosophy and musicology and also to music lovers who wish to find deeper meaning in this mysterious art. The Bloomsbury Revelations editions includes a new preface from author.

Roger Scruton responds to the atheist culture growing around us, exploring the place of God in a disenchanted world and offering a defence of human uniqueness.

Do animals have rights? If not, do we have duties towards them? If so, what duties? These and other issues are discussed in this book. It includes chapters on the livestock crisis, fishing, BSE and a layman's introduction to philosophical concepts. It presents a response to the defenders of animal rights.

Talks about the country dweller, who sees his or her world eroded by the wishy-washy liberal commands of Blairite do-gooders, who sit in North West London pontificating about the needs of country people. This book also deals with the devastations of the foot and mouth crisis that showed how the great divide between town and country dwellers.

Beginning from purely philosophical premises, and ranging over human life, art and institutions, the author surveys the entire field of sexuality. Dissatisfied with puritanism and permissiveness, he argues for a radical break. Upholding traditional morality - his argument gravitates to that which is consoling in the experience of sexual love.

Roger Scruton argues that to understand adequately the roots of Islamic terrorism, one must understand both the unique historical evolution of the state and the dynamic of globalization. Scruton reveals the philosophical and theological roots of the current clash of civilizations.

Written in limpid prose, these autobiographical essays provide an insight into the mind and personality of Roger Scruton. This is a quiet, witty but also serious and moving account of the ways in which life brought him to think what he thinks, and to be what he is. His moving vignettes of his childhood and later influences illuminate this book.