The Worthy House

Art, Achitecture & Building, Book Reviews, Charles, Foundationalism, Left-Liberalism, Post-Liberalism

Bronze Age Mindset (Bronze Age Pervert)

Published by Charles

I am fascinated by what is to come. For someone who came of age imbibing the narrow, facile, weak, always-second-place conservative pieties of the late 1980s and the 1990s,...

September 23, 2019

comments 17

Book Reviews, Charles, Classical History, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Primitive Cultures, Sex Roles, Social Behavior

The Samurai (Shūsaku Endō)

Published by Charles

The Japanese author Shūsaku Endō is known primarily for his 1966 masterwork, Silence, about the persecution of Christians in mid-seventeenth-century Japan. The backdrop of Silence is the aftermath of...

September 20, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian History, Christian Theology, Colonialism, Ethnography, Fiction, Religion, The Orient

A World Split Apart: Commencement Address Delivered at Harvard University, June 8, 1978 (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

Published by Charles

We in America have long thought highly of ourselves. This feeling crested during the early Cold War, when most Americans believed that our “system,” our way of life, was...

September 18, 2019

Apocalypse, Book Reviews, Charles, Communism, Conservatism, Foundationalism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Wars To Come

The Memoirs of St. Peter: A New Translation of the Gospel According to Mark (Michael Pakaluk)

Published by Charles

New translations of the Bible, targeted at a broad audience and done by individuals, rather than committees, seem to be a growth industry. This book, a translation of the...

September 10, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian History, Christian Theology, Religion

The Improbable Wendell Willkie: The Businessman Who Saved the Republican Party and His Country, and Conceived a New World Order (David Levering Lewis)

Published by Charles

If the word hagiography had not already been coined, it would need to be invented for this book. To David Levering Lewis, Wendell Willkie was a combination of Saint...

September 5, 2019

American History, Biography & Autobiography, Book Reviews, Charles, Conservatism, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis

Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism (James Stevens Curl)

Published by Charles

High architecture, that of grand buildings, is a bridge between God and man, and a sinew binding state and people, the ruling class and the masses. Low architecture, that...

August 27, 2019

Art, Achitecture & Building, Book Reviews, Charles, Foundationalism, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior

American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm (Thomas P. Hughes)

Published by Charles

American Genesis is a cultural history of the grand century of American technology, from 1870 to 1970. Thomas Hughes published his book in 1989, when Americans believed that the...

August 21, 2019

American History, Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Political Economy, Technology

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (James Fitzjames Stephen)

Published by Charles

Among the many idols of our age, there is one that rules them all: John Stuart Mill’s harm principle, the belief that an individual’s choices may never be legitimately...

August 16, 2019

Book Reviews, British History, Charles, Conservatism, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.
T. E. Lawrence

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Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death (Anthony Everitt)

Published by Charles

Different eras view Alexander III of Macedon differently. Though always honored as a hugely successful military leader and conqueror, in the ancient world, he got mixed press, seen as...

October 19, 2019

comments 3

Biography & Autobiography, Book Reviews, Charles, Classical History, Military History, Social Behavior, The Orient

The New Philistines (Sohrab Ahmari)

Published by Charles

I am a Sohrab Ahmari fanboy. I endorse his recent full-throated calls for creation of a post-liberal future, and admire that he has boldly claimed the mantle of leadership....

October 9, 2019

Art, Achitecture & Building, Book Reviews, Charles, Foundationalism, Left-Liberalism, Post-Liberalism

Bronze Age Mindset (Bronze Age Pervert)

Published by Charles

I am fascinated by what is to come. For someone who came of age imbibing the narrow, facile, weak, always-second-place conservative pieties of the late 1980s and the 1990s,...

September 23, 2019

comments 17

Book Reviews, Charles, Classical History, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Primitive Cultures, Sex Roles, Social Behavior

The Samurai (Shūsaku Endō)

Published by Charles

September 20, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian History, Christian Theology, Colonialism, Ethnography, Fiction, Religion, The Orient

A World Split Apart: Commencement Address Delivered at Harvard University, June 8, 1978 (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

Published by Charles

We in America have long thought highly of ourselves. This feeling crested during the early Cold War, when most Americans believed that our “system,” our way of life, was...

