Gordon Wood and the Verisimilitudes of Consensus History
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 By Gordon S. Wood. UNC Press, 1969/1998. Paperback, 680 pages, $45.95. The Rising Glory of America, 1760-1820 Edited by Gordon S. Wood. Northeastern University Press, 1971/1990. Hardcover, 352 pages, $44.42. The...
Forming the American Imagination
The American Book of Fables By Matthew Mehan. Sophia Institute Press, 2026. Hardcover, 396 pages, $39.95. Reviewed by Shaun Rieley. “If a man were permitted to make all the ballads,” wrote eighteenth-century Scottish political theorist Andrew Fletcher, “he need not...
A Man for All Seasons
Dispatches from the Late Republic: The Culture, Politics, and Prophets of American Greatness, Decline, and Rebirth By Michael Anton. Encounter Books, 2026. Hardcover, 408 pages, $34.99. Reviewed by Bradley C. S. Watson. Michael Anton burst onto the national political...
Finding Faith in Fiction
Wondrous Reading: Encountering the Catholic Faith in Children’s Literature By LuElla D’Amico. Cascade Books, 2025. Paperback, 162 pages, $23. Reviewed by Christine Norvell. A Presbyterian minister told me that many of the young parents in her inner city church...
The Liturgical Key to Tolkien
The High Hallow: Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination By Ben Reinhard. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2025. Hardcover, 184 pages, $24.95. Reviewed by Benjamin J. Volpe. “My living room bookcase has an entire shelf filled with Tolkien’s works and works commenting on Tolkien’s...
Kirk saw poetry, fiction, tradition, and restraint as essential to understanding America and preserving its character. In his review of "On America," @cjscalia explores Kirk’s vision of the founding, statesmanship, literature, and the enduring ideas that have shaped the republic.