Exterminating Fantasiesrnby Frank Brownlowrn”[Socialism is] the combination of religious sentimentality, industrial insanity,rnand moral obliquity.”rn—F.J.C. HeamshawrnThe Lost Literature of Socialismrnby George WatsonrnCambridge: The Lutterworth Press;rn112 pp., £25.00rnSome years ago, George Watsonrnwrote two remarkable articles forrnChronicles describing how the Soviets,rnthose heroes of socialist resistance to fascism,rncarried on using German concentrationrncamps for their original purposesrnuntil the early 50’s...

REVIEWSrnNew West Gothicrnby Bill CrokernClose Range: Wyoming Storiesrnby Annie ProiilxrnNewYork: Scribners; 283 pp., $25.00rnThe American short story is moribund.rnThe passing of giants (FlanneryrnO’Connor, John Cheever, JohnrnO’Hara, Irwin Shaw, Peter Taylor) hasrnrelegated the form to the purgatory ofrnacademic hackdom and its innumerablernideological ax-grinders paying homage torna plethora of multicultural grievances. Inrnthe 1980’s, we had a short...

die and drive the pickup to town for arncloser look.rnBill Croke is a writer living in Cody,rnWyoming.rnPolitical Orgiesrnby Paul GottfriedrnThe Pohtics of Empowermentrnby Robert WeissbergrnWestport, CT: Praeger Publishers;rn272 pp., $45.00rnRobert Weissberg produced the presentrnvolume, on the concept andrnpractice of empowerment, almost simultaneouslyrnwith another monograph, onrntolerance, published last year. Both studiesrnhighlight the difference between a polihcalrnideal...

OPINIONSrnM.E. Bradford and the Barbarism of Reflectionrnby Donald W. Livingstonrn”The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas.”rn-Joseph AddisonrnA Defender of Southern Conservatism:rnM.E. Bradford and His AchievementsrnEdited by Clyde WilsonrnColumbia: University of Missouri Press;rn208 pp., $29.95rnThis is the first critical study of M.E.rnBradford, whose untimely death inrn1993 silenced the most eloquent voicernever raised...

REVIEWSrnBrookfield Revisitedrnby Michael McMahonrnLetters Between a Victorian Schoolboyrnand His Family, 1892-1895rnEdited by David Lisle CranernPrivately published (available throughrnw vvw.worldwidebooks.comj;rn433 pp., £35.00rnThe Golden Year of the Golden Agernof Hollywood was, perhaps, 1939.rnAmongst its many films that have sincernbecome classics —including Gone Withrnthe Wind, ‘The Wizard of Oz, WutheringrnHeights, Stagecoach, and The Hunchbackrnof Notre Dame—was the first...

common to pampered celebrities, yetrnthere is no denying the astounding trackrnrecord of carcfidly planned, arranged,rnand recorded mnsic, now stretching backrn50 ears to his first recording of a tunerncalled “Confessin’ Blues” for the tinyrnDown Beat label in Los Angeles late inrn1948.rn”I neer wanted to be famous, but I alwavsrnwanted to be great,” Charles hasrnstated in the...

OPINIONSrnUnder Western Eyesrnby Paul Gottfriedrn”When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking, or thinking I cannot choosernbut laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists; but I hope it will exist.rnBut it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more.”rn—John AdamsrnThe Commission for Racial...

Great Renormationsrnby Richard Cowden Guidorn’Humanity must remain as it is.”rn-Pope Leo XIIIrnThe Great Disruption: Human Naturernand the Reconstitution of Social Orderrnby Francis FukuyamarnNew York: The Free Press;rn471 pp., $26.00rnAsad thing about being American isrnthat patriotism has never had muchrnof a chance to find genuine expression inrnour souls, we having been taught thatrnAmericanism has to do...

REVIEWSrnThe Fire Next Timernby Gregory D. PalmerrnTriumph of Disorder:rnIslamic Fundamentalism,rnThe New Face of Warrnbv Morgan NorvalrnBend, OR: Sligo Press; 306 pp., $25.95rnMorgan Norval shares with this re-rniewer one characteristic both ofrnus may soon have cause to regret: We livernnear Washington, D.C., one of the primerncandidates for a major terrorist attackrnwith unconventional weapons in thernnear future,...

will double…. The population explosionrnwill coincide with, and addrnto, the great migration of peoples.rn. . . This migration foreshadows anotherrnIslamic invasion of Europe.rnDemographers project the MiddlernEast alone (including Iran) couldrnreach a population of three hundredrnto four hundred million byrn2030. . . . If large numbers of MiddlernEastern and African migrantsrnswarm into Europe in the 2000srnand...

