The University Bookman

Reviewing Books that Build Culture

What the American Revolution Secured: Order, Justice, and Freedom

Throughout the semiquincentennial year celebrating America’s independence, The University Bookman will invite a range of writers and speakers to contribute to a series drawing upon Russell Kirk’s work on the American Revolution and the constitutional order it secured.

The Enduring Sources of the Permanent Things

“The result is less a polemic against the present than a gentle yet firm invitation to remember what we have nearly forgotten—that the good life is not a solitary pursuit of personal authenticity but a shared enterprise of commitment, sacrifice, and mutual regard. What makes the book so especially resonant is its refusal to treat these themes as abstract ideals.”

Talking Classical Education

“It is an introduction to the pedagogical life of a classical school. It is a philosophical argument for a particular approach to being a classical teacher. It is a work of cumulative experiences which manifest in teacherly wisdom. And it is a treatise aimed at critiquing the Modern Industrial Model of Education which has characterized the last several decades of American schooling.”

Liberal Education and Its Critics

“Taylor’s biggest concern appears as he nears his conclusion and is not so much that the humanities envy the sciences but that the humanities are largely responsible for their own destruction. He writes, ‘…perhaps the very project of thinking about our values—a project at the heart of the arts and humanities broadly conceived—is either feared or no longer widely valued in our society….there is a powerful and increasingly unselfconscious utilitarianism at work.’”

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 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. 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.

.@JM_Butcher himself admits that there are in fact important divisions within American society, but he believes that “Americans are united on some very important questions that are driving debates in statehouses, schoolhouses, and even your house.” In this, as in nearly all that

Despite [Kirk's] and others’ efforts to prevent further decline in transcendent beliefs, more than a century later, it is clear that those Americans who adhere to them represent a small and frequently marginalized minority. @fhmcclatchey must be counted among their number, for he

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