by Casey Chalk | Oct 7, 2018
Faith and Politics: Selected Writings by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Ignatius Press, 2018. Paperback, 269 pages, $19. Reviewed by Casey Chalk Poor Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The retired pope isn’t even dead yet, and pundits speak endlessly of his legacy....
by James V. Schall, S. J. | Oct 7, 2018
James V. Schall, S. J. David Yost mentioned a famous essay of Robert Louis Stevenson, “Aes Triplex.” He said that it was a favorite of Chesterton and assumed that I had read it. I had not. But the better-late-than-never doctrine certainly holds in this case. It...
by James Baresel | Sep 30, 2018
Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time by Hilary Spurling. Hamish Hamilton, 2017 (Knopf 2018). Hardcover, 509 pages, $29.70. Reviewed by James Baresel Over four decades ago the novelist Anthony Powell asked his friend Hilary Spurling if she was willing to be his...
by Francis P. Sempa | Sep 30, 2018
Oceans Ventured: Winning the Cold War at Sea by John Lehman. W. W. Norton & Company, 2018. Hardcover, 368 pages, $28. Reviewed by Francis P. Sempa There are still many foreign policy “experts” who refuse to credit the policies of President Ronald Reagan for the...
by Ashlee Cowles | Sep 30, 2018
Book Girl: A Journey through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life By Sarah Clarkson. Tyndale Momentum, 2018. Paperback, 288 pages, $16. Reviewed by Ashlee Cowles What does it mean to be a woman who reads? This is the primary question Sarah Clarkson...
by Stephen B Presser | Sep 23, 2018
The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons By Ronald K. L. Collins and David M. Skover. Oxford University Press, 2017. Cloth, 296 pages, $28. Reviewed by Stephen B. Presser As the controversies surrounding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s second nominee...
by Michael J. Ard | Sep 23, 2018
The Secret World: A History of Intelligence by Christopher Andrew. Yale University Press, 2018. Hardcover, 960 pages, $40. Reviewed by Michael J. Ard “The further backwards you look, the further forward you can see.” This quote by Winston Churchill sums up the guiding...
by Brian A. Smith | Sep 23, 2018
Revolution and Resistance: Moral Revolution, Military Might, and the End of Empire by David Tucker. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016. Paperback, 152 pages, $25. Reviewed by Brian A. Smith When social scientists attempt to explain events in history, moral causes...
by Carl Rollyson | Sep 16, 2018
TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy by David Pietrusza. Lyons Press, 2018. Hardcover, 424 pages, $35. Reviewed by Carl Rollyson TR’s Last War is about an ex-president who believed he could not retire from history. Too...
by Titus Techera | Sep 16, 2018
The Truman Show Written by Andrew Niccol. Directed by Peter Weir. Paramount, 1998. Reviewed by Titus Techera On its twentieth anniversary, The Truman Show turns out to have been prophetic about what happens to us when we go digital. In the terms of the old world of...