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.

Britain at the Turning Point

“A major theme that runs through Allport’s study is the shifting equilibrium of power relations between the United States and Britain. The war demonstrated that, as British power and resources dwindled, Britain became dependent on material and financial supplies from the United States.”

Shakespeare Forever

“…in his rich and thorough exploration of not only Shakespeare’s thoughts but also the course of Western thinking, David Womersley demonstrates that ideas do matter, and that Shakespeare is bigger than the harsh but ultimately timid emotions of our age.”

The Innocence of Imagination

“…the innocence that Blake’s poetry sings of is the awe, wonder, and imagination of a child who can conceive of boundless relationships with everything from a flower or butterfly to sister, brother, mother, and father. ‘Growing up,’ Vernon writes in addressing Blake’s poetic philosophy of innocence and imagination, ‘need not mean losing innocence and wonder.’ In fact, a mature innocence that can blend realism with imaginative creativity is key to a good and joyful life.”

Books in Little: The Myth of Islamic Spain

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain by Darío Fernández-Morera. ISI Books, 2016. Hardcover, 358 pages, $30.   This is a brave book, and one must assume that its author is tenured, for the book...

Burke in Full

Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke by Richard Bourke. Princeton University Press, 2015. Hardcover, 1032 pages, $45.Twenty-five years ago, Conor Cruise O’Brien entertained Burke enthusiasts with The Great Melody: now Richard Bourke is presenting...

Dark Night, Black Hopes

The Death of Christian Culture, by John Senior. Arlington House, Publishers, 1978 [Revised edition, IHS Press, 2008]. Paperback, 192 pages, $29.The last year has brought us a number of books that ought to serve as town criers to the West. While we have had a veritable...

Books in Little: Modern Culture

An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Culture By Roger Scruton St. Augustine’s Press, 2000, New ed. 2016. Hardcover, 173 pp., $25. This slim volume is invaluable in setting forth clearly a critical overview of contemporary culture and cultural trends, and belongs on...

Anything but Bland Conformity

Collected Essays on Philosophers by Colin Wilson, edited by Colin Stanley. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016. Hardcover, 253 pages, $82. The British writer, thinker, and varsity intellectual nonconformist Colin Wilson (1931–2013) began his prolific authorial career...

The Enduring Wisdom of Bryce

The Enduring Wisdom of Bryce

The Hindrances to Good Citizenship, by James Bryce. Introduction by Howard G. Schneiderman. Transaction Publishers, 1993. 186 pp., $36. The most revealing fact in James Bryce’s study of the impediments to good citizenship in a democracy, which Howard G. Schneiderman...

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.

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