Who Is Blackford Oakes?

Buckley’s leading good guy. WILLIAM F. MEEHAN III The eleven Blackford Oakes spy novels by William F. Buckley Jr. are a significant part of his oeuvre and deserve consideration when discussing his life. What better way, then, to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of...

Trump so Far

BRUCE P. FROHNEN More than a year into his presidency, the Trump scandals continue. The “Russia conspiracy” has been shown for the fraud it always was. But one still hears about Mr. Trump’s personal vices and the crude nature of many of his public pronouncements. Some...
Tomboys and Magic

Tomboys and Magic

The creepy-cozy tales of John Bellairs. Eve Tushnet Children fell in love with the tales of John Bellairs (1938–1991) because they perfectly combined creepy and cozy: the laughing skeleton, curled up by the fire with a mug of cider. In novels like The Curse of the...

One Hundred Years of Communism

One hundred years ago in October 1917, communism as an ideology and a political system seized power in Russia. Bolshevik rule was not a result of a popular uprising—that had occurred in March 1917, when Czar Nicholas II abdicated in favor of a provisional government....

Shining a Light on Dark Deeds

The Moral Imagination in the Mystery Novels of Sally Wright by Ashlee Cowles When it comes to fictional works of the moral imagination, fantasy novels tend to receive the most attention from critics who believe literature plays a vital role in the conservation of the...

Schiller and the Two Drives of the Person

Pedro Blas González The German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) is known for his philosophy of man’s relationship with transcendence and the sublime. Schiller believed that only through concrete life, that is, individual existence as differentiated...