Dictatorship and the Common Man
China Unbound: A New World Disorder By Joanna Chiu. House of Anansi Press, 2021. Paperback, 304 pages, $20. Reviewed by Jason Morgan For most of the Donald Trump presidency, the news in the United States about the Peopleâs Republic of China was edged with great-power...
Long Live the Greeks
The Greeks: A Global History by Roderick Beaton. Basic Books, 2021. Hardback, 608 pages, $35. Reviewed by Casey Chalk It is remarkable to consider the contribution of Greek civilization to the pillars of the Western world. Much of American (and Western) political...
The Virtues of a âLaid Backâ Foreign Policy
The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency by John Mueller. Cambridge University Press, 2021. Hardback, 342 pages, $28. Reviewed by Michael J. Ard John Mueller, professor emeritus from the Ohio State University, has long questioned the...
This Comes of Settling a Country
Freedom by Sebastian Junger Simon & Schuster, 2021. Hardback, 160 pages, $26. Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl An example of freedom is a bird being let out of a cage, or a prisoner being released from prison after serving a certain amount of time, or a woman...
In Moods Both Wild and Quiet
Strange Gods of the Prairie edited by Jason Ryberg and John Dorsey. Spartan Press, 2021. Paperback, 250 pages, $15. Reviewed by Christopher Landrum Strange Gods of the Prairie is an anthology by the Gasconade Review of Bell, Missouri, comprising 150 poetic works...
How Philosophy Will Save the WorldâOr at Least, Make It More Bearable
Think Better: Unlocking the Power of Reason by Ulrich L. Lehner. Baker Academic, 2021. Paperback, 192 pages, $22. Reviewed by Auguste Meyrat Whatever one might think of todayâs society, there is no question that a dearth of clear, logical thinking has contributed to...
Conservatism? What a Concept
Conservatism (Key Concepts in Political Theory) by Edmund Neill. Polity, 2021. Paperback, 180 pages, $19.95 Reviewed by Daniel Pitt Edmund Neill, in a chapter called âDefining Conservatism,â tells us that this âbook seeks to define the concept of conservatism.â To do...
Happy with Aquinas
Commentary on Thomas Aquinasâs Treatise on Happiness and Ultimate Purposeby J. Budziszewski. Cambridge University Press, 2020. Paperback, 704 pages, $40. Reviewed by Jesse Russell St. Thomas Aquinas has been one of the principal intellectual mainstays of post-World...
Diaries of a Poor Judge of Character
Henry âChipsâ Channon: The Diaries (Volume Two): 1938â43 Edited by Simon Heffer. Hutchinson, 2021. Hardcover, 1120 pages, $45.90. Reviewed by John Rossi âChipsâ Channon was born in Chicago in 1897 to a moderately wealthy family. During the First World War he served in...
Ah, just your typical 663-page light summer beach read for a @ubookman book review. Makes Wealth of Nations look like a Substack essay.