OPINIONSrnThe Vanishing Anglo-Saxon Minorityrnby Samuel Francisrn”The Anglo-Saxon carries self-government and self-developmentrnwith him wherever he goes.”rn— Henry Ward BeecherrnThe Cousins’ Wars:rnReligion, Politics, Civil Warfare,rnand the Triumph of Anglo-Americarnby Kevin P. PhiUipsrnNew York: Basic Books;rn707 pp., $32.50rnFor almost exactly 30 years, Kevin P.rnPhillips has been cranking out somernof the most interesting and provocativernworks of political analysis written...

Christianity and Slavery in the Old Southrnby H. Arthur Scott Traskrn”Slavery is as ancient as war, and war as human nature.”rn—VoltairernA Consuming Fire:rnThe Fall of the Confederacy in thernMind of the White Christian Southrnby Eugene D. GenovesernAthens, GA: University of Georgia Press;rn169 pp., $24.95rnA mencans, with their strong tenden-rn.cy to externalize the evil withinrnthem and...

REVIEWSrnMea Culparnby George GarrettrnEx-Friends: Falling Out With AllenrnGinsberg, Lionel & Diana Trilling,rnLillian Hellman, Hannah Arendt,rnand Norman Mailerrnby Norman PodhoretzrnNew York: The Free Press;rn256pp.J25.00rnDear Norman,rnThis is the second (and probably thernlast) time I have written to you. The firstrntime was way back in tumultuous 1968rnwhen, as a kind of review of your bookrnMaking It, for tlie...

OPINIONSrnThe Road to Regressionrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rn’Every step forward is made at the cost of mental and physical pain to someone.”rn—Friedrich NietzschernWith Good Intentions? Reflections onrnthe Myth of Progress in Americarnby Bill KauffmanrnWestport, CT: Praeger;rn124 pp., $35.00rnMost Americans, whether theyrnknow it or not, are aheady wellrnacquainted with lost causes; as for thernrest, they have only...

REVIEWSrnThe FirstrnPhilosophic Agernby Antony FlewrnPhilosophical Melancholy andrnDelirium: Hume’s Pathologyrnof Philosophyrnby Donald W. LivingstonrnChicago: University of Chicago Press;rn433 pp., $68.00rnIt can confidently be claimed—andrnhas already been by several reviewersrnin the philosophers’ trade journals—thatrnthis book is absolutely indispensable tornanyone wanting hilly to understand thernwhole range of Hume’s writings. Thatrnrange includes much more than thernTreatise, the two Enquiries,...

war against the secessionist Americanrnpopulation. Such total war is, Livingstonrnclaims, “possible only among ‘civilized’rnnations. It is shaped and legitimated byrnan act of reflection, a way of thinkingrnabout the world whereby an entire peoplernbecomes the enemy.” Hence “Lincoln’srnscorched earth policy and demandrnfor unconditional surrender exhibited arnnew frame of mind that only eighty yearsrnlater would reveal itself...

was, in his words, “versed in countryrnthings,” but he was not immersed, the impressionrngiven by Berry in his poetry andrnin biographical accounts. As a matter ofrnfact. Frost told me that he had hatedrndoing the chores and fled the country asrna working farmer as soon as he could,rnusing the countryside for the rest of hisrnlife as...

blandly states that Laurence Duggan, arnmember of the Soviet apparat in thernState Department, “jumped or fell” fromrna 16th-story window in New York—rnclearly a defenestration (much like JanrnMasaryk’s in Prague) to prevent himrnfrom corroborating the testimony ofrnWhittaker Chambers and ElizabethrnBently.rnThe Haunted Wood is subtitled SovietrnEspionage in America—The StaUn Era.rnHowever, it merely scratches the surfacernof what was...

OPINIONSrnWonderful Illusionsrnby Fr. Hugh Barbourrn’The remembrance of death, like all other blessings, is a gift of God: otherwise howrnis it that often when we are by the very tombs, we are left tearless and hard?”rn— St. John of the LadderrnThe Medjugorje Deceptionrnby E. Michael JonesrnSouth Bend, IN: VideUty Press;rn385 pp., $19.95rnMore than 20 vears ago,...

REVIEWSrnThe Secretary ofrnEducation Doesn’trnby Sir Hugh Lloyd-]onesrnThe Devil Knows Latin: ^STiy AmericarnNeeds the Classical Traditionrnby E. Christian KopffrnWibnington, DE: ISl Books;rn3 B pp., $24.95rnMonsignor Ronald Knox, whenrnasked to conduct a baptismal servicernin the English language, replied thatrnthe Devil knew Latin, dius supplying a titlernfor this lively, informative, and intelligentrnbook. Many of its chapters ha’ernalready appeared...

