The University Bookman
Reviewing Books that Build Culture
Watch James Panero of the New Criterion discuss “The Urbanity of Russell Kirk” at the 2025 Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture.
Halting the Assembly Line Life
“Williams’s consideration of our culture’s denigration of life is a deep and thorough one, as she considers not merely overt manifestations but even subtle messaging…”
Looking at U.S. Trade Policy Through a Historical Lens
“…it is more important than ever that the electorate have a clear-eyed guide to follow, one that does not engage in fear mongering about the end of neoliberalism or the return to a mercantilist economic system, but that provides readers with ample context and useful anecdotes.”
The Mystery of Imitation
“…Haven draws attention to the relevance of Girard’s writings for our times. When reading many of the other chapters she chose, I could not help thinking about contemporary American social and political disorders. In ‘The Totalitarian Trial’ and ‘Retribution,’ for example, Girard argues Job’s alleged friends, like Stalin’s interrogators, are really representatives of the community demanding Job’s consent to his own persecution. The unity of the community hinges on Job’s willingness to confess his ‘crimes.’ Only then can he be killed and forgotten, ‘unpersoned,’ as Orwell would say. A similar dynamic is at work in cancel culture.”
An Italian Apologia for the American Electoral System
“The purpose of the book is to understand the reasons for the intricate electoral system, which has proven to be remarkably stable and orderly throughout American history. Mainly addressed to an Italian audience that is naturally less familiar with American voting, it can also be useful for Americans to understand how the whole design is ordered to secure a fair system against totalitarian democracy.”
The Centrality of Civic Virtue
“A just polity grows as we acquire a moral sense, which fosters attitudes and actions of benevolence toward others…”
Revivifying the Conservative Movement
“Roberts has perceived the deep and fundamental crisis within the American body politic, and that crisis is a spiritual crisis.”
Virtuous Living, Not Just for Philosophers
“Abela refers to both the cardinal virtues and their many subsidiary virtues as ‘super habits’ in order to tap into the popularity of recent books about the importance of habit formation.”
Irving Babbitt’s Defense of the Humanities
“…Irving Babbitt’s humanism stood in sharp contrast to the humanitarianism that often distorts and permeates humanities education today.”
Democracy and Leadership at 100: Lessons for the 21st Century
“…Russell Kirk… calls it ‘one of the few truly important works of political thought to be written by an American in the twentieth century—or, for that matter, during the past two centuries.’ He saw clearly that Babbitt’s diagnosis of the post-WWI moment was rooted in a deep understanding of timeless elements of the human condition. Moreover, because the trends Babbitt discussed in the 1920s have continued largely unabated since that time, his critique of them and prescriptions to remedy them remain salient.”
The Book Gallery
A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.
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