Virtue in the Age of Neo-Machiavellianism

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”...
Rising with the Saints

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...
Imprisoned by the Internet

Imprisoned by the Internet

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age By Samuel D. James. Crossway, 2023. Paperback, 208 pages, $16.99. Reviewed by John Ehrett. Historian Oswald Spengler famously argued that man, at least since the Dark Ages, has been animated by a...
Saint Una and the Women Who Made Saint Augustine

Saint Una and the Women Who Made Saint Augustine

Queens of a Fallen World: The Lost Women of Augustine’s Confessions By Kate Cooper. Basic Books, 2023. Hardcover, 304 pages, $30. Reviewed by Paul Krause. Saint Augustine was a momma’s boy. He was also smitten by the beauty and charm of women, from the concubine with...
The Novel: We Need It

The Novel: We Need It

The Novel: Who Needs It? By Joseph Epstein. Encounter Books, 2023. Hardcover, 152 pages, $25.99. Reviewed by Jeffrey Folks. There are few books of literary criticism in recent years that are clearly written, free of jargon, and not weighted down by one sort or another...