After the New Left: Rereading Breaking Ranks
By John C. “Chuck” Chalberg. The recent death of Norman Podhoretz prompted me to return to his “political memoir,” Breaking Ranks. Published in 1979, it deserves to be read or re-read today—and not simply as a historical account of his evolution from left to right...
Revisiting Walter Lippmann
Walter Lippmann: An Intellectual Biography. By Tom Arnold-Forster. Princeton University Press, 2025. Hardcover, 368 pages, $35. Reviewed by John C. “Chuck” Chalberg. Immersed as he must have been in the papers, columns, and books of Walter Lippmann, intellectual...
Mark Twain Revisited
Mark Twain By Ron Chernow. Penguin Press, 2025. Hardcover, 1,200 pages, $45. Reviewed by Chuck Chalberg. Let us stipulate at the outset that Ron Chernow has indeed covered the Twain waterfront in this massive volume. How could he not? Twain appears “Afloat” in Part...
Localism is Americanism
Localism: Coming Home to Catholic Social Teaching Edited by Dale Ahlquist and Michael Warren Davis. Sophia Institute Press, 2024. Hardcover, 240 pages, $21.95. Reviewed by John C. “Chuck” Chalberg. If the editors of this collection win the day, a new “ism” will be...
@ubookman The series seeks to advance understanding of the significance of the American founding to our times through fresh, concise presentations. The following piece by @ubookman editor @lsheahan sets the stage: https://buff.ly/Aakgs0W
Throughout the semiquincentennial year celebrating America’s independence, @ubookman will invite a range of writers and speakers to contribute to a series drawing upon Russell Kirk’s work on the American Revolution and the constitutional order it secured.