Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829-1877, by Walter A. McDougall This is a great treatment of the run up to the most pivotal event of our history through its conclusion and its aftermath.  Its narrative is the political history and it is told in somewhat of a style that I would characterize […]

What is fascism and what is a fascist?  I’ll bet that, even among those who are well read in political philosophy and who have occasion to use these words, a very large percentage of people would say that these are characterizations of those from the political right, in fact, the extreme political right.  Think Benito […]

The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, by Louis Menand This was actually a re-read of a classic of about 15 years ago, but that I had not previously reviewed here.  I have found the period from 1865 through the end of the 19th century a fascinating time of intellectual development in America.  […]

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of two books that have had an enormous impact on my thinking about education policy across the board, from elementary to secondary to higher, not to mention completely changing the conversation among intellectuals and others involved with education policy. The first was The Closing of the […]

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, I finally got around to a book that had been on my to-do list for six months.  It’s not light holiday fare and certainly not a beach read, but if you like constitutional law and constitutional studies, I highly recommend it.  The book is The Classical Liberal Constitution: The […]

I haven’t done as much reading this summer as I normally do, but have read a couple of short gems: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli The cover flap says “All the beauty of modern physics in fewer than a hundred pages” and that is essentially true.  It was on Amazon’s best seller […]

Without doubt, America is more seriously polarized and anxious than at any time at least since World War II, and there appears very little hope that these maladies will be in any meaningful way cured by the results of this election year; in fact, they are likely to be exacerbated, whatever the outcome. There has […]

I first came in contact with UT-Austin professor of history H. W. Brands when he spoke to a luncheon group I was with in Austin.  Later I caught up with his book, Lone Star Nation, which is a really good history of Texas.  This book, the full name of which is American Colossus: The Triumph […]

I have just read The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters by Karl Rove and I was struck by the continuing relevance of that election. For me, when I thought about it at all, the election of 1896 has always been associated with the William Jennings Bryan “cross of gold” […]

The Embrace of Unreason: France 1914-1940 by Frederick Brown This book should be considered a sequel to Brown’s 2011 book which I previously reviewed, For the Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus, an excellent history beginning with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and its aftermath, during which a defeated and humiliated […]