Lincoln and the Democratic Cause
Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment By Allen C. Guelzo. Knopf, 2024. Hardcover, 272 pages, $30. Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl. On the southern border of my college’s campus is a statue of a Union soldier. It’s the oldest such monument...
Under the Light of the Same Communion Candle: From Russell Kirk to James Matthew Wilson
T. S. Eliot: Culture and Anarchy By James Matthew Wilson. Wiseblood Books, 2024. Paperback, 72 pages, $5. Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl. Matthew Arnold’s thesis in The Function of Criticism at the Present Time reads much like a response by Arnold to suggestions...
The “Art of Being” and “The Art of Becoming”
Some Permanent Things, Second Edition By James Matthew Wilson. Wiseblood Books, 2022. Paperback, 162 pages, $15. Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl. During an interview a few years back, James Matthew Wilson was asked what he meant by the “good,” a fitting question for...
Whether the Heart Has Its Reasons of Which It Knows Nothing
Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment By Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey. Princeton University Press, 2021. Hardcover, 264 pages, $27.95. Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl. My parents’ wish is for me to be happy is a phrase so often quoted to...
There are metaphorical hills on which I would be willing to die. The Oxford comma is one of them.
So easy to forget that the best way to educate yourself is to read great works of literature and philosophy, then talk about them. Bring back the salon!