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.

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.”

After the New Left: Rereading Breaking Ranks

“The recent death of Norman Podhoretz prompted me to return to his ‘political memoir…’ Published in 1979, it deserves to be read or re-read today—and not simply as a historical account of his evolution from left to right during the 1960s and 1970s.”

Amici

“…art historian William E. Wallace chronicles the rivalry and friendship of Michelangelo and Titian, noting that the two Italian geniuses were not as variant in outlook and craft as is popularly believed.”

Catholic or Nothing

“Her accounts inspire reflection on the allure of Roman Catholicism to noteworthy nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers, specifically its stress on authority, tradition, and dogma, its aesthetics (especially liturgical), and its forceful critique of predominant secularist ideologies and systems. However different these converts were, then, they all found countercultural Roman Catholicism a compelling counterstatement to their epoch’s regnant religious and social norms.”

History Is Never Certain

History Is Never Certain

“Tocqueville would urge us to follow him… by thinking with him, learning creatively from his life, and remembering that history is never predetermined, never written in advance. Zunz’s biography helps us to do just that.”

Reading Dante on His Terms

Reading Dante on His Terms

“Frisardi… shows his love for the Supreme Poet by gathering thoughtful essays on his work into a coherent, useful book that explores Dante on his terms.”

Men Rode to Catraeth

Men Rode to Catraeth

“Clarke reworks one of the most significant early Welsh poems into a modern song that anyone can appreciate. She reminds us that poetry must first and foremost move its readers, must cast a spell of words and rhythm that incites our passions and our imaginations.”

The Causes of Moral Agency

The Causes of Moral Agency

“Particularly in these hyper-polarized times, conservatives should be the first to break out of the blame-the-system-versus-blame-the-victim false dichotomy.”

Resurrecting John Keats

Resurrecting John Keats

“Lucasta Miller, in her brilliant new book on Keats, writes, ‘To read him is to participate in an invisible web that has connected human beings over millennia via the literary imagination.'”

Partisan Citizens

Partisan Citizens

“Citizenship demands open-minded discourse among persons from different backgrounds and with varying ideas in the interest of forming and preserving a consensus concerning the most advisable form of government.”

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.

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