Not long before he died, the political philosopher Isaiah Berlin somberly summed up his, and our, age: “I have lived through most of the twentieth century without, I must add, suffering personal hardship. I remember it only as the most terrible century in Western history.” What made it so . . . . Continue Reading »
Americans have always thought of their country as other and better than anyplace else. The most obvious measure of comparative superiority was with Europe, the place where, through most of the nation’s history, most people came from and against which they assessed their achievements. The protean . . . . Continue Reading »
Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XIIby john cornwellviking, 430 pages, $29.95. As Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli was the most controversial of modern Popes. Regarded during his lifetime as truly a prince among men, since his death he has been subject to endless debate, criticism, and . . . . Continue Reading »
It is of course the case that only God knows what will happen in the next century and the next millennium. But we human beings are created with an irrepressible disposition toward the future, as well as a capacity to recall the past. In the last year we published a “millennium series” of . . . . Continue Reading »
What to do about the female saints? Arriving at an acceptable consensus regarding the holy women of Christianity has been a persistent problem for feminist theologians. The first wave of the women’s movement tended to take a disparaging stance toward the nuns, lay spinsters, wives, mothers, . . . . Continue Reading »
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God swept over the face of the waters like a whirlwind. And God said, Let there be light! and there was light. But the light was young and helpless . . . . Continue Reading »
Alexander Hamilton, American by richard brookhiser simon & schuster, 240 pages, $16.99 National Review senior editor Richard Brookhiser has followed up his successful 1996 biography of George Washington (Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington) with a biography of Alexander Hamilton. . . . . Continue Reading »
The past half-century has witnessed the rise to prominence of a constitutional theory that gives the U.S. Supreme Court a virtual monopoly in American constitutional law. This theory grants the Court conclusive authority to determine the meaning of constitutional provisions—even those that . . . . Continue Reading »
God’s Representatives: The Eight Twentieth-century Popes by james bentleyconstable. 200 pages, £16.95 . Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes by eamon duffyyale university press. 500 pages, $23. The Papacy by paul johnson. edited by michael walsh wiedenfeld and . . . . Continue Reading »
On good liberal grounds alone, academic liberals should appreciate David Walsh’s powerful new defense of . . . . Continue Reading »
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