Lofty Prose in a New Translation of Beowulf
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation Translated by Ben J. Reinhard. Cluny Media, 2022. Paperback, 278 pages, $18.95. Reviewed by Jonathan B. Himes. To describe Ben Reinhard’s approach to his new verse translation of Beowulf, the back cover offers the following keywords:...
Saving the West By Keeping It Real
How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises By Spencer Klavan. Regnery, 2023. Hardcover, 256 pages, $29.99. Reviewed by Auguste Meyrat. Charting the decline of the West is something of a popular pastime for conservatives. Even though people today live in...
Reagan as Peacemaking Cold Warrior
The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink By William Inboden. Dutton, 2022. Hardcover, 608 pages, $35. Reviewed by Jason C. Phillips. Mikhail Gorbachev’s recent death has led to a renewed interest in the Cold War, making the recent...
Oh Yeah Baby Eat It
Spending the Winter By Joseph Bottum. St. Augustine’s Press, 2022. Paperback, 80 pages, $13. Reviewed by Robert Grant Price. “Do I really want to read this?” “Is this a good way to spend my time?” These are fair questions to ask yourself whenever thinking about...
The Wisdom of Medieval Scholasticism
Ordered by Love: An Introduction to John Duns Scotus By Thomas M. Ward. Angelico Press, 2022. Paperback, 174 pages, $17.95. Reviewed by David Weinberger. The philosophical thought of the high Middle Ages, also known as “Scholasticism,” often seems impenetrable to...
Political Theology for Realists
Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government and Resistance in the Christian Tradition By Glenn S. Sunshine. Canon Press, 2020. Paperback,194 pages, $15.95. Reviewed by Zachary Yost. The election of Donald Trump in 2016 heralded a new era in American political discourse....
What Do Conservatives Believe?
What Do Conservatives Believe? An evening conversation with Mike Pence and Betsy DeVos On Wednesday, May 31, 2023, The Russell Kirk Center made institutional history by hosting nearly 300 leaders, students and educators, friends and supporters at an event featuring a...
Cormac McCarthy Symposium
The Passenger and Stella Maris. By Cormac McCarthy. Knopf, 2022. Hardcover, 608 pages, $56. Cormac McCarthy was arguably America’s greatest living novelist. Last week, that ceased to be the case. McCarthy died in his home on Tuesday. In late 2022, McCarthy published...
The Duty of the Craftsman: Beauty and Goodness in Cormac McCarthy
The Passenger and Stella Maris. By Cormac McCarthy. Knopf, 2022. Hardcover, 608 pages, $56. Reviewed by Brent Walter Cline. This essay is part of a symposium on the work of Cormac McCarthy. At the end of Cormac McCarthy’s last novel, the main character Alicia...
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!