by John Bicknell | Dec 2, 2018
The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War By Joanne B. Freeman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. Hardcover, 480 pages, $28. Reviewed by John Bicknell One could make the case that Yale professor Joanne Freeman is obsessed with people getting...
by Ben Sixsmith | Dec 2, 2018
The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right by Max Boot. Liveright, 2018. Hardcover, 288 pages, $25. Reviewed by Ben Sixsmith Max Boot, like newspaper columnist Jennifer Rubin, once claimed to be a conservative critic of President Donald Trump, but has become...
by Erik W. Matson | Nov 25, 2018
F. A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy, and Social Philosophy by Peter J. Boettke. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. Hardcover, 323 pages, $120. Reviewed by Erik W. Matson In his 1960 book The Constitution of Liberty, F. A. Hayek (1899–1992) said, If old truths...
by Pedro Blas González | Nov 25, 2018
Pedro Blas González Of the many ways that we can exist as persons, happiness directs our glance inward, toward the essence of our individual being. This is the discovery of personhood as interiority. The ultimate form of happiness—joy—signals our participation in...
by Jacob Bruggeman | Nov 25, 2018
The Human Advantage: The Future of American Work in an Age of Smart Machines by Jay W. Richards. Crown Forum, 2018. Hardcover, 209 pages, $23. Reviewed by Jacob Bruggeman College graduates, young professionals, and people making mid-career transitions to other...
by Micah Mattix | Nov 18, 2018
He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, the Faith of Art by Christian Wiman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. Hardcover, 128 pages, $23. Reviewed by Micah Mattix Fewer than twenty pages into Christian Wiman’s slim and personal He Held Radical Light, he is sitting in...
by Annelisa J. Purdie | Nov 18, 2018
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight. Simon and Schuster, 2018. Hardcover, 888 pages, $37.50. Reviewed by Annelisa J. Purdie Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) is a remarkable and compelling figure in American history. His portraits are among the most...
by Phil Christman | Nov 18, 2018
Questioning Minds: The Letters of Guy Davenport and Hugh Kenner Edited by Edward M. Burns. Counterpoint, 2018. Hardcover, 2016 pages, $95. Reviewed by Phil Christman Culture is, among other things, a conspiracy of the like-minded. “The idea is to accumulate a Vortex,”...
by John Byron Kuhner | Nov 11, 2018
Classical New York: Discovering Greece and Rome in Gotham, edited by Matthew McGowan and Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis. Empire State Editions, 2018. Hardcover, 304 pages, $35. Reviewed by John Byron Kuhner Among the memories of my New York City childhood—graffiti...
by Carl Rollyson | Nov 11, 2018
Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants by H. W. Brands. Doubleday, 2018. Hardcover, 432 pages, $30 Reviewed by Carl Rollyson Henry Clay (1777–1852), John Calhoun (1782–1850),...
