Tension and Freedom for Catholics in Britain

Tension and Freedom for Catholics in Britain

The King and the Catholics: England, Ireland, and the Fight for Religious Freedom, 1780–1829 by Antonia Fraser. Nan A. Talese, 2018. Hardcover, 336 pages, $30. Reviewed by William Anthony Hay Often the most contentious political issues of one era cease being issues at...
On Fascists and Anti-Fascists in Spain

On Fascists and Anti-Fascists in Spain

Varela: El general antifascista de Franco by Federico Martínez Roda. La Esfera de los Libros, S.L., 2012. Paperback, $41. Reviewed by Alberto M. Fernandez Fascism is in the air in Spain. Actual fascists seem hard to find but you wouldn’t know it from the political...
Catholics and America: A Question of Loyalty

Catholics and America: A Question of Loyalty

The Catholic Writings of Orestes Brownson Edited by Michael P. Federici. University of Notre Dame Press, 2018. Hardcover, 452 pages, $70. Reviewed by Richard M. Reinsch II A question that most had thought long answered has returned to stir and prick the conscience of...
A Slight and Dismal Cachet

A Slight and Dismal Cachet

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery. Little, Brown and Company, 2018. Hardcover, 512 pages, $35. Reviewed by Eve Tushnet Many years ago I saw an obituary notice in the local gay newspaper. Above a desolate,...
A New Dracula

A New Dracula

A Bloody Habit: A Novel by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson. Ignatius Press, 2018. Paperback, 435 pages, $19. Reviewed by Matthew M. Robare Stop me if you’ve heard this one: while traveling through central Europe, a modern English lawyer gets entangled in the machinations of a...
Originalism and the Individual Jurist

Originalism and the Individual Jurist

by Caleb Stegall Editor’s Note: The following lecture was delivered in May of 2018 at the Russell Kirk Center as the keynote address at the annual conference of the Society for Law & Culture. Thank you all for being here. It’s an honor and privilege to be with...
The Habit of Being a Catholic Writer

The Habit of Being a Catholic Writer

The Letters of Flannery O’Connor and Caroline Gordon, edited by Christine Flanagan. The University of Georgia Press, 2018. Hardcover, 254 pages, $32.95 Reviewed by Emina Melonic “This girl is a real novelist,” said Caroline Gordon in a letter to Robert...
All the History That Fits a Narrative

All the History That Fits a Narrative

The Final Act: The Helsinki Accords and the Transformation of the Cold War by Michael Cotey Morgan, Princeton University Press, 2018. Hardcover, 424 pages, $35. Reviewed by Francis P. Sempa People have a tendency, when they expend much time and energy working on a...
A District in Play

A District in Play

Spitalfields: The History of a Nation in a Handful of Streets by Dan Cruickshank. Random House, (2016) 2018. Paperback, 763 pages, $24 Reviewed by Derek Turner Every morning, I would be awakened by the cockerel across the road, and open the curtains to see an array of...
The Doctor as Moralist

The Doctor as Moralist

The Proper Procedure and Other Stories by Theodore Dalrymple. New English Review Press, 2017. Paperback, 162 pages, $19. Reviewed by Scott Beauchamp The phenomenon of the literary doctor presents an interesting case in reading biography into a literary oeuvre. They...