Shakespeare and the Art of Reading

Shakespeare and the Art of Reading

Shakespeare’s Scholars: Three Lessons From the Liberal Arts By Sean Keilen.  Princeton University Press, 2026.   Hardcover, 184 pages, $24.95. Reviewed by Jesse Russell. “What we need are places, i.e., a table with some chairs around it, in which we can learn again to...
After Mansfield

After Mansfield

The Rise and Fall of Rational Control: The History of Modern Political Philosophy By Harvey C. Mansfield. Harvard University Press, 2026.  Hardcover, 336 pages, $35.00.  Reviewed by Jesse Russell. There is a critical dividing line in contemporary academia. It is not a...
And I Will Go to the Altar of God

And I Will Go to the Altar of God

On the Altar: A History of Sacrifice from the Sacred to the Secular By Jonathan Sheehan.  Princeton University Press, 2026.  Hardcover, 608 pages, $39.95. Reviewed by Jesse Russell. In the twenty-first century, several works have arisen chronicling the influence of...
Shakespeare Forever

Shakespeare Forever

Thinking Through Shakespeare By David Womersley. Princeton University Press, 2026.  Hardcover, 432 pages, $35. Reviewed by Jesse Russell. In England ideas run wild and pasture on emotions; instead of thinking with our feelings (a very different thing) we corrupt our...
Amici

Amici

Michelangelo and Titian: A Tale of Rivalry and Genius By William E. Wallace.  Princeton University Press, 2026. Hardcover, 248 pages, $35.00.  Reviewed by Jesse Russell. There is a running joke that Americans remain perpetually torn between Puritanism and pornography....