Faith and Works and the Novel

Faith and Works and the Novel

The Decline of the Novel by Joseph Bottum. St. Augustine’s Press, 2019. Hardcover, 153 pages, $25. Reviewed by Trevor C. Merrill In this wide-ranging essay, Joseph Bottum has managed to turn a stale topic—the death of the novel—into fresh cultural criticism, arguing...
Scientism Is Not Science

Scientism Is Not Science

By Pedro Blas González Scientism, Science, and Technology Scientism is not science but an ideology that reduces man’s hope and aspiration to the scientific method. Scientism promises postmodern man an alarming sense of control over the here-and-now. Scientism, along...
Genuine Realism in a Multipolar World

Genuine Realism in a Multipolar World

A Common Human Ground: Universality and Particularity in a Multicultural World by Claes G. Ryn. University of Missouri Press, 2019. Paperback, 178 pages, $21.95. Reviewed by Eric Adler With the problems facing international relations today, political leaders and...
Dharma and the Constitution

Dharma and the Constitution

American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War by Duncan Ryūken Williams. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019. Hardcover, 400 pages, $30. Reviewed by Jason Morgan The Pacific War is generally understood as a political and military...
The Last Inkling

The Last Inkling

A farewell to Christopher Tolkien. By Michael Toscano By the time Christopher Tolkien was called up, His Majesty’s Royal Air Force had already been chased off the continent of Europe, losing nearly five hundred fighters over Belgium and France; had turned around and...
On Books For Middle America

On Books For Middle America

An interview with Bria Sandford We are happy to feature this conversation with Bria Sandford, who is editorial director of Sentinel and an executive editor at Portfolio, imprints of Penguin Random House. UB: Bria, we are so happy to have you with us. Maybe we should...
Hey Buddy, Can You Spare an Enthymeme?

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare an Enthymeme?

Logic as a Liberal Art: An Introduction to Rhetoric and Reasoning by R. E. Houser. The Catholic University of America Press, 2020. Paperback, 488 pages, $35. Reviewed by Casey Chalk We love to talk about logic. Or, more precisely, we love to project ourselves as being...
Two Cheers for the Spanish Empire

Two Cheers for the Spanish Empire

Imperiofobia y leyenda negra: Roma, Rusia, Estados Unidos y el Imperio español María Elvira Roca Barea. Siruela, 2016. Paperback, $33. Reviewed by Alberto M. Fernandez The politically correct vandalism we see today in America against statues of Christopher Columbus...
The British Are Coming

The British Are Coming

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777 by Rick Atkinson. Henry Holt and Co., 2019. Hardcover, 800 pages, $40. Reviewed by William Anthony Hay Epic conflicts that punctuate American history have profoundly shaped it. The Civil...
The Quality of Objects

The Quality of Objects

Art and Objects by Graham Harman. Polity, 2019. Hardcover, 240 pages, $70 (Paper, $25). Reviewed by Scott Beauchamp One of the most dreadful afflictions of our time is not being able to tell where things begin or end. Or if they have an autonomous “self” at all. You...