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.”

After Ideology but Before the Revolution: The Liberal Soul

“Walsh could give voice to a devastating criticism of the critics of liberal democracy because they forgot the most important aspect of what they chopped to pieces: there can be no analysis of liberal democracy outside the convictions that underpin it, namely mutual respect for the dignity and rights of others. There is no higher purpose possible than the affirmation of the infinite worth of each human being, of each ‘person,’ and the political consequences of that affirmation: to build that insight into the regimes of self-government.”

Liberalism’s Death Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

“In this profound work, Walsh engages the friends and foes of liberalism alike to reveal its enduring appeal and resilience. Throughout he urges us to consider liberalism not so much as a stale academic doctrine, but as a lived experience rooted in the core belief of the inviolable dignity of each person as a free and rational being.”

The Paradox of Liberal Resilience

“The defense of inner liberty seems always to come as the long-awaited response and corrective to the modern state’s interventions…”

Knowing It All

Journals: 1952–2000 by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., edited by Andrew Schlesinger and Stephen Schlesinger. The Penguin Press (New York) 894 pp., $40.00, 2007Historians of the American presidency are notorious for composing lists. The five greatest presidents … the five...

The End of America as We Know It?

Immigration and the American Future by Chilton Williamson, Jr. Chronicles Press 307 pp., 2007Chilton Williamson, Jr., former book review editor at National Review and the current senior editor for books at Chronicles, has compiled an invaluable set of essays in...

To Renew and Rebuild Civilization

Restoring the Meaning of Conservatism: Writings from Modern Age by George A. Panichas. ISI Books (Wilmington, Del.) 350 pp., $18.00 paper, 2008 A nationally known conservative figure recently remarked in the presence of this writer, “The American conservative movement...

The First Thing We Do . . .

Unrestrained: Judicial Excess and the Mind of the American Lawyer by Robert F. Nagel. Transaction Publishers (New Brunswick, N.J.) 148 pp., $39.95 cloth, 2008   Robert F. Nagel, the Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of...

A Study of Two Masters of English Prose

The Same Man: George Orwell & Evelyn Waugh in Love and War by David Lebedoff. Random House (New York) 264 pp., 2008 Reviewed by John P. Rossi Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell were two of the twentieth century’s greatest masters of English prose: Waugh in his comic...

The Lesser of Evils: Democratic Capitalism Reconsidered

Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents by Brian C. Anderson. ISI Books (Wilmington, Del.) 225 pp., $25.00 paper, 2007Few things are more irritating, wrote Lord Acton, than those which expose the pedigree of ideas. Brian Anderson’s Democratic Capitalism and Its...

A New Era for the Bookman

We apologize for the lack of the Bookman these past months, and we deeply regret any inconvenience our absence has caused. Fundraising and operational difficulties have prevented us from maintaining our usual production schedule, which the financial crisis only...

First Principles of Leadership Lecture

Annette Kirk spoke on March 3 on "First Principles of Leadership" for the Leadership Academy of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids. You can see photos and view the lecture here on their site. The assigned...

Kirk Center in Italy

Senior Fellow Marco Respinti announces progress on the web site for the Centro Studi Russell Kirk based in Milan, Italy. It is still under development, but you can visit at www.russellkirk.eu. We have also recently posted an updated bio for Marco.

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.

After Ideology but Before the Revolution: The Liberal Soul
Barry Cooper on The Growth of the Liberal Soul (2nd Edition) by David Walsh. @undpress

Liberalism’s Death Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
Joseph R. Fornieri on The Growth of the Liberal Soul (2nd Edition) by David Walsh. @undpress

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