Structure

An investigative and informative study, the structure of Mayer's book is straightforward and designed to keep the reader's thoughts organized. Because of the length and complexity of her investigation, Mayer includes a detailed notes and index section at the end of the book, allowing the reader to refer to these tools to track the progression of ideas, important players, and themes. These tools prove to be helpful, as many of the people Mayer references float in and out of the political realm with ease. She includes an introduction as well, titled "The Investors," which provides a broad summary of the detailed investigation to follow (1).

Between the introduction and the index, Mayer's analysis is broken into three sections, each detailing separate blocks in the timeline of the conservative movement. Page-wise, the lengths of the chapter are relatively similar, but the amount of time covered differs immensely. The first...