In the 1930s a bunch of progressive-minded students at City College of New York used to gather in the cafeteria to settle the state of the world. The larger group, which met in alcove two, was made up of Stalinists, while alcove one housed all the others of the variegated left. Among the latter was a self-described Trotskyist by the name of Irving Kristol.

It was an appropriate beginning for a contrarian life. But, unlike most natural sceptics, his influence ranged far from the salons, small magazines and classrooms that were his métier. He died in Washington last week at the age of 89, an indisputable godfather of modern neoconservatism, the movement that reached its apotheosis in the Republican administration of George W. Bush.