The pathway to tyranny is paved by encouraging people to believe in the uselessness of science, logic, and expertise.
Thomas Filbin
Book Review: “I Belong to Vienna” — The Merit of Not Doing the Wrong Thing
The value and virtue of I Belong to Vienna is that it personalizes and humanizes a global reign of terror into an understandable drama.
Book Review: “Animalia” — ‘Taint a Fit World for Man or Beast
Jean-Baptiste Del Amo has written a marvelous novel in the naturalistic mode that explores how the lives of humans and animals are both interdependent and in conflict — it is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.
Book Review: “De Gaulle” — An Exemplary View of the Man and His Times
For anyone interested in the man or that era, De Gaulle is indispensable.
Book Review: “A History of France” — Outsized Heroes on Horseback
In all of his books, John Julius Norwich remembered that history is a story.
Book Review: “Blown” – A Madcap Journey
Blown is a short and engrossing mystery novel that also stands as a morality play, an ethical fable that suggests that our own selves are perhaps the greatest mystery of all.
Book Review: “Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts” — Pages of Glory
De Hamel’s history is a detective story, a love story, and a revelation of the nourishment to be found in celebrated libraries and collections.
Book Review: Richard A. Posner — A Rare Judge Who Tells Us How He Really Feels
Why didn’t a legal mind as brilliant as Richard Posner’s get to the Supreme Court? One suspects his candor and bluntness.
Book Review: Supreme Democracy? How Supreme Court Justices are Chosen
The history and process of judicial selection — dispassionately detailed.
Book Review: “The Hunger Saint” — Courage in a World of Pain
Olivia Kate Cerrone tells this story in raw, blunt terms, in a naturalistic mode worthy of Zola.