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.”

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.”

Buckley and Edwards: The Titan of Conservatism and His Titan of a Biographer

“By examining the major individual intellectual influences in Buckley’s life, Edwards is able to organically put together the various strands and ideas that became known as ‘fusionism’ without a lengthy or pedantic philosophical explanation.”

Robert Nisbet’s The Social Philosophers Revisited: Conservative Pluralism versus the Mania for Unity

“…Nisbet shows that freedom and nobility (or excellence) can only survive when civic and social pluralism allows authentic human individuality and real (as opposed to ideologically-induced) community ample room to flourish.”

A Gentleman Out of Moscow

A Gentleman Out of Moscow

“Maddocks is an able guide as she wanders through the adventures, disappointments, and adjustments that Rachmaninoff would experience from his escape in 1917 to his death in 1943.”

To Recover Is to Return

To Recover Is to Return

“The decline [Esolen] has diagnosed is not merely a shift in cultural tastes or even a change in values; it is a near total loss of what it means to be human.

Claiming the Classical Tradition

Claiming the Classical Tradition

“The book stands as a powerful argument that the Classical Tradition has been essential to the lived Black experience in the United States for four centuries. And consequently, the book asserts that any attempts to deny such a connection severs Black Americans from a heritage to which they owe much and from which they will find a treasure trove of wisdom.”

The Geography of the Peace at Eighty

The Geography of the Peace at Eighty

“…Spykman’s book was meant to educate American policymakers and citizens on the permanent geopolitical factors that should guide U.S. foreign policy into the future. Some of Spykman’s ideas resonate in 2024.”

Russell Kirk and Japan: Enamored by the Dead

Russell Kirk and Japan: Enamored by the Dead

“Kirk’s multifaceted persona, blending serious conservative thought with a penchant for the mysterious, underscores the complexity of his intellectual legacy, which I continue to try to unravel even today.”

The Book Gallery

A collection of conversations with Bookman editor Luke C. Sheahan and writers and authors of imagination and erudition.

Conservative Pluralism versus the Mania for Unity
Daniel Mahoney on THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHERS by Robert Nisbet. Foreword by @lsheahan. @AmPhilSociety Press.

The Social Philosophers: A Reading for the Present
Lucía Vallejo Rodríguez on THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHERS by Robert Nisbet. Foreword by @lsheahan @AmPhilSociety Press.

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