Gordon Wood and the Verisimilitudes of Consensus History
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 By Gordon S. Wood. UNC Press, 1969/1998. Paperback, 680 pages, $45.95. The Rising Glory of America, 1760-1820 Edited by Gordon S. Wood. Northeastern University Press, 1971/1990. Hardcover, 352 pages, $44.42. The...
Rural America as It Really Is
Faith, Family, and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America By Joanna Dee Das. University of Chicago Press, 2025. Hardcover, 272 pages, $27.50. Reviewed by Jason C. Phillips. Over the last eighteen months, I have twice visited Branson, Missouri. Over the...
And I Will Go to the Altar of God
On the Altar: A History of Sacrifice from the Sacred to the Secular By Jonathan Sheehan. Princeton University Press, 2026. Hardcover, 608 pages, $39.95. Reviewed by Jesse Russell. In the twenty-first century, several works have arisen chronicling the influence of...
Joseph Story and the Politics of the Early Republic
Contending for American Nationhood: Joseph Story and the Debate Over a Federal Common Law By Benjamin Clark. Lexington Books, 2024. Hardcover, 252 pages, $120.00. Reviewed by John G. Grove. The debate over federal common law does not generally fire the imaginations...
This is good. I’d like to see a follow up piece on Wood’s The American Revolution and on Power & Liberty. Also, maybe some comment on the essay in The Idea of America that walks back the claim in Creation that 1789 marked the end of classical
Politics (the button interests and
“Anton’s book, and his entire worldview, stand as direct challenges to elite preferences and institutions: Okay, boomer, what next?”
Quite the review of Michael Anton's book from Brad Watson in @KirkCenter's @ubookman. https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/a-man-for-all-seasons/