SOURCE: Yardley, Jonathan. “In Praise of the Old Order.” Washington Post Book World 25, no. 8 (19 February 1995): 3.

In the following review, Yardley offers high praise for Himmelfarb's The De-Moralization of Society, calling it a splendid book.

“Values,” since the 1960s scarce indeed in American society and culture, all of a sudden are not merely all about us but too much with us. From the bestseller lists to the congressional caucuses to the television talk shows, the chatter level on the subject of “values” has reached full-magpie density. Americans seem to understand, however vaguely and uncertainly, that they have lost the sense of moral consensus and imperative that any healthy society requires; characteristically, they are doing very little about the problem but talking it to death.

The difference between Gertrude Himmelfarb and all but a handful of those engaged in this discussion is that Himmelfarb actually knows what she is talking...