The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

What the American Revolution Secured: Order, Justice, and Freedom

Throughout the semiquincentennial year celebrating America’s independence, The University Bookman will invite a range of writers and speakers to contribute to a series drawing upon Russell Kirk’s work on the American Revolution and the constitutional order it secured.

To Find Eyes to See

“Hren selects earnest classics that have stood the test of time—books that generations of readers have found edifying and moving. But also, in the introduction and conclusion alike, Hren returns to another key point of fiction: it doesn’t just help us see extraordinary truth, although it can. More important is that fiction gives us eyes to see the transcendence of ordinary lives, including our own.”

Rural America as It Really Is

“Harold Bell Wright, regardless of how literary tastemakers viewed him in the 1920s, is the central figure in the origin of Branson. Though denigrated by the Baldwins and H. L. Menckens of his day, Wright was one of the century’s best-selling novelists.”

The Poet Watches Birds

“Jennifer A. Hartenburg’s debut collection of poems… offers such a poetic practice of waking, attending, and caring. These are poems rich with the life of the world, flocking with birds and bees both literal and metaphorical, but also closely attentive to the quiddities of language and the motions of the soul.”

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...

From Marxist to Black Conservative

Black and Conservative: The Autobiography of George S. Schuyler by George S. Schuyler. Arlington House, 1966. Hardcover, 362 pages, $5.95. George S. Schuyler (1895–1977) is one of the most consequential black conservative columnists in American history. His...

Love and the Law Professors

Law Professors: Three Centuries of Shaping American Law by Stephen B. Presser. West Academic Publishing, 2017. Hardcover, 502 pages, $48. Reviewed by Allen Mendenhall As improbable as it sounds, someone has written “a love letter to the teaching of law.” At least...

H Is for Heritage Rejected

H Is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald. Grove Press, Reprint Edition, 2016. Paper, 320 pages, $16. Reviewed by Jason Morgan In her beautifully crafted H Is for Hawk, Helen MacDonald’s readers meet a sensitive woman—broken on the wheel of bad relationships, family tragedy,...

Canada as Cradle of Conservatism?

The North American High Tory Tradition by Ron Dart. Foreword by Jonathan M. Paquette. American Anglican Press, 2016. Paperback, 337 pages, $28.Today the term “High Tory” is more likely to appear in a dusty, forgotten history of aristocratic estates enshrouded in mist...

Conservative Thinking on Immigration

Citizen, Community, and Welcoming the Stranger. A Bookman Symposium The recent executive order from President Trump concerning immigration has caused controversy noticeable even by the unusual standards of this most unusual administration. The question of immigration...

Toward a Conservative Immigration Policy

Toward a Conservative Immigration Policy

Symposium: Citizen, Community, and Welcoming the Stranger by Yuval Levin Thinking seriously about immigration has become much harder than it needs to be for both conservatives and liberals in America. Our political debates about the subject since this century began...

Toward a Conservative Immigration Policy

Free Minds, Free Markets, and Free People

Symposium: Citizen, Community, and Welcoming the Stranger by Bradley J. Birzer I’m not sure when it became a “conservative” thing to oppose relatively open borders and the free migrations of peoples, especially those seeking freedom from totalitarian and...

The Book Gallery

A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition. Click on the icon in the upper right corner of the video to see more episodes in this series or check out our YouTube page.

Register for our next book gallery on June 22, 2026:
Russell Kirk On America: How to Understand the Legacy of 1776

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