September 18, 2019

Apocalypse, Book Reviews, Charles, Communism, Conservatism, Foundationalism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Wars To Come

The Memoirs of St. Peter: A New Translation of the Gospel According to Mark (Michael Pakaluk)

Published by Charles

New translations of the Bible, targeted at a broad audience and done by individuals, rather than committees, seem to be a growth industry. This book, a translation of the...

September 10, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian History, Christian Theology, Religion

The Improbable Wendell Willkie: The Businessman Who Saved the Republican Party and His Country, and Conceived a New World Order (David Levering Lewis)

Published by Charles

If the word hagiography had not already been coined, it would need to be invented for this book. To David Levering Lewis, Wendell Willkie was a combination of Saint...

September 5, 2019

American History, Biography & Autobiography, Book Reviews, Charles, Conservatism, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis

Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism (James Stevens Curl)

Published by Charles

High architecture, that of grand buildings, is a bridge between God and man, and a sinew binding state and people, the ruling class and the masses. Low architecture, that...

August 27, 2019

Art, Achitecture & Building, Book Reviews, Charles, Foundationalism, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior

American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm (Thomas P. Hughes)

Published by Charles

American Genesis is a cultural history of the grand century of American technology, from 1870 to 1970. Thomas Hughes published his book in 1989, when Americans believed that the...

August 21, 2019

American History, Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Political Economy, Technology

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (James Fitzjames Stephen)

Published by Charles

Among the many idols of our age, there is one that rules them all: John Stuart Mill’s harm principle, the belief that an individual’s choices may never be legitimately...

August 16, 2019

Book Reviews, British History, Charles, Conservatism, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior

Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography (Robert Irwin)

Published by Charles

I generally liked this book, by the erudite Orientalist Robert Irwin, but I am not sure why it exists. It is too academic to be popular, and too popular...

August 9, 2019

Biography & Autobiography, Book Reviews, Charles, Islam & The Islamic World, Medieval History

Invisible Planets (Hannu Rajaniemi)

Published by Charles

I have always loathed the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Bleak, unhappy, and cold, they depressed me as a child, and I’m not a depressive person. True, that...

August 7, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Technology

The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey’s Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924 (Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi)

Published by Charles

This book, a massive study by two Israeli historians, aspires to answer why and how Turkey exterminated its Christian population in the thirty years between 1894 and 1924. Usually...

August 6, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian History, Ethnography, European History, Islam & The Islamic World, The Orient, War, Wars To Come

Orbánland: How I Came To Understand Viktor Orbán’s Hungary And The Future Of Europe (Lasse Skytt)

Published by Charles

I am in an odd position with respect to Hungary. Because I’m half Hungarian, speak the language (rustily now) and two decades ago spent nearly a year there, I...

July 31, 2019

comments 6

Book Reviews, Charles, Eastern European History, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism

The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics (Michael Malice)

Published by Charles

The American conservative movement is traditionally dated to 1955, the date William F. Buckley started National Review to “stand athwart history.” For decades, conservatives looked back to that event...

July 27, 2019

comments 9

Book Reviews, Charles, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Wars To Come

Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America (Chris Arnade)

Published by Charles

Last year, I went to the State Fair, and simply sat and watched the people pass by. The vast majority were lower class, and looked it. I tried, for...

July 24, 2019

comments 8

Book Reviews, Charles, Economics, Political Discussion & Analysis, Political Economy, Social Behavior

Conformity: The Power of Social Influences (Cass R. Sunstein)

Published by Charles

In Conformity, Cass Sunstein takes common sense about how decisions are informed, and distorted, by social pressure and makes it both better and worse. Better, because he shows why...

July 20, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Law, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Social Behavior

On Space

Published by Charles

I am often asked to define my political program, Foundationalism. In essence, this is a request to state its core principles. The ultimate, first-level principle of Foundationalism, is that...

