The Center Holds

The Center Holds

The Midwestern Moment: The Forgotten World of Early Twentieth Century Midwestern Regionalism, 1880–1940 Edited by Jon K. Lauck. Hastings College Press, 2017. Hardcover, 306 pages, $40. Reviewed by Nicole M. King “The Corn Belt,” “America’s Breadbasket,” “The...
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...
Humanism, Reform, Heresy

Humanism, Reform, Heresy

Calvin’s Tormentors: Understanding the Conflicts That Shaped the Reformer by Gary W. Jenkins. Baker Academic, 2018. Paperback, 208 pages, $28. Reviewed by Chris Butynskyi In the wake of the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Christians are...
Narrating the Future

Narrating the Future

Looming Civil War: How Nineteenth-Century Americans Imagined the Future By Jason Phillips. Oxford University Press, 2018. Hardcover, 320 pages, $35. Reviewed by Carl Lawrence Paulus “What is past is prologue.” William Shakespeare’s line from The Tempest is inscribed...
Two Tolkiens on View

Two Tolkiens on View

Two Tolkiens on View Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth [Exhibition catalogue] Edited by Catherine McIlwaine. Bodleian Library, 2018. Hardcover, 416 pages, $65. Reviewed by Alexi Sargeant The red jumps off the page. You’re in the middle of a letter from Father Christmas...