John Jay: Man of Order, Justice, Freedom
John Jay: Founding Father by Walter Stahr. Hambledon & London (London) 482 pp., $29.95 cloth, 2005.John Jay arguably is the least known of the most significant Founding Fathers. Yet at one time, he was considered by many to be the logical successor to Washington...A Baptist Perspective on Tolkien’s Catholic Evangelism
The Gospel According to Tolkien by Ralph C. Wood Westminster/John Knox Press (Louisville, Kentucky), 169 pp., $14.95 paper, 2003.It is a remarkable irony and a sign of the times that a book written by a Baptist professor at a Baptist university and published by a...From Welch To Rand: Getting It, Buckley-Style
Getting It Right by William F. Buckley, Jr. Regnery Publishing, 2003. 311 pp., $24.95 cloth.“In your heart you know he’s right.” The slogan, of course, dates from the 1964 failed presidential campaign/crusade of Senator Barry Goldwater. Surprisingly,...A Call to Contemplatives
The Church and the Land by Fr. Vincent McNabb.IHS Press (Norfolk, Virginia), 195 pp., $14.95 paper, 2003.Few in our time have heard of Father Vincent McNabb—Irishman, Dominican theologian, leading light among the Distributists, and man of paradigmatic character....A Musical Century Revisited: The Neo-Romantic Aesthetic from Bloch to Flagello
Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers by Walter Simmons. Scarecrow Press (Lanham, Maryland), 419 pp., $60.00 cloth, 2004.In this persuasively argued and passionately committed book, musicologist Walter Simmons makes his discussion of six...Spilt Religion: Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials (complete trilogy) by Philip Pullman. Alfred A. Knopf (New York City, New York), cloth, 2000.Although Philip Pullman’s trilogy of fantasy books for children, HisDark Materials, is barely known in the United States, that is set to change. The...America’s Protestant Roots in History and Theory
Protestantism and the American Founding edited by Michael Zuckert and Thomas Engeman. Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, Indiana) 296 pp., paper, 2004. SINCE OUR FOUNDING, Americans have understood ourselves in powerfully and pervasively religious terms. Intellectuals have...Sowing the Seeds of Liberty
Educating for Liberty: The First Half-Century of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute by Lee Edwards. Regnery Publishing (Washington, D.C.), viii + 343 pp., $27.95 cloth, 2003. A little over a half-century ago, while Russell Kirk was in the midst of researching and...Welcome and Farewells
Publisher’s NoteFor the past decade I have been privileged to follow in my esteemed father-in-law’s footprints and edit this unique quarterly book review journal. It has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience. As you, our loyal readers know, the last...
"In an age when so many of our inherited institutions seem to be unraveling under the pressures of a restless, self-regarding individualism, it is a rare and welcome thing to encounter a book that speaks with quiet conviction about the things that have long sustained the American
"If classical teachers believe that truth, beauty, and goodness can indeed change the world, then the sort of student (and teacher and school) described by @AnthonyEsolen is a net gain for this world. And his Classical Catechism serves as a helpful tool in building the necessary