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The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World Hardcover – 8 Sept. 2022

by Andrew Doyle (Author)
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Engaging, incisive and acute, The New Puritans is a deeply necessary exploration of our current cultural climate and an urgent appeal to return to a truly liberal society.

The puritans of the seventeenth century sought to refashion society in accordance with their own beliefs, but they were deep thinkers who were aware of their own fallibility. Today, in the grasp of the new puritans, we see a very different story.

Leading a cultural revolution driven by identity politics and so-called 'social justice', the new puritanism movement is best understood as a religion - one that makes grand claims to moral purity and tolerates no dissent. Its disciples even have their own language, rituals and a determination to root out sinners through what has become known as 'cancel culture'.

In The New Puritans, Andrew Doyle powerfully examines the underlying belief-systems of this ideology, and how it has risen so rapidly to dominate all major political, cultural and corporate institutions. He reasons that, to move forward, we need to understand where these new puritans came from and what they hope to achieve. Written in the spirit of optimism and understanding, Doyle offers an eloquent and powerful case for the reinstatement of liberal values and explains why it's important we act now.

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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Constable
  4. Publication date
    8 Sept. 2022
  5. Dimensions
    15.88 x 3.81 x 24.13 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0349135320
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0349135328
  8. See all details
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  1. Whereas democracy is founded on the negotiation of diverging viewpoints, ideology is sustained through intolerance of dissent.
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  2. The very same people who would openly pronounce ‘microaggressions’ and controversial opinions to be forms of ‘violence’ saw no contradiction in redefining vandalism and physical assaults as non-violence.
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  3. The new puritans, then, are best understood as a clergy for a godless age, presiding over a dreamscape of their own making, rewriting our language, history and traditions as they go along.
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Product description

Review

If future historians were to recommend only one book to help readers understand the "Critical Social Justice" madness that consumed the West in the early twenty-first century, it would be The New Puritans. Written by one of the ideology's most articulate and effective critics, Dr. Andrew Doyle's timeless perspective detailing the ideological takeover of venerable institutions also provides an impassioned defense of liberalism. A must read. ― Peter Boghossian

A sober but devastating skewering of cancel culture and the moral certainties it shares with religious fundamentalism ― Sunday Times

Doyle writes exceptionally well and he backs up his j'accuse with copious illustrations of ideological excess . . . University no-platformers like to say that 'words are violence'. If so, Doyle's are rapiers. ― Herald

This is a serious book about a serious subject - the arrogation of moral purity and cultural orthodoxy by a small but influential posse, and Doyle's anger and disbelief come through on every page. ― Mail on Sunday, Book of the Week

In this lucid, important book, the satirist and commentator Andrew Doyle zeroes in on the religiosity of these movements . . . He is supremely erudite and writes beautifully. Anyone with an interest in contemporary culture and politics should read this book. -- Matthew d'Ancona ― Tortoise Media

This book is a call to arms in an existential battle . . . it's thrilling to be led by such a brilliant commander ― Spectator

Doyle isn't the first author to examine the methods and motivations of woke fanatics, and he won't be the last. However, I doubt whether anyone will do so with more style or generosity of spirit . . . ― Conservative Woman

The New Puritans is a passionate and erudite exposé of the modern-day social-justice movement. With clarity and precision, Doyle exposes its countless flaws and hypocrisies. His book is an essential guide for anyone looking to understand why the culture war has grown so hot. ― City Journal

The New Puritans is a fusillade of uncompromising reason but reason with compassion. Andrew Doyle has written a masterful broadside against the woke that will also discomfit the anti-woke, proposing to both the radical notion that rather than being identities, we embrace our status as individuals. ― Critic

This is a finely written, closely argued book on an alarming and all-pervasive social development. Doyle hopes that it will soon become obsolete - if it doesn't, say farewell to liberal Britain ― The Times

Doyle's study is sprinkled with humour and is analytical and timely. One doesn't have to agree with it fully to recognise he speaks plenty of sense. ― Irish Examiner

