​Ryszard Legutko

I never called myself a liberal. For a long time, however, I ­considered liberalism a sound theory that, whatever its weaknesses, was committed to freedom of discussion, pluralism, and a general attitude of respect for the beliefs of one’s fellow citizens, even when they are wrongheaded. But I . . . . Continue Reading »

The title of R. R. Reno’s ­Return of the Strong Gods requires qual­ification. To begin with, most of what Reno tells us concerns not the gods’ return, but their expulsion. As for the gods themselves, they “are not golden idols or characters in ancient mythologies,” Reno writes. . . . . Continue Reading »

Whether we really have been observing a resurgence of nationalism in Europe is not at all clear. “Nationalism” is a bad word in Europe, and it has been used—along with “populism,” another bad word—to describe the views of critics of the E.U. within the E.U. Enthusiasts for the . . . . Continue Reading »

The invitation from Middlebury College to speak about my book The Demon in Democracy came last year. I was pleased to receive it, as it seemed to indicate that the book resonated in American academic circles. Middlebury was the sixth or seventh university in America to have issued such an . . . . Continue Reading »

Between Two Millstones, Book 1: Sketches of Exile, 1974–1978 by aleksandr solzhenitsyn notre dame, 480 pages, $35 The first volume of Solzhenitsyn’s memoir of exile, Between Two Millstones, begins with the author’s expulsion from the Soviet Union and closes with him viewing the landscape . . . . Continue Reading »

Byliśmy głupi by marcin król czerwone i czarne, 256 pages, zł 39.90 Pravým okem: Antologie současného polského politického myšlení edited by maciej ruczaj and maciej szymanowski centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 203 pages, kč 249 Resistance to Communism in Eastern Europe was . . . . Continue Reading »

What made the majority of Poles particularly disposed to welcome Trump was precisely what makes him a hate-figure in Germany and among many in his own nation: Trump is thought to be a dissenter. He dissents from the ideologically correct mainstream politics that has been stifling Western civilization for some time. Continue Reading »