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ZUCKERT, Catherine and Michael Zuckert. The Truth About Leo Strauss. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2006. 352 pp. Paper, $32.50- The Truth About Leo Strauss, by Catherine and Michael Zuckert, is an informative, clearly written text on a timely subject. The legacy of Leo Strauss is a contentious matter and certainly worth considering in light of his influence on neoconservative political thought and recent American foreign policy. It is in regard to the relationship between Strauss and neoconservatism that the authors make their most compelling argument. Catherine and Michael Zuckert invite us to more thoroughly investigate Strauss's thought and consider whether or not the ties between Strauss and exponents of neoconservatism have been exaggerated.
The Zuckerts make no apologies: they are defenders of Leo Strauss. This forthright admission adds to the credibility of the book. Claims to objectivity are neither made nor required. The reader can expect to read a Straussian perspective. I say a perspective because even though the book is entitled The Truth About Leo Strauss, suggesting a singular reality about the man, the authors insist that there is no cult of Leo Strauss. Although there is an uneasy conflict between the spirit of the project, with its emphasis on "the...