1850), who is given respectfvil attention;rnone misses a mention of the story thatrnshe once declared that she had decidedrnto accept the universe, causing Carlylernto exclaim, “By God, slie’d better!” Anotherrnclwpter is devoted to the Scottishrnclassical scholar and poet DouglasrnYoung, who ended his career at ChapelrnHill, North Carolina, where Kopff andrnThomas Fleming were the two pupils...

secondary university, having swallowedrnup the original one,rnengages in systematic intimidation.rn. .. The first imposition, in thernclassroom, is merely an abuse of arnpower that generally may bernawarded by choice and in anyrnevent is not accomplished in secret.rnThe second imposition of thernshadow university is inescapablernand is an exercise in somethingrntruly chilling; a hidden, systematicrnassault upon liberty, including...

Ayn Rand herself, it is safe to say,rnwould have been appalled by nearly everythingrnproduced by the Brandens.rnOne may infer, moreover, how shernwould have evaluated the stilted, derivative,rnand unconvincing writings of herrnlatter-day followers, which lack the essentialrningredient she infused into all herrnwritings—passion—while undergirdingrna movement that has iirherited all of herrncrankier, more tiresome, and least interestingrneccentricities: her...

OPINIONSrnThe Secrets of Liberalismrnby William R. Hawkinsrn”A secret may be sometimes best kept by keeping the secret of its being a secret.”rn—Henry TaylorrnSecrecy: The American Experiencernby Daniel Patrick MoynihanrnNew Haven: Yale University Press;rn262 pp., $22.50rnIwas reading his new book whenrnDaniel Patrick Moynihan announcedrnthat he would not seek a fourth Senaternterm in 2000. A university professor...

REVIEWSrnBiological Moralityrnby David GordonrnConsilience: The Unity of Knowledgernby Edward O. WilsonrnNew York: Alfred A. Knopf;rn332 pp., $26.00rnEdward Wilson views the humanitiesrntoday with alarm. In the hardrnsciences, the pursuit of objective knowledgernremains the order of the day. Notrnso in literary studies, where decofistructionrndissolves hard facts into arbitraryrnperspectives.rnEach author’s meaning is uniquernto himself, goes the underlyingrnpremise; nothing...

sumed within biolog)’. Wilson grew uprnas a devout Southern Baptist; in his adultrnyears, however, he has “put away childishrnthings” and found in his consilientrnworldview adequate solace and sense ofrnpurpose. He is not an atheist: “On religionrnI lean toward deism but consider itsrnproof largely a problem in astrophysics”!rnNevertheless, God—whatever He mayrnbe —has nothing to do with...

both the Russians and other nationsrnis the question of survival.rnThe fact that Russians are addressingrnthat question—sometimes, admittedly,rnin reprehensible (the Nazism of Barkashov),rnunattractive (the “national bolshevism”rnof communist leader GennadirnZyuganov), and bizarre (the ranting ofrn”liberal democrat” Vladimir Zhirinovsky)rnways —is itself unacceptable to thernglobal managerial elite that dominatesrntheir country and ours: hence Russianrnnationalism’s bogeyman status amongrnthe “democratic” intelligentsia...

OPINIONSrnThe Flight of the Lone Eaglernby Justin Raimondorn”There is a hawk that is picking the birds out of our sky.rnShe killed the pigeons of peace and security.rnShe has taken honesty and confidence from nations and men.rnShe is hunting the lonely heron of liberty.”rn—Robinson JefFers, “Shiva”rnLindberghrnby A Scott BergrnNew York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons;rn628 pp., $30.00rnThe competition...

Mauve Gloves & Stoics, Thackeray, Wolfernby Andrei Navrozovrn”The only reward to be expected from the cultivation of literaturernis contempt if one fails and hatred if one succeeds.”rn—VoltairernA Man in Fullrnby Tom WolfernNew York: Farrar, Stmts & Giroux;rn742 pp., $28.00rnWhen Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire ofrnthe Vanities came out in Englandrnmore than a decade ago, 1 reviewedrnit...

