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.
A Contemporary Literary Work of the Moral Imagination
“Readers of this volume will find all ten stories insightful and carefully crafted, and they are worthy of the authors who inspired Schock’s abiding love of speculative fiction.”
Must the University Be Political?
“Should academic departments and scholarly societies issue position statements on current political matters? The practice is increasingly common today, but it still sparks debate…
This current debate has roots in the late 1960s, as Ellen Schrecker shows in her sprawling book…”
What Do Fungi Have to Do with Athens?
“[Sheldrake] hasn’t produced a polemic against the ideal of the self-sufficient liberal political subject, or even a policy brief in favor of honoring our interdependence with the natural world. Instead he just invites readers to consider whether, perhaps, they are lichen.”
Perspicuity at the Bar of History
“In what is undoubtedly the most comprehensive treatment of the topic to date, Chalk’s book meticulously breaks down the history and philosophy behind perspicuity, arguing that the doctrine has ultimately failed to achieve both spiritual truth and Christian unity.”
The Classically Educated Mind of W. E. B Du Bois
“A study of [Du Bois’s] classicism and cosmopolitanism is necessary and cannot be laden with popular agendas, especially since Du Bois himself sought reconciliation between seemingly opposing worlds.”
Cormac McCarthy’s Historical Literary Influences
“…this book is an essential companion for anyone interested in a deeper scholarly and thematic treatment of McCarthy and his works.”
Two Cities: The Public and the Private
“The era of superlatives, the French Revolution, was the time when real people, tired of their private sufferings, abandoned their real names to become citoyens… Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, and other pompous terms, took the place of the real, little, and unwordable affections, turning friends into foes, in the name of an unreal solidarity.”
Remembering Our Unruly Character
“…Frohnen and McAllister are explicit… that Americans must ‘rediscover’ their unruly character, and it becomes clear that their efforts to mine the historical roots of this defiant, ornery nature are grounded in a concern to push back and save the American way of life…”
Why Public Reason Fails
“It is only at a local level that true political deliberation among citizens can take place. Holston’s central message is that, if deliberative democrats are serious about their enterprise, they ought to be working to devolve decision making to the local level as far as possible.”
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.