July 13, 2019

comments 9

Analysis, Charles, Foundationalism, Science, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Technology

Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings (Tom Shippey)

Published by Charles

In these days where man is held to be homo economicus, we are told that all people are basically the same, and what they want, most of all, is...

July 10, 2019

Book Reviews, British History, Charles, European History, Medieval History, Military History, Sex Roles, Social Behavior, War

The Social Media Upheaval (Glenn Harlan Reynolds)

Published by Charles

Glenn Reynolds, the famous “Instapundit” and a law professor at the University of Tennessee, offers a short book about social media and the problems it brings. He frames his...

July 6, 2019

comment 1

Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Law, Political Discussion & Analysis, Political Economy, Social Behavior, Technology

Unmasking the Administrative State: The Crisis of American Politics in the Twenty-First Century (John Marini)

Published by Charles

Conservatives have long complained about the administrative state, the monster that swallowed America. Many complaints focus on the end result: how the administrative state is a tool of the...

July 4, 2019

Administrative State, American History, Book Reviews, Charles, Foundationalism, Law, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism

On Communitarianism

Published by Charles

Not everyone buys my belief that we are fast heading, in America, to some combination of the works of John Rambo and Francisco Franco. After all, it’d be more...

June 29, 2019

Analysis, Charles, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior, Wars To Come

Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective (Hilarion Alfeyev)

Published by Charles

In recent months, I have talked a great deal about politics and current events. It is time to pivot, for a moment, and talk about something totally different—the eternal....

June 28, 2019

comments 5

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian History, Christian Theology, Religion

Theory of the Partisan: Intermediate Commentary on the Concept of the Political (Carl Schmitt)

Published by Charles

This is a book born of a particular time and place. The time was 1962; the place was postwar Europe. The West was frozen in the glare of spreading...

June 21, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Colonialism, European History, Political Discussion & Analysis, Post-Liberalism, War, Wars To Come

The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future (Andrew Yang)

Published by Charles

Just in time for the first Democratic presidential debates, I have finished candidate Andrew Yang’s manifesto, The War on Normal People. From its title, which subversively suggests there is...

June 19, 2019

comments 12

American History, Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Economics, Political Discussion & Analysis, Political Economy, Technology

Built: The Hidden Stories Behind our Structures (Roma Agrawal)

Published by Charles

I have always found structural engineering fascinating, though I’m a consumer of the results, not a producer like Roma Agrawal. No doubt the life of a structural engineer is...

June 17, 2019

Art, Achitecture & Building, Book Reviews, Charles, Sex Roles

Escaping the Russian Bear: An Estonian Girl’s Memoir of Loss and Survival During World War II (Kristina von Rosenvinge)

Published by Charles

I am fond of pointing out that the safety and security we think we enjoy is, historically speaking, anomalous and ephemeral. This memoir, by the late Kristina von Rosenvinge,...

June 15, 2019

Biography & Autobiography, Book Reviews, Charles, Communism, Eastern European History, European History, Social Behavior, Totalitarian Socialism, War

Hired: Undercover in Low-Wage Britain (James Bloodworth)

Published by Charles

James Bloodworth, an English sometime Trotskyite, has written a book which combines the television series Undercover Boss and George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London. He took...

June 13, 2019

comments 3

Book Reviews, British History, Business & Money, Charles, Economics, Great Fragmentation, Political Discussion & Analysis, Political Economy, Sex Roles, Social Behavior

Announcement: Narration Podcasts & Typeset PDFs

Published by Charles

I have often received complaints, or let’s call it feedback, that people would like to read more of The Worthy House, but really, who can be expected to have...

June 12, 2019

comments 12

Charles

Roman Warfare (Adrian Goldsworthy)

Published by Charles

Adrian Goldsworthy is primarily known for lengthy, but highly readable, volumes on Roman history, such as Augustus and The Punic Wars. He has two sidelines, in massive reference works...

June 8, 2019

Book Reviews, Charles, Classical History, Military History, War

Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life (Daymond John)

Published by Charles

People often ask me, as I stride the halls of power in my custom Zegna suits wove with thread of gold, how I became so rich and successful. Like...

