Finding Wisdom at Dusk
The Unnamable Present by Roberto Calasso. Translated by Richard Dixon. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. Hardcover, 208 pages, $26. Reviewed by Scott Beauchamp We’re living in strange times. There’s a pervasive sense of a cultural dusk, in many ways, in which...
Americans’ Dignity, and the Nation’s Shame
Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade. Sentinel, 2019. Hardcover, 304 pages, $30. Reviewed by Addison Del Mastro It is an understatement to say that Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America, is an important book: it is a must-read. And the...
Fragments of Shattered Empire
Last Days in Old Europe: Trieste ’79, Vienna ’85, Prague ’89 By Richard Bassett. Allen Lane, 2019. Hardcover, 207 pages, $35. Reviewed by Kevin J. McNamara Empires demand histories as imperious as their subjects, but their aftermath, as this work by Richard Bassett...
More to Say on Slavery and the Constitution
No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding by Sean Wilentz. Harvard University Press, 2018. Hardcover, 368 pages, $27. Reviewed by Jason Ross The single most influential interpreter of the Convention that framed the Constitution is the...
More than Regime Change, We Need a New Cosmological Vision