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...
To Find Eyes to See
More Than a Matter of Taste: The Moral Imagination and the Spirit of Literature By Joshua Hren. Word on Fire Luminor, 2026. Paperback, 392 pages, $29.95. Reviewed by Nadya Williams. The year after Euripides died (406 BC), Athenian theater-goers who flocked to see...
"If classical teachers believe that truth, beauty, and goodness can indeed change the world, then the sort of student (and teacher and school) described by Esolen is a net gain for this world. And his Classical Catechism serves as a helpful tool in building the necessary common