years, the worthlessness of much academicnscholarship, especially in thenhumanities; the sloppy thinking, deplorablenwriting, and general ignorancenof the majority of educationists andnadministrators who run the schools; thenlamentably large numbers of highlynexpensive and academically unjustifiednnonacademics employed by thenschools (deans, counselors, and coaches);nand the academic trends of recentnyears (multiculturalism, feminism, deconstruction)nthat threaten what is leftnof the integrity of the American university.nAs in his longer, more ambitiousnbooks on education — Teacher innAmerica, The House of Intellect, ThenAmerican University, and The CulturenWe Deserve — Barzun reminds us innBegin Here that American educationnhas too long been dominated by peoplenwho have no business in it, bynpeople who regard education not as thenprocess of “cultivating intellect,” butnrather as a means of adjusting studentsnto society and of solving social problems.nThese people range from thenold-fashioned educationists and vocationalistsnwho have filled the schoolsnwith courses in Dating, Driver Safety,nSelf-Esteem, Intermediate Frisbee, andnResort Club Accounting, to morenmodern “anti-intellectual intellectuals”:nthose who, in the name of “educationalndiversity” and under the pretextnof “liberating minorities,” declarenthe intellect a sham, deny that wordsnhave meaning, and dismiss reason itselfnas a mere tool used by the white middlenclass to “oppress.”nWhat is wrong with Americannschools, Barzun has said for years andnrepeats here, is that they long agonforgot their purpose. Rather than dedicatingnthemselves to their main job ofnthe “liquidation of ignorance,” rathernthan teaching students to master “thenarts of reading, wrihng, and counting,”nthe schools are more interested inntrying “to make ideal citizens, superntolerant neighbors, agents of worldnpeace . . . flawless drivers of cars,” andn”politically correct” advocates of thencauses of various minority groups.nMaking the schools once againnschools, Barzun has long contended,ncould result in any number of happynconsequences. Without increasingntheir budgets, for example, schoolsncould substantially increase the pay ofnreal teachers simply by getting rid ofnthe hordes of psychological and psychiatricncounselors, coaches, superfluousnadministrators, and pseudo-teachers ofnnonacademic courses. Such a movenmight attract sizably larger numbers ofnour best college graduates to teaching,nthereby improving the quality of pedagogynand the prestige of the teachingnprofession. The solution to the problemsnof American education, asnBarzun first wrote nearly a quarterncentury ago in The American Univer­nsity, is “simplicity and austerity.’nTeachers need to stop “innovating’nand to start teaching. Schools must cut.nnot add.nBut before any practical changes,nfinancial or otherwise, can take placenthe American educational system mustnrediscover its real purpose. This,nBarzun believes, is nowhere more importantnthan in the universities, notablynin the undergraduate schools, for it isnthey that provide the model and set thentone for all others. The much-needednNEW FROM LIBERTY FUNDnRATIONALISM IN POLITICS ANDnOTHER ESSAYSnNew & Expanded EditionnBy Michael OakeshottnForeword by Timothy Fullern”One of the few outstanding political philosophers ofnthe 20th century. Oakeshott returned continually tonthe central theme of his work: freedom, seeking tonexplain not just freedom in the political sense, outnfreedom as a defining characteristic of man.”n— The London TimesnMichaelnOakeshottnKionalis'”nin politics’n558 -1- xxvi pages. Preface to the 1st Edition,nforeword, bibliography, index.nHardcovern$24.00n0-86597-094-7nPaperbackn$ 7.50n0-86597-095-5n..aB’^”^nLibertyPre55, 1991nAlso AvailablenPOLITICAL SERMONS OF THEnAMERICAN FOUNDING ERA: 1730-1805nEdited by Ellis Sandozn”Professor Sandoz has provided a superb collection of sermons bearing onnthe politics of the era of the American Revolution and the early Republic. Allnin all, this is one of the most useful collections of sources available for thenstudy of the young United States.”n—Robert Middlekauff, The Huntington Libraryn1S98 + xxxviii pages. Foreword, acknowledgments, editor’s note, bibliography,nchronology.nHardcover $38.00 0-86597-090-4nPaperback $12.00 0-86597-091-2nLibertyPre55, 1990nPlease send me:nQuantitynOrdered TitlenEditionnPricenRationalism innHardcover $24.00nPoliticsnPaperback $ 7.50nHardcover $38.00nPolitical SermonsnPaperback $12.00nSubtotalnIndiana resident ; add 5% sales taxnTotalnPrepayment required on all orders not fornresale. We pay book rate postage on prepaidnorders. Please allow approximately 4 weeks forndelivery. All orders from outside the UnitednStates must be prepaid in U.S. dollars.nAmountnnnn Enclosed is my check ornmoney order made payablento Liberty Fund, Inc.nD Please send me a copy of”nyour current catalogue.nNamenAddressnCitynState/Zip ,—nMail to: LIBERTY FUND, INC.nDepartment Hilln7440 N. Shadeland Ave.nIndianapolis, IN 46250nOCTOBER 1991/37n