Doyle succeeds in doing what few writers have managed: he gives form to that nebulous movement known as woke . . . The New Puritans is a sucker punch of truth rendered in a seductively rhythmic prose ― Country Squire Magazine

The first thing to be said about this book is that Andrew Doyle can write. He writes fluently, with examples, with an amusing sense of irony, and he writes convincingly . . . fine prose, razor sharp wit, and insight ― European Conservative

The New Puritans - thanks to Doyle's academic background - is scholarly and rigorous. He knows a great deal more about the theory he's criticising than most of his opponents ― Law & Liberty

Book Description

By analysing Social Justice in terms of a religious cult, The New Puritans seeks to render its complexities more accessible. Only by understanding the inherently regressive and illiberal nature of this movement might it be effectively resisted.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Constable (8 Sept. 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0349135320
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0349135328
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.88 x 3.81 x 24.13 cm
  • Customer reviews:

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Andrew Doyle

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
594 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book a good read with insightful, alarming, funny, and hopeful content. They also appreciate the author's hard work and reliable writing style. Readers describe the book as an accessible guide with a combination of humor and logic.

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22 customers mention ‘Reading experience’22 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a good read, brilliant, and accessible guide to the insanity du jour. They also say it's required reading for any youngster today.

"A well written book which shines an alarming and often infuriating light on the cult like movement of modern critical social justice and its dogmatic..." Read more

"...The New Puritans is a compelling read; detailing in terrifying detail how much of (notably) Western culture has bought into theories and ideas that..." Read more

"Excellent book. An exceptionally well researched overview of the sinister aspects of the woke phenomenon...." Read more

"Andrew Doyle has written a sober and thoughtful book about Critical Social Justice and its transformation into a secular religion...." Read more

19 customers mention ‘Content’19 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, alarming, funny, and hopeful. They also say it's thorough, well researched, and an easy read. Readers also say the analysis is timely and important, and a valuable addition to the culture wars. They appreciate the author's clearly stated appraisal and hard work on the book.

"...but that there are voices like Andrew's whose common-sense, intelligent and open approach are beginning to break through the ultimately..." Read more

"...It's a valuable addition to the culture wars, very one sided but clear to understand for those who agree and disagree with the points put forward...." Read more

"Beautifully written, witty yet compassionate. An excellent analysis of the anti-rational madness that threatens freedom and liberal values...." Read more

"...brain and really puts forward a thoughtful, reasoned and thoroughly interesting argument for the infiltration of our society of Critical Race Theory..." Read more

18 customers mention ‘Writing style’18 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style excellent, thoughtful, and coherent. They also say it's an easy read with great examples. Customers also appreciate the combination of humour and logic, which makes the book an important and useful guide.

"...The writing is chock full of powerful prose that elegantly cuts through the debate and infantile woke arguments and effectively hits the nail on the..." Read more

"...It's a valuable addition to the culture wars, very one sided but clear to understand for those who agree and disagree with the points put forward...." Read more

"Beautifully written, witty yet compassionate. An excellent analysis of the anti-rational madness that threatens freedom and liberal values...." Read more

"Andrew Doyle writes well, has an excellent brain and really puts forward a thoughtful, reasoned and thoroughly interesting argument for the..." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

antaylor
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and timely account of woke dogma
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2023
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A well written book which shines an alarming and often infuriating light on the cult like movement of modern critical social justice and its dogmatic, bewilderingly powerful activists. The parallels of this new pseudo-religion with the 17th century Massachusetts Salem Witch trials is clearly apt and Doyle begins and ends with powerful chapters that helps to highlight the similarities. In between, Doyle traverses the entire gauntlet of woke gender identity politics, race, cancel culture, the affects on art and artists, illiberal modern ‘Leftism’, the ideological capturing of powerful institutions, how lived experiences are trumping reality and much more.

