C. S. Lewis and His Stepsons

by Jonathon Van Maren

C. S. Lewis struggled mightily to help his mentally ill stepson. Continue Reading »

3 Sep 2020

The Joy of Gerard

by John Wilson

Your appreciation of Gerard Manley Hopkins's poetry may be deepened by Catherine Randall’s concise and empathetic account.  Continue Reading »

7 Aug 2020

God, Country, Notre Dame

by Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Father Wilson Miscamble’s biography American Priest captures the complicated genius of Father Ted Hesburgh.  Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2019

Stefan Zweig, European Man

by Joseph Epstein

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 »

1 Jun 2019

The Monster's Servant

by Richard Rex

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 »

1 Nov 2018

The Vision of Father Neuhaus

by William Doino Jr.

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 »

23 Mar 2015

Augustine of Hippo: A Biography

by Robert Louis Wilken

My worn and heavily marked copy of the original hardback edition of Peter Brown’s biography of St. Augustine, its binding held together by sturdy book tape, sits on a bookshelf close to my desk as it has since it first appeared in 1967. On the inside cover I have a little note, “Reviewed in . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 2001