Various

In “Professors as Propagandists” (April), Alexander Riley systematically misrepresents my 2018 book, How Fascism Works. If this were my only objection, I would not be writing this letter. There is a substantial moral and political disagreement brought out by his piece. I would be remiss to . . . . Continue Reading »

Tyll: A Novel by daniel kehlmann, translated by ross benjamin pantheon, 352 pages, $26.95 Daniel Kehlmann’s novel Tyll, like its title character, is full of dark surprises. Tyll ­Ulenspiegel, a legendary figure from German folklore, is a prankster, magician, and traveling performer. Throughout . . . . Continue Reading »

Religious Freedom Matthew Schmitz is right that we should focus less on the need for a universal tolerance and more on what sort of vision of the good life ought to be pursued among the tolerated (“Limits of Religious Freedom,” March). But my reason for believing this is near opposite to . . . . Continue Reading »

Theodore Dalrymple (“Identity as Ideology,” February) is certainly correct to point to the yearning for transcendence that was not—and likely cannot be—obliterated in people like André Hébert when they lose the will to enter into communion with the traditional means of attaining . . . . Continue Reading »

In September 1944, Helmuth von Moltke sat in Berlin’s Tegel prison, awaiting execution. The Nazis had arrested him for organizing the ­Kreisau Circle, a resistance group formed to plan a more democratic future Germany. Helmuth’s death drew near, yet, as his wife Freya wrote to him, “The best . . . . Continue Reading »

Patricia Snow (“Hawthorne’s Daughter,” January) may perhaps be ­unaware of St. Jerome’s error in countering Jovinian’s heresy, namely, his denigration of marriage in order to uphold the superiority of the virgin state. Snow makes Jerome’s mistake in her attempt to rationalize Rose . . . . Continue Reading »

In The River of the Immaculate Conception, James Matthew Wilson confirms his vocation as a public poet. Commissioned by the Benedict XVI Institute, this poem sequence of seven parts leads us through the lives of St. Juan Diego, St. ­Elizabeth Ann Seton, and Père Marquette, with interludes on . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t suppose it will be easy for Carl Trueman (“Turning Inward,” December 2019) and me to avoid talking past each other, but let’s give it a try. My book, The Meaning of Protestant Theology, is not an effort to engage with secondary literature. (Gerhard Forde? Never read him; don’t . . . . Continue Reading »

Darel E. Paul offers an elegant explication of Eric Kaufmann’s complex ethno-political projection of the future (“The Future is Mixed,” November 2019). However, I fear his use of Pierre Manent’s analysis is overbroad and muddles his attempt at pointing a way forward. For example, there’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Recommended books from some of our writers.  Continue Reading »