The writing is chock full of powerful prose that elegantly cuts through the debate and infantile woke arguments and effectively hits the nail on the head with a giant mallet time after time, and as such will get any reasonable person nodding profusely with the sentiments. Impressively, the book doesn’t come across as angry despite Doyle having been on the receiving end of such unfair attempts to damage his reputation, it comes across more as borne out of a deep concern for what is an obvious rejection of and ongoing demolition of Enlightenment ideals of thought and dialogue. It’s a book that will certainly heighten the worry, frustration and concern that may already be with the reader who laments the latter day social justice mania and whatever hopeful sentiments Doyle ends with do seem a little tacked on. I think the book is important as a call to arms to help tackle the woke mania and to alert others who may not yet quite see just how damaging to the fabric of a successful, just society this woke religious hysteria is. Like Doyle, I do hope this book will soon be ‘redundant’ and become more of an entertaining impassioned, cautionary account of a very silly time in our modern history.
11 people found this helpful
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Erin
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, Thought-Provoking, Infuriating, and an absolute MUST read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 December 2023
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After being introduced to Andrew's Sunday night show, 'Free Speech Nation' by my Dad, I was immediately drawn in by the compassionate, curious, and authentic approach that Andrew has towards his guests from all across the political spectrum. As a now 27-year old who studied psychology, psychotherapy, and now another mental health training, I have experienced the (mostly) subtle ways that more and more areas of daily life have become polarised, from issues of sex and gender, to race, media, comedy etc., - and room for respectful conversation and debate has become rather endangered.

The New Puritans is a compelling read; detailing in terrifying detail how much of (notably) Western culture has bought into theories and ideas that are packaged under a guise of social justice and high moral standards, but beneath the surface tells a rather different and troubling story. Censorship and rights to freedom of speech and expression are undoubtedly being encroached upon, and I only hope that more people of the like of Andrew Doyle are platformed. We need open discussion and shades of grey, not the black and white polarity that has become prevalent now (no doubt enhanced by social media echo chambers).

I finished Andrew's book with both hope and frustration - at how willingly we, as a wider society, have been swept along into this madness, but that there are voices like Andrew's whose common-sense, intelligent and open approach are beginning to break through the ultimately unconvincing arguments purported by the so-called 'religion of social justice.'
8 people found this helpful
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Andrew Bidmead
4.0 out of 5 stars GB news polemic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 January 2023
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Those who watch Andrew Doyle on GB news will know what to expect. It's a valuable addition to the culture wars, very one sided but clear to understand for those who agree and disagree with the points put forward. If you hate woke cancel culture this is a great place to start. If you hate people who hate woke cancel culture you could be brave and see if you can argue with Doyle here.
20 people found this helpful
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M. M
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for any youngster today
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2024
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The book describes the current madness the 8-year olds running the place now threaten us with. If you have met one, then no further explanation is required. For the rest,
This author’s conclusion that the proponents of woke are immature children, (written in 2021) come from a person who was once part of the left. When it was taken over by the ultra-left cultural marxists ,the writer hung on for a bit then abandoned it.
This is one of a number of books that describe in detail the way the cultural Marxists talk, and is one of the better ones as the writer was once one of them. The conclusion that the woke have the mental abilities of children is also the conclusion of several other writers now agree on.
It was once a failing in your argument if you said your opponent was mentally immature, but in this case the writers claim fits.
The write describes this from a British point of view with examples of neoMarxism , delving down into the darkness of its origin, the Frankfurt school, so it is useful in giving the reader a good grounding. Woke advocate seldom try to do this, as it leaves them open to the contradictions of their creed.
3 people found this helpful
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Simon Wilks
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading four our times
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2024
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Beautifully written, witty yet compassionate. An excellent analysis of the anti-rational madness that threatens freedom and liberal values. I cannot recommend it highly enough
2 people found this helpful
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willswife
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2023
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Andrew Doyle writes well, has an excellent brain and really puts forward a thoughtful, reasoned and thoroughly interesting argument for the infiltration of our society of Critical Race Theory and all that goes with it. I have a lot of time for Dr. Doyle and am always interested in what he has to say, on whatever platform it may be.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Tassio Moreira Marques
4.0 out of 5 stars Good insight
Reviewed in Brazil on 3 September 2023
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The topic is quite relevant and current. The only issue I take is that the author could not be reliable in a sense since he actively takes shots at the people he intents to criticize. Since you can feel his resentment while reading you wonder if his mind is clear enough to make a fair judgment. That said it’s a interesting take/content.
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John Downing
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in Canada on 16 July 2023
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The media could not be loaded.
 This is an absolute “must read” for anyone trying to make sense of the world in the 2020s. It is perhaps the singularly greatest “critical” analysis of the current state of our shared Anglo-sphere culture.

