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.
Change and Continuity
It is with great pleasure and a deep sense of gratitude that I assume the role of editor of The University Bookman. I want to extend my thanks to Jeff Nelson, Annette Kirk, the Earhart Foundation, the Bookman advisory board, and all the staff at the Kirk Center and...
Spilt Religion: Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials (complete trilogy) by Philip Pullman. Alfred A. Knopf (New York City, New York), cloth, 2000.Although Philip Pullman’s trilogy of fantasy books for children, HisDark Materials, is barely known in the United States, that is set to change. The...
A Musical Century Revisited: The Neo-Romantic Aesthetic from Bloch to Flagello
Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers by Walter Simmons. Scarecrow Press (Lanham, Maryland), 419 pp., $60.00 cloth, 2004.In this persuasively argued and passionately committed book, musicologist Walter Simmons makes his discussion of six...
A Call to Contemplatives
The Church and the Land by Fr. Vincent McNabb.IHS Press (Norfolk, Virginia), 195 pp., $14.95 paper, 2003.Few in our time have heard of Father Vincent McNabb—Irishman, Dominican theologian, leading light among the Distributists, and man of paradigmatic character....
From Welch To Rand: Getting It, Buckley-Style
Getting It Right by William F. Buckley, Jr. Regnery Publishing, 2003. 311 pp., $24.95 cloth.“In your heart you know he’s right.” The slogan, of course, dates from the 1964 failed presidential campaign/crusade of Senator Barry Goldwater. Surprisingly,...
A Baptist Perspective on Tolkien’s Catholic Evangelism
The Gospel According to Tolkien by Ralph C. Wood Westminster/John Knox Press (Louisville, Kentucky), 169 pp., $14.95 paper, 2003.It is a remarkable irony and a sign of the times that a book written by a Baptist professor at a Baptist university and published by a...
John Jay: Man of Order, Justice, Freedom
John Jay: Founding Father by Walter Stahr. Hambledon & London (London) 482 pp., $29.95 cloth, 2005.John Jay arguably is the least known of the most significant Founding Fathers. Yet at one time, he was considered by many to be the logical successor to Washington...
Taking to Tolkien
A Hidden Presence: The Catholic Imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien Edited by Ian Boyd, C.S.B and Stratford Caldecott. The Chesterton Press (Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey) 185 pp., $5.95 paper, 2003.It is an exciting time to be an admirer of J. R. R....
Making Good Republicans
The American Republic: Primary Sources edited by Bruce Frohnen. The Liberty Fund, Inc. (Indianapolis, Indiana), 752 pp., $25.00 cloth, $12.00 paper, 2002. WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT to American undergraduates and law students to make them good republicans? 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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