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.”

Educational Counterrevolution 

Educational Counterrevolution 

“The central thesis of the book is that the Western Christian paideia that made the American experiment in liberty and self-government possible has nearly been stamped out of the public schools.”

Political Economy Before Adam Smith

Political Economy Before Adam Smith

“…[the book] is a compilation of various tracts on the intersection of commerce and statecraft—many of which are snapshots of McCulloch’s own free-market beliefs—that serve as a compelling precursor of Smithian political economy.”

Science and Meaning: Parallel Tracks?

Science and Meaning: Parallel Tracks?

“Science is not the sort of activity that can answer the question, ‘Does life have meaning?’ To expect science to answer that question is like expecting your plumber to tell you whether installing fancier bathroom fixtures will make you happier.”

Geopolitics and the Making of the Modern World

Geopolitics and the Making of the Modern World

“Brands’s book should find a ready audience among those interested in developments in the international scene over the last century. It is particularly effective in dealing with the threat that China’s emerging power and influence pose to the West today…”

The Context for Human Dignity

The Context for Human Dignity

“While the twentieth century was still sporadically marked by remnants of Christian influence and dominance, the twenty-first has seen the final divorce of the secular and sacred, and the consequences are evident. What Leo XIII warned of, the evils he battled, have been let loose, paradigmatically captured by Artificial Intelligence which poorly imitates and devalues that which makes us essentially human… We would do well then to read Hittinger’s book in reflecting on how to face these challenges.”

Protestant Institutionalism and Christian America

Protestant Institutionalism and Christian America

“…Smith provides a thematic overview of the period between 1800 and 1860. His book is somewhat unique in that whereas many debates concern the religious character of the Founding or the Founders, Smith is concerned with the period afterwards.”

Reviving the Vanished Voice of a Maker

Reviving the Vanished Voice of a Maker

“Dorothy L. Sayers was the premiere female Christian intellectual of twentieth-century Britain, whose foremost accomplishments include being a pioneering detective novelist and religious dramatist, a daring translator of Dante, and a trenchant social critic who advanced a sacramental notion of work against technocratic utilitarianism.”

A Scholar for all Seasons

A Scholar for all Seasons

“With this kind of project, the challenge for the author is to craft a thesis that justifies the collection of essays and brings unity to the collection. Wood has done so as well as anyone might. The thesis of the book makes a statement about the Christian church in America.”

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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