The University Bookman
Reviewing Books that Build Culture
Support the University Bookman during our annual Kirktober Fundraiser, and receive an audio copy of Kirk’s short story, What Shadows We Pursue.
Kirktober 2025: James Panero and Adam Simon on the Haunted House
October 28, 2025
On Tuesday, October 28, at 6:00 PM, you are invited to join University Bookman editor Luke Sheahan, Hollywood screenwriter Adam Simon, and New Criterion executive editor James Panero, as they explore the theme of the haunted house in gothic literature and its relationship to conservative thought and imagination.
Register for this free webinar here.
Haiti’s Role in the American Civil War
Kyle Sammin reviews Carl Lawrence Paulus’s new take on foreign influences on American slavery leading to the Civil War.
On Dragon Hunting
Father Schall helps readers reflect on the questions raised by Heywood Broun’s 1921 short story, “The Fifty-First Dragon.”
Persuasion in the Age of Twitter
David G. Bonagura, Jr. welcomes a new edition that applies Cicero’s advice on rhetoric to a distracted age.
Two Cheers for Ultramontanism
Tyler Dobbs reviews John O’Malley’s riveting new history of the First Vatican Council and the nineteenth century emphasis on papal primacy.
The Scientific Case for an Alarming Utopia
Jeffrey Folks reviews Steven Pinker’s unintentionally chilling new book of scientism.
David Bowie and the Decade Science Fiction Took Off
Mark Judge reviews Jason Heller’s fact-heavy tour of pop music and science fiction in the Me Decade.
He Knew the Reason We Fight
Patrick Kurp welcomes Cynthia L. Haven’s new life of René Girard.
This Is Not How We Got Here
Sumantra Maitra is underwhelmed by the evidence presented in Timothy Snyder’s conventional new polemic.
The Neighborliness Not Taken
Ryan Shinkel gleans lessons from the effective new documentary on educational televangelist Fred Rogers.
The Book Gallery
A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.