Doyle is easily one of the most extraordinary writers of our generation. His mastery of our language is evident in every single page of this text. The precision with which he chooses to construct each sentence is absolutely incredible.

I found myself stopping many time to check the definition of a word, or to reread a wonderfully elegant turn of phrase. Even the simple act of reading Doyle’s prose is a pleasure. The content of his ideas and arguments are brilliantly constructed. His capacity to bring forth linguistic tools that are exact and straightforward enough for all of us to carry forward into future discourses with the misguided slaves of this insidious religion are one of the many gifts Doyle brings to our civilization.

Buy the book. Read it, and if you are a STEM major like me, take a moment to thank God we still have English literature departments in the academy that produce minds like Andrew Doyle.
2 people found this helpful
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A. Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing. Terrifying.
Reviewed in the United States on 10 September 2022
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I saw an interview about the book on YouTube, read the sample, bought the ebook. His prose is clear, without unnecessary jargon. What he is saying is terrifying at how far the infestation has spread into all levels of society and government.

I will need to read this many times.

Well done.

Essentially:

- These people are racist bigots spewing hate speech, and they literally do not know they are doing that.

- These people belong to a religion, and they literally do not know that.

Astonishing.

- Once they understand that what they are doing is wrong, they will stop.

At least now it is clear that the infestation is real. I knew that something was deeply wrong. I kept telling myself that this was some new kind of "cult" or religion, but I didn't see how that was possible, not today. Not after hundreds of millions of people were killed by this religion during the 20th Century.

I'm also reading through Race Marxism by James Lindsay. His book goes deep into the history of this religion.

