The Worthy House (Charles Haywood)

A fascinating memoir by an Englishman who fought for the side that fortunately won in the Spanish Civil War, Franco's Nationalists. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Of William Tell, and tyranny, yes, but much more of current events, most of all the crippling feminization of society fully revealed by our societal reaction to the virus. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

In the hysteria that characterizes the current moment, of a man who pushed masculinity as the cure for every problem. A man we could use today, but we are cursed with the leaders we have instead. (The written version of this review was first published February 14, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

A very recent book that became more relevant overnight—its diagnosis of decadence, and what comes after, is newly relevant in a world changed by the Chinese virus. But Douthat ignores the elephant in the room. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

A partially successful attempt to compress a thousand years of complex history into a readable text. (The written version of this review was first published February 11, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

A complete analysis of the eternal modern Western battle between those who focus on human limits (and who often wish humanity would disappear) and those who view science and technology as handmaidens to man's progress and destiny. (The written version of this review was first published February 9, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

It is, I think, timely to consider the differences in how the Chinese and the Americans approach the world. It is certainly instructive. (The written version of this review was first published February 7, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

In these times of turmoil, why the 1960s were not just a mistake, but a societal evil, and how we can take advantage of today's circumstances to get back on track. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

A short review, for once, of this excellent work, which discusses how the modern world, in thought and technology, was birthed by Europeans a thousand years ago. (The written version of this review was first published January 27, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thoughts about obscure conflicts from fourteen hundred years ago, and what they tell us of today. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Of Niall Ferguson's excellent 2018 "The Square and the Tower," and of low-trust societies and the effects of technology on our political future. Prescient, from the viewpoint of 2020. (The written version of this review was first published January 24, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

A book with some interesting points, but extremely narrow and deliberately self-blinkered. (The written version of this review was first published January 24, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

This 2010 book outlines much of today's even-more-pressing debates about whether America should implement an industrial policy. (The written version of this review was first published January 17, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Christopher Caldwell's 2009 book on immigration to Europe is not bad, but it's been overtaken by events, and its analysis isn't subtle enough. (The written version of this review was first published January 15, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

This book, winner of the 2012 Bancroft Prize, offers some interesting ideas about ideas, but is primarily interesting for what it misses. (The written version of this review was first published January 12, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

An exploration of the supposed Grand Master's mostly banal thoughts. Also of multiculturalism, wine aunts, and our own future. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Mark Lilla's polished examination of philotyrannical intellectuals of the twentieth century. (The written version of this review was first published January 14, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Of why those who opposed Communism when it ruled are forgotten or dishonored, while those who supported it paid no price (yet). (The written version of this review was first published January 13, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

A year ago, I offered thoughts on the next pandemic, in particular its possible effects on society and the reaction of the government. This review seems timely now. (The written version of this review was first published November 15, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

An exploration of twentieth-century government's role in African American segregation and its subsequent ill effects. (The written version of this review was first published August 15, 2017. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Of bees, and today's agriculture, and atrazine, and cheap food. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Straight history today, not politics, in the form of Christian (and Muslim) heroism at the final end of the Crusades. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Thoughts, from two years ago now, on Patrick Deneen's seminal work, the first major work of post-liberalism in the modern era. (The written version of this review was first published December 19, 2017. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

My review of @sapinker's "Enlightenment Now." A mixed bag, as usual with Pinker, lurching wildly from Very Good to Very Bad. (The written version of this review was first published February 16, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Peerless NeverTrumper Jonah Goldberg instructs us how to view the world. (The written version of this review was first published May 2, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Of Men of Destiny, and of the protean Alcibiades, man of glory and contradiction, and of what his life says to us today. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

I am skeptical of the art of predicting the future based on the past, but Peter Turchin offers a compelling theory in this 2016 book—including predicting that 2020 will be a very bad year. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Thoughts on a misleading and mendacious book that has been used to propagandize generations of schoolchildren. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

This book explains a great deal this is otherwise opaque, and shows why the propaganda we are fed about value, GDP and the like, is propaganda, that blinds us to the reality of our economy. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Václav Havel's famous essay, born of a specific time and place, resonates decades later in our own proto-totalitarian society. What should be done? Havel tells us. (The written version of this review was first published May 18, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

I thought this book was be good; I was wrong. Free market fundamentalism is bad, to be sure, but what Karl Polanyi offers isn't better, and his analysis is dated. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

John Carreyrou's Bad Blood is unbelievably good. No recap of the book, though: rather thoughts on every on at Theranos behaving badly, including, especially, the lawyers. And my take on why Elizabeth Holmes was able to do what she did. Also why autonomous cars are BS. (The written version of this review was first published September 25, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

An examination of a fascinating work on the settlement of Polynesia, with a focus on human accomplishment. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

On how conservatives hobble themselves with preemptive apologies that have been conditioned into them by the Left. (The written version of this review was first published September 19, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, can be found here.)

Just in time to explain the inevitable Left reaction to Boris Johnson's triumph, an analysis of the Left's hatred of actual democracy. (The written version of this review was first published September 25, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

A turn (mostly) away from current politics, to speak of eternal things. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

The beginnings, through discussion tied to this mediocre book, of an attempt to understand the creation of value in society. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Yet another classic work that is, unfortunately, just as relevant today. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Some thoughts on how liberals view the world, derived in part from the New York Times's podcast, “The Argument.” (The written version of this review was first published November 4, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Read and reviewed Tim Wu's important new book on the effects of, and solutions for, economic concentration. Something both conservatives and liberals can get behind. Up the NeoBrandeisianism! (The written version of this review was first published November 18, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thoughts on a long-dead king and his early-twentieth-century booster, Ernst Kantorowicz. I include a call for caesaropapist correction of Pope Francis, as well! (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

A dense, but very worthwhile, set of ruminations not on our age of digital distraction, but on how the Enlightenment destroyed our connection to the real. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

The history and inevitability of economic inequality, with thoughts on whether and in what circumstances it's bad, from me, not the author. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Thoughts on an often-misunderstood book, José Ortega y Gasset's classic The Revolt of the Masses. (The written version of this review was first published March 24, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thoughts on Daymond John's excellent "Rise And Grind," and on how you can be rich like me. (The written version of this review was first published April 30, 2019. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Reviewed John Farrell's biography of Richard Nixon, which brings the man back to life, and shows us the parallels between him and Donald Trump, or at least between the Left's treatment of both. (The written version of this review was first published April 26, 2019. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thoughts on Martin Mosebach's The 21, exploring the best known, but far from only, Coptic martyrs, whose deaths, of course, are only part of a larger pattern displayed daily. (The written version of this review was first published April 23, 2019. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Thoughts on Quillette, ally in the wars to come. (The written version of this review was first published April 20, 2019. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Rusty Reno's new book is good enough, but too narrow in its vision, even cramped. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)

Francisco Franco's body may have been exhumed by his enemies today, but they cannot destroy his example, of a successful defense against, and total defeat of, the Left. That example deserves to be better known, for it will doubtless prove useful soon (which is why the Left is desperate to suppress the truth about Franco). (The written version of this review was first published April 16, 2019. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)