Against the New Deal
New Deal Rebels: An Anthology of Critics of the New Deal Edited by Amity Shlaes. American Institute for Economic Research, 2023. Paperback, 376 pages, $18. Reviewed by Chuck Chalberg. From the vantage point of roughly seven decades of depression-less prosperity, Amity...
Correcting the Historical Record on Slavery
The Worst of Indignities: The Catholic Church on Slavery By Paul Kengor. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2023. Hardcover, 304 pages, $29.95. Reviewed by David Weinberger. When explaining why he was Catholic, G.K. Chesterton observed that there are thousands of reasons all...
History of the American Revolution Well Told
The Diplomacy of the American Revolution By Samuel Flagg Bemis. Introduction by Ben Judge. Encounter Books, 2024. Hardcover, 272 pages, $30.99. Reviewed by Kevin R. C. Gutzman. Samuel Flagg Bemis was a master of American diplomatic history, a field that has now...
Virtue in the Age of Neo-Machiavellianism
Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena By James Hankins. Harvard University Press, 2023. Hardcover, 448 pages, $55. Reviewed by Jesse Russell. We live in a Neo-Machiavellian age. Gone are the “End of History”...
Crafting a New Evangelical Imagination
The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis By Karen Swallow Prior. Brazos Press, 2023. Hardcover, 304 pages, $26.99. Reviewed by James E. Hartley. “All great systems, ethical or political, attain their ascendancy over...
Rising with the Saints
The Leaven of the Saints: Bringing Christ into a Fallen World By Dawn Marie Beutner. Ignatius Press, 2023. Paperback, 316 pages, $19.95. Reviewed by Thomas Griffin. Saints change the world because their own lives have become an offering to God. Their self-offering...
An Old Man, Wrapped in a Robe
What is Christianity? The Last Writings By Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press, 2023. Hardcover, 230 pages, $24.95. Reviewed by Ryan Patrick Budd. At the lowest point in his life, when everything was falling in ruin, King Saul of Israel knew whom he really wanted to...
James Matthew Wilson Reflects on His “Upper Room Period”
By Kelsey Marie Bowse. Few religious poets presently active are as prominent as James Matthew Wilson. Kelsey Marie Bowse caught up with Dr. Wilson to discuss his faith, his craft, and his journey toward where he is today. James Matthew Wilson is a celebrated Catholic...
Thinking as a Human Being
Thinking about Thinking: Mind and Meaning in the Era of Techno-Nihilism James D. Madden. Cascade Books, 2023. Paperback, 220 pages, $29. Reviewed by David Weinberger. Ever wonder what it means to have a mind? Is thinking, for example, unique to the human species? Or...
There are metaphorical hills on which I would be willing to die. The Oxford comma is one of them.
So easy to forget that the best way to educate yourself is to read great works of literature and philosophy, then talk about them. Bring back the salon!