REVIEWSrnNolite Confldere inrnPrincipibusrnby William ]. Watkins, Jr.rnThere’s More to Life Than Pohticsrnby William MurchisonrnDallas: Spence Publishing Company;rn279 pp., $22.95rnPolitics obsess Americans. Everythingrnfrom a child’s education tornmedical care for the aged is now a politicalrnquestion—indeed, a national politicalrnquestion. Once upon a time, familiesrnchose how to educate their childrenrnand care for elderly parents, but in modernrnAmerica this...

world from before World War I, andrneven before the turn of the century. Hisrnupbringing in Vienna marked him forrnlife, and something of Viennese grace alwaysrnstamped his playing as well as him.rnAs a child, Kreisler knew Herr DoktorrnFreud, who dropped over for chamberrnmusic sessions at home. He studied withrnAnton Bruckner and consulted with JohannesrnBrahms. Kreisler came...

OPINIONSrnForce and Idearnby Samuel Francisrn’The tone and tendency of liberalism … is to attack the institutions of the countryrnunder the name of reform and to make war on the manners and customs of thernpeople under the pretext of progress.”rn— Benjamin DisraelirnAfter Liberalism: Mass Democracyrnand the Managerial Staternby Paul GottfriedrnPrinceton: Princeton University Press;rn176 pp., $27.95rnAlthough Paul...

Ah, Wilderness!rnby Scott McConnellrn”Oh, for a lodge in some vast wilderness,rnSome boundless contiguity of shade,rnWhere rumor of oppression and deceit,rnOf unsuccessful or successful war.rnMight never reach me more!”rn—William CowperrnAn Empire Wilderness: Travels IntornAmerica’s Futurernby Robert D. KaplanrnNew York: Random House;rn393 pp., $27.50rnHaving written books on the Balkansrn{Balkan Ghosts) and the mostrndisorganized parts of Africa (The...

REVIEWSrnPresent at thernDeconstructionrnby Paul GottfriedrnAcheson: The Secretary of State WhornCreated the American Worldrnby James ChacernNew York: Simon and Schuster;rn512 pp., $33.00rnI ames Chace’s biography of DeanrnJ Acheson is a generally interestingrnbook dealing with a provocative figure.rnWhat makes it less than engrossing is thernpredictability of Chace’s left-liberal judgments.rnBecause of his pervasive bias, hernnever surprises: Republicans in...

Taft, harbored reservations about Acheson.rnUnlike Chace, they did not considerrnhim a “pragmatist” or a “reahst” butrnsomeone who carried compromisingrnbaggage. Like Chace, I admire Acheson’srndiplomatic skills, but I believe thatrnthe baggage was real. Though Achesonrnwas clearly more engaging than therndough-faced Taft, the senator from Ohiornwas by far the greater defender of constitutionalrngovernment, and may havernbeen the...

out that 19th-century European scholarsrnwho scoured the Holy Land for traces ofrnthe historical Jesus were appalled by itsrncrowds, dirt, noise, and smell. Its residentsrnseemed hopelessly uncouth andrnunwashed. No doubt the hair underrntheir arms was plentiful and, at times,rnrank. How could this comport with theirrnimage of Jesus? So the hygienic Europeansrnset about rescuing their Saviorrnfrom the...

OPINIONSrnConfidants of Bloodrnby William Millsrn”If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”rn-Psalm 137:6rnSummer of Deliverance:rnA Memoir of Father and Sonrnby Christopher DickeyrnNew York: Simon & Schuster;rn256 pp., $24.00rnThis troubling memoir of JamesrnDickey by his son, Christopher, isrntroubling as well for me to review becausernI knew James Dickey...

The Lady From Nigerrnby William R. HawkinsrnThere once was a lady from NigerrnWho smiled as she rode on a tiger.rnThey returned from the ridernWith the lady insidernAnd the smile on the face of the tiger.rn—Ogden NashrnEast and West:rnChina, Power and the Future of Asiarnby Christopher PattenrnNew York: Times Books;rn304 pp., $25.00rnChristopher Patten warns at the...

REVIEWSrnPsychologicalrnPhenomenarnby Paul GottfiriedrnPolitical Tolerance:rnBalancing Communityrnand Diversityrnby Robert WeissbergrnThousand Oaks, California:rnSage Publications;rn272 pp., $54.00rnRobert Weissberg’s study of tolerancernwill not bring him academic goodrnwill, and the drab appearance of this volumernwill not attract a sufficient numberrnof potentially favorable readers to makernits author justly famous. So much thernworse! The book is written with flair,rneven occasional humor, and offers...

returning is that one is dealing here withrna “psychological phenomenon” foundrnamong “self-defined victims” and theirrnproponents. Weissberg is right about allrnof this, but he misses the political contextrnthat shapes such behavior. As LinornGraglia has repeatedly asked: Whatrnwould our universities be like if the federalrngovernment, directly and throughrnthe states, did not impose afFirmafive action?rnThe answer must be:...

