The Innocence of Imagination

The Innocence of Imagination

Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination By Mark Vernon Hurst, 2025. Hardcover, 312 pages, $37.99. Reviewed by Paul Krause. William Blake’s name is synonymous with mad genius. In his time, as in ours, he had a reputation for being a crazy...
The Machine or the Garden?

The Machine or the Garden?

Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity By Paul Kingsnorth. Thesis/Penguin Random House, 2025. Hardcover, 368 pages, $32. Reviewed by Paul Krause. In the beginning was the garden. That is a very standard myth to start. Many cultures have foundation myths that...
The Visionary Stigmatists and the Hope of Mercy

The Visionary Stigmatists and the Hope of Mercy

The Stigmatists: Their Gifts, Their Revelations, Their Warnings By Paul Kengor. TAN Books, 2024. Hardcover, 416 pages, $29.95. Reviewed by Paul Krause. The crucifixion of Christ is the central event in Christianity, for, as Saint Paul says in his letter to the...
Finding the Historical Vergil

Finding the Historical Vergil

Vergil: The Poet’s Life By Sarah Ruden. Yale University Press, 2023. Hardcover, 200 pages, $26. Reviewed by Paul Krause. Vergil is the greatest Roman poet. We know him as the poet of the Aeneid, the Eclogues, and the Georgics. Vergil is also Dante’s guide through hell...
The Woman Who Loved Lord Byron

The Woman Who Loved Lord Byron

Lady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit By Antonia Fraser. Pegasus Books, 2023. Hardcover, 224 pages, $28.95. Reviewed by Paul Krause. “Lady Caroline Lamb broke the rules.” Who was Lady Caroline Lamb, the great rulebreaker, “free spirit,” and lady who nearly destroyed Lord...