Thought Is a Labyrinth

Thought Is a Labyrinth

Questioning Minds: The Letters of Guy Davenport and Hugh Kenner Edited by Edward M. Burns. Counterpoint, 2018. Hardcover, 2016 pages, $95. Reviewed by Phil Christman Culture is, among other things, a conspiracy of the like-minded. “The idea is to accumulate a Vortex,”...
Classical (and Faux) Glories of New York

Classical (and Faux) Glories of New York

Classical New York: Discovering Greece and Rome in Gotham, edited by Matthew McGowan and Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis. Empire State Editions, 2018. Hardcover, 304 pages, $35. Reviewed by John Byron Kuhner Among the memories of my New York City childhood—graffiti...
Calhoun, Compromise, and Consequence

Calhoun, Compromise, and Consequence

Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants by H. W. Brands. Doubleday, 2018. Hardcover, 432 pages, $30 Reviewed by Carl Rollyson Henry Clay (1777–1852), John Calhoun (1782–1850),...
Citizens of the World

Citizens of the World

The Sand Pebbles by Richard McKenna. Naval Institute Press, [1962] 2001. Paper, 624 pages, $26. Reviewed by Casey Chalk This October marked the one-year anniversary of the release of Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle, an American/Canadian couple captured by the Taliban...
The Revolution That Did Not End in Blood

The Revolution That Did Not End in Blood

A Conversation with Antonia Fraser Interviewed by JP O’Malley Antonia Fraser is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling novels and historical works, including Mary Queen of Scots; Cromwell, Our Chief of Men; and The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605. She...