OPINIONSrnThe British Were Coming!rnby Justin Raimondorn”Oh, that deceit should steal such subtle shapesrnAnd with a virtuous vizard hide foul guile.”rn—William ShakespearernDesperate Deception:rnBritish Covert Operations in thernUnited States, 1939-44rnby Thomas E. MahlrnWashington: Brassey’s;rn2S6 pp., $26.95rnI n the midst of his hattle to save our oldrnRepublic and keep the United Statesrnout ol^World War II, John T. Flynn...

A Theory of Fairnessrnby David Gordonrn”Mine is better than ours.”rn—Benjamin FranklinrnThe Noblest Triumph: Property andrnProsperity Through the Agesrnhy Tom BethellrnNew York: St. Martin’s Press;rn578 pp., $29.95rnTom Bethell, here as often before,rnuses sturdy common sense to challengernexperts in their own field, hi a controversialrnarticle many years ago, herndared to suggest that evolutionary biologistsrnhave exaggerated the evidence...

REVIEWSrnThe Fall and Rise ofrnthe House of Hardyrnby Thomas FlemingrnOur Fathers’ Fields: A Southern Storyrnby Jamea Everett KiblerrnColumbia: Uni’versih- of South CarolinarnPress; 444 pp., $29.95rnAnoted Southern literary historianrnonce took me to task for wastingrntime on polemics. The scholar’s task, hernsaid, is to search out the facts and makerncoherent sense of them. In the long run,rnthe...

down, and hist him over in de middle ofrndem blackberry bushes.” When they reportrnthe attack to their mistress, whosernhusband is away, she does not hesitate tornfire the overseer on the spot. Althoughrnthe episode illustrates the danger ofrnputting women under the power of arnman who is not their husband or father,rnthe story has a happier ending...

OPINIONSrnExperiencing Civilizationrnby Brian Robertsonrn”The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas.”rn— George SantayanarnPoetic Knowledge:rnThe Recovery of Educationrnby James S. TaylorrnAlbany. State University of New YorkrnPress; 211pp., $59.50rnThe Restoration of Christian Culturernby John SeniorrnFort Collins, Colorado: Roman CatholicrnBooks; 244 pp., $19.95rnWhen The Restoration of ChristianrnCulture was first published inrn1983, the Integrated Humanities...

REVIEWSrnScorched Earthrnby Thomas FlemingrnWho Killed Homer? The Demisernof Classical Education and thernRecovery of Greek Wisdomrnby Victor Davis Hanson and ]ohn HeathrnNew York: The Free Press;rn290 pp., $25.00rnThe great debate over the humanitiesrncurriculum is the one that neverrntook place. What some disgruntledrnacademics call “the traditional curriculum”rnis really the hopeless hodgepodgernthat was cobbled together in the periodrnthat...

the acquisition of knowledge itself are tornremain apart from both religious and politicalrnauthority.” I have read, studied,rnand taught this play many times withoutrnever coming within miles of this conclusion.rnIn fact, the chorus concludes thatrncivilization (the city) can only survive ifrnman “fulfills [or “threads together” —rnthere is a textual problem] the laws of thernland (or the...

tive Party opponent, William F. Buckley.rnAlthough Lindsay is portrayed as an “impractical”rndo-gooder and Buckley as arnsober realist who knew that “governmentrncould not solve all the problems blockingrnblack entr’ into the mainstream,” Jacobvrndoes not hide her true feelings.rnLindsay was expressing noble sentiments,rnthough mistaken about specificsrnand clumsy about applying his ideals.rnBut Buckley ran “a pandering campaign,”rnpresumably because...

Georgics onrnMy Mindrnby R.S. GwynnrnA Timbered Choir: The SabbathrnPoems, 1979-1997rnby Wendell BerryrnWashington: Counterpoint;rn216 pp., $22.00rnThe Deed of Giftrnby Timothy MurphyrnAshland, Oregon: Story Line Press;rnno pp., $12.95rn(.i Farmer-poet” is one of those hyphenatedrnepithets that summonsrnup a vision, and for most readers ofrnAmerican poetry that vision is embodiedrnby Robert Frost, who, the legend has it,rnturned out memorable...

OPINIONSrnAn American Bhagavadgitarnby James Hillrn’The United States of America —the greatest potential force,rnmaterial, moral, and spiritual, in the world.”rn—G. Lowes DickinsonrnA History of the American Peoplernby Paul JohnsonrnNew York: HarperCollins;rn1088 pp., $35.00rnFor Paul Johnson, American historv’rnwas a non-subject in his days at Oxfordrnand its School of Modern Histon,’ inrnthe 1940’s. “Nothing was said of America,rnexcept...