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.

The Urbanity of Russell Kirk

“The urban fabric must also be mended and darned through continuous upkeep. The city is not yours to experiment. From Russell to Russello, our ancestral spirits cast their shadows whether or not we choose to observe the city of god in the cities of men.”

Marxism and the Rising Generation

“Gonzalez and Gorka have performed an important service in bringing together a wide range of fact and theory and in establishing a coherent line stretching directly from Marx through many important figures to the present day.”

Cracking the Code to Civilization

“In a world flooded with online influencers, ‘red pill’ rhetoric, and algorithmic posturing, Newell offers something older, wiser, and far superior: a code of manliness rooted in the Western tradition of virtue, character, and service. His message is that true manliness is not a pose or performance; it is the integration of moral and intellectual excellence, what he calls ‘the manly heart.’”

France and the Problem of Abstraction

“…French people’s love for ideas, indeed for ideology, often puts them at odds with the pragmatic requisites of a mature democracy and with reality itself. France is, as she very aptly puts it, ‘a country of dreamers who fall into melancholy when reality catches up with them.’ But far from being merely a psychological explanation for French unhappiness, this idealism is the key to a political understanding of our complicated relationship with the very principle of democracy.”

John Lukacs as Teacher

A Lukacs Symposium John P. Rossi For years the Reader’s Digest had a feature entitled “The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met.” For me that was John Lukacs and the meeting took place in 1955 during my sophomore year at La Salle College. As a freshman I had heard...

John Lukacs: Biblical Historical Thinking

A Lukacs SymposiumLike Pontius Pilate, “whom,” John Lukacs says, “I could never contemplate without a modicum of sympathy,”[1] this Hungarian historian is curious to know the character of truth, its personality. He regards it as a “misconception” that historians can...

A Lukacs Symposium

We are pleased to present over the course of this week a series of essays focusing on the life and achievement of historian John Lukacs. Lukacs is an historian of wide-ranging penetration and power, with works ranging from European history—including the Hungary that...

What ‘Moonlighting’ Reveals

Certain Problems of American College TeachersEver since the introduction into American factories of the forty-hour week, the actual working-hours of American industrial workmen have been increasing; until in our day this practice attains extraordinary proportions. The...

Buckley and Individualist Conservatism

Buckley: William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism by Carl T. Bogus. Bloomsbury Press, 2011. 405 pp. $30.00. William F. Buckley, Jr. continues to stand as the representative conservative of the postwar era. Bon vivant, former CIA operative, heir to...

On Instruction in Cheerful Forms

On Essays and LettersIn the Spring of 1618, John Donne, of “no man is an island” fame, preached a sermon at Lincoln’s Inn, the seat of the legal profession in London. Some years earlier he had matriculated there and now was returning as a chaplain. His earlier life,...

Passages: Meijer

We are deeply sorry to learn of the death of Fred Meijer. Meijer was a philanthropist par excellence and beloved by all in Michigan who knew him. Readers interested in his life and legacy may be interested to see Jim Person’s review of his biography published in the...

Passages: Hoeflich

Annette Kirk and Jeffrey O. Nelson both contributed tributes to a memorial page for Mr. Charles H. Hoeflich (1914–2011), a long-time friend and financial supporter of the Kirk Center who died recently. The Kirk Center is deeply grateful for his support 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.

Cracking the Code to Civilization
@CliffordBates12 on "The Code of Man: Love, Courage, Pride, Family, Country" (2nd Edition) by @waller_newell

Marxism and the Rising Generation
Jeffrey Folks on "NextGen Marxism: What It Is and How to Combat It" by @Gundisalvus and Katharine Cornell Gorka @EncounterBooks

Load More

Shop through Regnery
Support the Kirk Center
& University Bookman