The temptation to respond to attacks with force can be severe. Over four decades of columnizing in the Catholic press and elsewhere, I have generally resisted those temptations except under the gravest provocations. This is one of those occasions. Continue Reading »
Heinlein’s book on Cardinal Francis E. George has two great strengths. The first is that he’s a lucid, engaging writer who’s researched George’s life in impressive detail. The second is that the story of Francis George, the man, is thoroughly absorbing. Continue Reading »
This doesn’t purport to be a list of the “best” books of the year; rather, these are the ones from a year of reading that most readily come to mind. Continue Reading »
The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig by stefan zweig translated by anthea bell pushkin, 384 pages, $30 The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig by stefan zweig translated by anthea bell pushkin, 720 pages, $14.99 The World of Yesterday by stefan zweig translated by anthea bell . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by diarmaid macculloch viking, 752 pages, $40 They said it could not be done. At least Sir Geoffrey Elton, to whose memory his former doctoral student has dedicated this book, said it could not be done. According to him, as Diarmaid MacCulloch reminds us, . . . . Continue Reading »
In his insightful new biography, Richard John Neuhaus: A Life in the Public Square, Randy Boyagoda recounts the extraordinary journey of the man who many believe was “the most consequential public theologian in America since the days of Reinhold Niebuhr and John Courtney Murray.” Born . . . . Continue Reading »