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Monthly Archives: August, 2015

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought (Robert Louis Wilken)

This book is not a polemic or a book of apologetics; it is instead an exposition of what early Church theologians thought about important...

Jesus Land (Julia Scheeres)

I think I’m well-positioned to review this book, because I grew up with Julia and David Scheeres. More precisely, we all went to Lafayette...

The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea (Michael Pye)

“The Edge Of The World” is an ambitious book. Its subtitle is “A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe,”...

Coming Apart (Charles Murray)

This is a deeply pessimistic book. Charles Murray warns, Cassandra-like, of the ill effects that are resulting and will result from the economic and...

The Death of Caesar (Barry Strauss)

“The Death of Caesar” is Barry Strauss’s latest work on the politics and warfare of the Classical World. Strauss is perhaps today’s most prominent...

By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission (Charles Murray)

I am a criminal. More precisely, I am the kind of criminal that Charles Murray likes. Now, as is well-known, everyone is a criminal...

The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (William Easterly)

“The White Man’s Burden,” despite its inflammatory title, is a measured analysis of the ability of the West to help alleviate poverty in the...

Masters of Command (Barry Strauss)

This is a great introduction to three of the most important historical figures of the Classical Age. Since lack of historical knowledge is a...

The Girl With All The Gifts (M. R. Carey)

While it's in many ways a typical version of the apocalyptic genre currently fashionable, this book is quite good. It has some significant originality,...

The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (Calvin Coolidge)

I read this book after reading Amity Shlaes’s “Coolidge,” in part because Shlaes more than once refers to the “Autobiography.” While it is not...

Comandante: Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela (Rory Carroll)

In the United States, most of us glimpse Venezuela in flashes. We know that Hugo Chavez is dead, and we know that his socialism...

Empire of Cotton: A Global History (Sven Beckert)

“Empire Of Cotton” is really two books. First, it’s an exhaustive exposition of the history of cotton as a textile raw material. That’s about...