Real Natural Law
Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution By Hadley Arkes. Regnery Gateway, 2023. Hardcover, 352 pages, $32.99. Reviewed by William H. Rooney. Hadley Arkes is a prophet in a materialist and positivist age, and he prophesies at length...
Knights On a Darkling Plain
Diogenes Unveiled: A Paul Mankowski Collection Edited by Philip E. Lawler. Ignatius Press, 2022. Paperback, 294 pages, $19.95. Christendom Lost and Found: Meditations for a Post Post-Christian Era By Father Robert McTeigue, S.J. Ignatius Press, 2022. Paperback, 125...
Mysteries Require Odes, Not Emails
The Saint Mary’s Book of Christian Verse Chosen and Introduced by Edward Short. Foreword by Dana Gioia. Gracewing, 2022. Paperback, 412 pages, $25. Reviewed by David G. Bonagura, Jr. In a technocratic and materialist age, an individual or institution’s attitude toward...
Every Mann
Thomas Mann: New and Selected Stories By Thomas Mann. Translated by Damion Searls. Liveright, 2023. Hardcover, 256 pages, $40.00. Reviewed by Joshua Hren. Thomas Mann towers intimidatingly over the twentieth century’s literary landscape, not least because “the icy...
Lofty Prose in a New Translation of Beowulf
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation Translated by Ben J. Reinhard. Cluny Media, 2022. Paperback, 278 pages, $18.95. Reviewed by Jonathan B. Himes. To describe Ben Reinhard’s approach to his new verse translation of Beowulf, the back cover offers the following keywords:...
Saving the West By Keeping It Real
How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises By Spencer Klavan. Regnery, 2023. Hardcover, 256 pages, $29.99. Reviewed by Auguste Meyrat. Charting the decline of the West is something of a popular pastime for conservatives. Even though people today live in...
Reagan as Peacemaking Cold Warrior
The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink By William Inboden. Dutton, 2022. Hardcover, 608 pages, $35. Reviewed by Jason C. Phillips. Mikhail Gorbachev’s recent death has led to a renewed interest in the Cold War, making the recent...
Oh Yeah Baby Eat It
Spending the Winter By Joseph Bottum. St. Augustine’s Press, 2022. Paperback, 80 pages, $13. Reviewed by Robert Grant Price. “Do I really want to read this?” “Is this a good way to spend my time?” These are fair questions to ask yourself whenever thinking about...
The Wisdom of Medieval Scholasticism
Ordered by Love: An Introduction to John Duns Scotus By Thomas M. Ward. Angelico Press, 2022. Paperback, 174 pages, $17.95. Reviewed by David Weinberger. The philosophical thought of the high Middle Ages, also known as “Scholasticism,” often seems impenetrable to...
Russell Kirk collection thus far arranged by date of original publication (Conservative Mind and Politics of Prudence are in my campus office).
Continuing in our celebration of the centenary of "Democracy and Leadership" by Irving Babbitt, reviewer Claes G. Ryn discusses the hostile reactions to Babbitt's views in his time.