BTW, If you read Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen you will see that America is fertile ground for new "cults" or religions springing up like weeds. Hustlers, con men, flimflam artists have always thrived in America because of that fertile ground.
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jeanniell
5.0 out of 5 stars Shining read for the start of a new year
Reviewed in France on 11 January 2023
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Reading this book was not only highly instructive, it was therapeutic. Doyle’s impressive erudition backed up with concrete examples allows the reader to understand more clearly the changes (as opposed to progress) of the last ten years which have affected Britain along with other parts of the western world. What was once a generally civilised and tolerant society (Doyle cites ample data) has turned into a near-dystopian place where, simply through holding certain opinions, men, women and sometimes children may be subjected to threats of extreme violence and suffer terrible consequences: arrest, losing their jobs and livelihoods, ostracism. The comparison with the Puritans of New England and the collective hysteria of the Salem witch trials is meticulously and persuasively argued. The book is therapeutic in the sense that, when the mob has taken over the public square, it’s difficult for (lone) individuals to retain confidence in views that, in many cases, have been subjected to the kind of regular self-examination that Doyle mentions. Instead, they begin to doubt the nature of reality, to self-censure, and unwillingly embrace a ‘don’t make waves’ philosophy. It’s a comfort, then, to be reminded that others, often more intelligent and informed, think along similarly sceptical and ‘heretical’ lines, and an inspiration to read how courageously they have defended liberal humanistic values.
As a language teacher I was particularly interested in the author’s exposure of how certain words (Nazi, Fascist, racist, victim etc) have been debased by sloppily incorrect over-use, and how the new puritans have made reasoned argument almost impossible through an Orwellian hijacking of the language designed to lead only down rabbit holes. Doyle quotes Humpty-Dumpty in 'Through the Looking Glass': ‘When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean –neither more nor less.’
At one point the author talks about ‘woke tipping points’. Mine was linguistic, and happened in 2008 while zapping through news channels watching the unfolding events in Mumbai. Over a period of 3 days, 166 people were killed by 10 terrorists. Terrified hostages were herded on to hotel roofs and forced to show their passports; American and British citizens were summarily executed, Jews at the cultural centre were tortured. Amidst these scenes of horror, I heard one journalist use the phrase ‘the freedom fighters’. In the rush of outrage which had me storming out of the room, I can’t remember which commentator on which channel described the terrorists in this way. But the shock of cognitive dissonance – my eyes telling me one thing, my ears hearing another - resulted in my paying close attention to the language of ‘impartial’ reportages from then onwards.
There is so much in Doyle’s book that is admirable: the extensive research and hard evidence, the clarity and intelligence of the argument, the different topics covered. In the chapter ‘Transcendence’ he talks about literature, art and creativity, commenting: ‘They (Critical Social Justice Theorists) forget, or do not know, that transcendental art is a reminder of our smallness in a vast and unfathomable world.’
One of the saddest aspects of this social division is that Enlightenment-based thinkers are bemused at the fact that Social Justice Warriors/Critical Race Theorists wont, or can’t, engage in what, for want of better terms, I would call good old discussion and debate. As Doyle points out, many in this latter category have arrived there through good intentions (he quotes C.S. Lewis - ‘a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims’.) But once there, a conviction of moral certainty and absolute rightness and virtue, like the Puritan accusers of Salem, or the medieval Roman church which condemned the Cathars, obviates any necessity for considering the kind of humanist approach encapsulated by Montaigne’s ‘que sais-je?’ and his comment ‘je m’avance vers celui qui me contredit’ (I advance towards the person who contradicts me). The idea of aiming for consensus or compromise, that moving towards the contradictor and engaging in reasoned, evidence-based argument rather than threats of violence might actually change minds on either side, does not appear to be an aim of those whom Doyle calls the ‘congenitally intransigent’. To add to this conviction of moral certainty, the institutions of the land are often seen to uphold the views of the new puritans. Doyle writes ‘This is the tragedy of the identitarian approach; it rehabilitates the very divisions that we had striven for so long to overcome.’
Faced with such blinkered ideological obsession leading to often disastrous consequences for those who refuse to conform (400 Cathars were burned at the stake only 6 kilometres from where I am writing), I admit to occasionally foregoing good resolutions to be more patient and instead indulging in satisfying fantasies of revenge à la John Wick (‘You shot my dog! Right! That’s it!’) But Doyle explains why this is not a good way to go. John Wick wannabees must bow to his persuasive powers, impressed by his tolerance towards those calling for his head. ‘We know that there is a kernel of truth in every viewpoint,’ he writes. He believes that ‘it is only a handful of ideologues who are no longer open to persuasion’. His wish is for the culture wars to come to an end, his hope is that social liberalism will win out, and that, within a generation, his book will be obsolete.
I’d like to finish this lengthy review with mention of the book’s ‘bonus’. Doyle’s background in academia and comedy gives his style an extra edge: he is able to modulate from little-grey-cell-torturing prose (as when discussing the arcane-speak of Critical Race Theorists) to brilliant satirical one-offs and unexpected comedic bursts (like the bit where he’s discussing revenge films). The reader is alternately stretched, and tickled, which, by some mysterious alchemy, renders the powerful messages in this book even more powerful.
What a wonderful read for the start of a new year.
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itagaki_unlucky
5.0 out of 5 stars 面白いですよ
Reviewed in Japan on 16 January 2023
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作者紹介：ネットでカルト人気を博す、Titania McGrathの生みの親です。

さて扱ってるテーマはMcWhorterのベストセラー、woke racismと同じなんですが、こっちのほうが断然切り口が深く、面白いです。近年のWokeを新しいピューリタンに例え、その宗教的ともいえる原理主義（キャンセルカルチャー、アイデンティティ政治、groupthink）の危険性を説いています。
読者層は最近翻訳された「社会正義」はいつも正しいと被ると思います。あの本を面白いと思う人は、是非！！
熱烈、翻訳希望です★
（ちなみにこの本はプロモーション戦略の一環？として一日だけキンドル版１００円で売りました。あの時勝った人、おめでとうございます(笑)　ただこの本は定価でも断然買う価値あり、です）
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