April 30, 2019

comments 13

Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Popular

On Francisco Franco

Published by Charles

Few Americans know much about Francisco Franco, leader of the winning side in the Spanish Civil War and subsequently dictator of Spain. Yet from 1936 until 1975, he was...

April 16, 2019

comments 11

Analysis, Biography & Autobiography, Book Reviews, Charles, Civil War, Communism, European History, Left-Liberalism, Military History, Political Discussion & Analysis, Popular, Post-Liberalism, War, Wars To Come

Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline (Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson)

Published by Charles

Anybody who has been paying attention has long grasped the truth: underpopulation, not overpopulation, is our problem. This will soon be true on a global scale, it is already...

February 12, 2019

comments 12

Apocalypse, Book Reviews, Charles, Political Economy, Popular, Science, Sex Roles, Social Behavior

On Battlefield V

Published by Charles

Last year, the giant gaming company Electronic Arts released the latest version of an extremely popular military game, Battlefield V. Each release in the series takes place in a...

January 16, 2019

comments 21

Analysis, Business & Money, Charles, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Popular, Sex Roles, Social Justice Warriors

Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals (Tyler Cowen)

Published by Charles

Finally, the age of sophisters and calculators has fully arrived, and its herald is Tyler Cowen. He, economist and blogger, is here to tell us the purpose of life. ...

December 7, 2018

comments 13

Book Reviews, Charles, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Political Economy, Popular, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior

The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age (Tim Wu)

Published by Charles

As the ideological tectonic plates shift in America, many apparently settled matters have become unsettled. This creates, at the same time, both conflict and strange bedfellows, though I suspect...

November 18, 2018

American History, Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Political Discussion & Analysis, Political Economy, Popular, Social Behavior, Technology

On the Subjective Mental State of Liberals

Published by Charles

In 1974, philosopher Thomas Nagel famously asked “What Is it Like to be a Bat?” Nagel rejected reductionism, the idea that all consciousness can be reduced to simpler components...

November 4, 2018

comments 15

Analysis, Charles, Left-Liberalism, Popular, Social Behavior

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us. . . . (Michael Pollan)

Published by Charles

I have led a boring life, at least as measured by the topics covered by this book, Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind. Not only have I never...

October 12, 2018

comments 5

Book Reviews, Charles, Christian Theology, Life Advice, Popular, Religion, Science

How Democracies Die (Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt)

Published by Charles

This may be the worst well-written book I have ever read. That is, most awful books are bad in their writing, bad in their organization, bad in their reasoning,...

September 25, 2018

comments 5

American History, Book Reviews, Charles, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Popular, Post-Liberalism, Social Justice Warriors, Wars To Come

On Preemptive Apologies by Conservatives

Published by Charles

A disability afflicts nearly all conservative arguments today. Rather than being a robust picture of vigor and health, as they should given their firm ground in reality and the...

September 19, 2018

Analysis, Charles, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Left-Liberalism, Political Discussion & Analysis, Popular, Post-Liberalism, Social Behavior, Social Justice Warriors

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou)

Published by Charles

While pretty much everyone in this book who is rich and powerful comes off looking bad, it is less a tale of typical fraud, like a Ponzi scheme, and...

May 24, 2018

Book Reviews, Business & Money, Charles, Law, Popular, Science, Technology

Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy (Jonah Goldberg)

Published by Charles

I think this book is meant as a #NeverTrumper manifesto, an attempt to create intellectual backbone for that wispy band of conservative holdouts, who crouch behind the crenellations in...

May 2, 2018

comments 10

American History, Book Reviews, Charles, Conservatism, Great Fragmentation, Political Discussion & Analysis, Popular, Post-Liberalism

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (Steven Pinker)

Published by Charles

As with Steven Pinker’s earlier The Better Angels of Our Nature, of which this is really an expansion and elucidation, I was frustrated by this book. On the one...

February 16, 2018

comments 9

Book Reviews, Charles, Great Divergence, Left-Liberalism, Political Economy, Popular, Social Behavior, Technology

The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World (Charles C. Mann)

Published by Charles

This book addresses what is, as far as the material comforts of the modern age, the central question of our time—can mankind have it all? The author, Charles Mann,...

February 9, 2018