The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

Join friends of the Bookman in New York City on December 8, 2025 for the Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture.

Defending the Christian Faith

“In 100 Tough Questions For Catholics: Common Obstacles To Faith Today… David G. Bonagura, Jr. gives bite-sized answers to dozens of big questions about the faith.”

How to Love What is Permanent

“Throughout the book, Gibbs pleads with his readers that we not only think of the soul in terms of salvation but also in terms of health. Good taste won’t save one’s soul. But it will nourish the soul and incline the soul towards virtue much more than the bad taste we will acquire from mediocre things.”

Personalism in the Age of AI

“Personalism is a philosophical movement that places the human person at the center of inquiry, affirming the inherent dignity, value, and uniqueness of each individual. While it spans both religious and secular traditions, its common thread is a commitment to defending the irreducible reality of the person in an age increasingly shaped by systems, technologies, and abstractions.”

Christopher Dawson and Pluralism

“In particular, I want to examine three aspects of Dawson’s thought: his conclusion that cultures, especially Western culture, historically have been pluralist; his contention that a pluralism of cultures preserves a sphere of freedom from dominant modern ideologies that would eliminate that freedom; and finally, Dawson’s conviction that a pluralist world represents a new opportunity for evangelization.”

Books in Little: End of an Era

This Gulf of Fire: The Great Lisbon Earthquake, or Apocalypse in the Age of Science and Reason by Mark Molesky. Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. Hardcover, 512 pages, $35. Despite its status as one of history’s most powerful tremors, the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 has barely...

Glimpses of a Great Light

Ronald Knox: A Man for All Seasons edited by Francesca Bugliani Knox. PIMS, 2016. Hardcover, 416 pages, $65.Jesus said only a fool would light a candle and proceed to hide it under a bowl. Yet time, even more than neglect or abuse, has a way of snuffing out even the...

A Splendid Retelling

Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain’s Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940 by John Kelly. Scribner, 2015. Hardcover, 384 pages, $30.Winston Churchill believed that fate had placed him at the head of Britain’s government at its hour...

Reclaiming the ‘Higher’ in Higher Education

American Heresies and Higher Education by Peter Augustine Lawler. St. Augustine’s Press, 2016. Paperback, 224 pages, $20.Any appreciator of permanent and higher things who has gone to the university has very likely encountered the ugliness of political correctness,...

On Not Conserving Liberalism

Conserving America?: Essays on Present Discontents by Patrick J. Deneen. St. Augustines Press, 2016. Paper, 192 pages, $19.The title of the book—Conserving America?—tells us much of what we need to know about Deneen’s thesis. For much of conservative intellectual...

Books in Little: Lewis as Political Thinker

C. S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law by Justin Buckley Dyer and Micah J. Watson. Cambridge University Press, 2016. Hardcover, 170 pages, $45.C. S. Lewis, although a conservative, can surprise the reader, especially the evangelical one, with some of his...

Roy Campbell: A Poet for Our Time?

Matthew Robare looks at the work of poet Roy Campbell on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, exploring why he has been blacklisted by the literary establishment and his fight against the elitist snowflakes of his own time.

When Science Opens to Faith

Particles of Faith: A Catholic Guide to Navigating the Sciences by Stacy A. Trasancos. Ave Maria Press, 2016. Paper, 192 pages, $15.95.Ever since the Scientific Revolution, religious faith has withstood a steady assault of scientific discoveries that seem to undermine...

The Book Gallery

A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.

There's still time to sign up to join the @KirkCenter for the McLellan Prizes Gala in DC on November 19 https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2025-mclellan-prizes

In honor of longtime @ubookman editor Gerald J. Russello, enjoy this Russello Classic, "Christopher Dawson and Pluralism."

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