The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

Join friends of the Bookman in New York City on December 8, 2025 for the Gerald Russello Memorial Lecture.

William F. Buckley Jr.: Literary Figure 

“…the American public intellectual might best be appreciated as a literary figure. Producing about 350,000 words for publication yearly at the peak of his career, Buckley was never at a loss for what to say or how to say it.”

Defending the Christian Faith

“In 100 Tough Questions For Catholics: Common Obstacles To Faith Today… David G. Bonagura, Jr. gives bite-sized answers to dozens of big questions about the faith.”

Natural Law and the Need for Moral Clarity

“Christians need clarity on the way their faith shapes their political activity. This ambiguous book fails to provide that clarity.”

Moral Realism Over and Against Contingent Pluralism 

“The challenge for… all natural law theorists is the proper ordering and integration of the contingencies of a given culture and the universality of the primary precepts of natural law.”

History on Improper Principles

“The condescending attitude—even animus—behind this book is, in fact, among the reasons Trump came to power in the first place. Voters, clearly sick of being sneered at by elites like Lichtman and his colleagues in the established commentariat, have turned to populism as an outlet for their frustrations.”

The Conservative Exiles’ Reading List

The isle of Elba, just off the coast from Tuscany, a friend who visited there has assured me, is palmy, balmy, serene—a great place for a retreat of the mind and the spirit. I plan to stay in this part of the world, but as I climb aboard a skiff for my own private...

New Feature!

To commemorate the 90th birthday of Russell Kirk, we wish to announce that visitors to the Center's web page may now easily visit the valuable assessments of Kirk's accomplishment published in a special issue of The Intercollegiate Review shortly after his death....

Ex Tenebris Audio

Russell Kirk's ghostly tale “Ex Tenebris” has been released as an audio book on CD by The Trinity Forum. The production features an introduction by Senior Fellow Vigen Guroian on “The Importance of Place” and is narrated by David Schock. You can order copies...

Feulner on Kirk and Conservative Thought

Heritage Foundation President Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. made a presentation in July on “The Roots of Modern Conservative Thought from Burke to Kirk.” It's a useful summary and assessment that is worth your attention.

Books in Little

The Ethics of Modernism: Moral Ideas in Yeats, Eliot, Joyce, Woolf, and Beckett by Lee Oser (Cambridge University Press, 185 pp.) Although much ink has been spilled analyzing the mundanity and pessimism of modernist literature, the broader ethical perspective of...

In Memoriam: Richard Durant

An ObituaryRichard Durant, a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II; an investment advisor; a leader in local, state, and national Republican Party activities for more than twenty years; a lawyer late in life; an avid reader; a father of four; grandfather of seven;...

What Everybody Can Enjoy

What Everybody Can Enjoy

On Essays and LettersRecently, a former student, Nicholas Wheeler, knowing my proclivities, gave me Volume CLXXII of “The World’s Classics.” The title of this particular volume is A Book of English Essays (1600-1900). The essays were selected by Stanley V. Makower and...

History’s Story

History’s Story

A History of Histories: Epics, Chronicles, Romances and Inquiries from Herodotus and Thucydides to the Twentieth Century by John Burrow Random House (New York) 540 pp., $35.00 cloth, 2007 The past may be another country, as a cliché holds, but it nonetheless remains...

The Prince Redeemed

The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington by Robert Novak. Crown Forum (New York) 662 pp., $29.95 cloth, 2007 If Hollywood is home to “kiss and tell” memoirs, should Washington be the source of the “kiss up and tell” variety? Not if you’re the...

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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