I've mentioned these books
before, and I note them again because they have a great deal of relevance to the present day:
The Conservative Century: From Reaction to Revolution by Gregory Schneider and
Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan by Kim Phillips-Fein. Schneider's book shows how conservatism has a profound ability to reinvent itself without losing continuity with its past (a point I tried to make at the recent future-of-the-right
debate) and Phillips-Fein shows how conservative intellectualism grew stronger in the very hostile environment of the Depression.