Craig Shirley

American author, historian, and public relations consultant known for books on Ronald Reagan and modern American conservatism.

This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.

  1. 1. Reagan's Revolution

    A narrative of Ronald Reagan’s emergence from the 1970s conservative insurgency to his 1980 triumph, tracing campaign strategy, key advisers, and grassroots organizing while explaining how his optimistic message, skillful communications, and coalition-building reshaped the Republican Party and transformed national policy—ushering in supply-side economics, tax cuts, deregulation, a more assertive foreign policy, and a durable conservative governing agenda.

  2. 2. Rendezvous With Destiny

    Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America

    A vivid narrative of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign, tracing how his communication skills, grassroots organization, and conservative message coalesced to win the White House. The book recounts key primary battles, strategic decisions, and pivotal moments in the general election while arguing that the campaign reshaped the conservative movement and American politics for decades.

  3. 3. Last Act

    A carefully researched account of a former president’s post-presidential decade that chronicles his gradual decline from Alzheimer’s, the private and public struggles of his family to manage his care and image, and the political contests over how he would be remembered; drawing on interviews and archival material, it recounts the final public moments, the 2004 funeral, and how his legacy was shaped and mobilized by allies and critics to influence the future of American conservatism.

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  4. 4. Reagan Rising

    The Decisive Years, 1976–1980

    A fast-paced political biography that chronicles Ronald Reagan’s dramatic comeback between 1976 and 1980, tracing how the former actor and California governor parlayed message discipline, media savvy, grassroots organization and key political alliances into dominance of the conservative movement and ultimately the Republican nomination and presidency. Drawing on interviews and archival sources, it focuses on the primary battles, campaign strategy, fundraising and behind-the-scenes figures who transformed a series of setbacks into a decisive upward sweep to national power.

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