Practice Makes Virtue

Practice Makes Virtue

How to Be Unlucky: Reflections on the Pursuit of Virtue by Joshua Gibbs. CiRCE Institute, 2018. Paperback, 239 pages. $16. Reviewed by Elizabeth Bittner If we were to judge a book by its cover, we would likely steer clear of Joshua Gibbs’s latest work. Titled How to...
A Timeless History of Public Education

A Timeless History of Public Education

Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America by Johann N. Neem. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017. Hardcover, 256 pages, $55. Reviewed by Addison Del Mastro Democracy’s Schools is written by Johann Neem, an Indian immigrant brought to America as a...
More Than Mildly Amusing

More Than Mildly Amusing

Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals by Matthew Mehan. TAN Books, 2018. Hardcover, 135 pages. $24.95. Reviewed by Elizabeth Bittner Few people have the chance to write a book with their best friend. Few Shakespeare scholars choose to write children’s books....
Sophomore Inclinations and the Research University

Sophomore Inclinations and the Research University

The Rise of the Research University: A Sourcebook edited by Louis Menand, Paul Reitter, and Chad Wellmon. University of Chicago Press, 2017. Paperback, 406 pages, $32.50. Reviewed by Pavlos Papadopoulos Historians of higher education are members of a small subfield of...
Framing a Life in Liberal Learning

Framing a Life in Liberal Learning

From the Cast-Iron Shore: In Lifelong Pursuit of Liberal Learning by Francis Oakley. University of Notre Dame Press, 2018. Paperback, 526 pages, $35. Reviewed by Weronika Janczuk The story narrated in any given memoir is dependent on the life of the one who narrates....