Category: book review

Book Review: ‘The Falcon Thief’ by Joshua Hammer

One of the treatises written by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194–1250), King of Sicily and Jerusalem and Holy Roman Emperor, was “De Arte Venandi cum Avibus,” or “On the Art of Hunting With Birds.” It is also known by the title of “The Art of Falconry.” Basking in a court noted for its highly cosmopolitan…


Book Review: ‘Miserable Holiday Stories’: The Season’s All About Beginning Anew

One of life’s universal truths is that everyone has lived through their own personal holiday disaster. Whether due to unexpected circumstances, already existing family tensions, or a simple oversight blown out of all proportion, we can all recall at least one festive situation that is best forgotten. Alex Bernstein uses this premise as a starting…


Book Review: ‘Black Eye for America’: An Explanation of Critical Race Theory

At a time when Americans are hearing the term “critical race theory” tossed about, it behooves us to know exactly what it means. The excellent book “Black Eye for America: How Critical Race Theory Is Burning Down the House,” provides needed clarification. With a foreword by retired neurosurgeon and politician Benjamin S. Carson, co-authors Carol…


The New Essential Guide to the World of Beer

Beer has a story that stretches back to ancient history, reaches into nearly every country on earth, and, in the last couple of decades or so, has entered an incredible new chapter that celebrates standing traditions, resurrects a few nearly forgotten ones, and forges ahead into new territory. That’s a lot to keep up with,…


Book Review: ‘Hamnet’ by Maggie O’Farrell

“He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone; At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone.” Hamlet, Act IV, scene 5 A very young boy is frantically seeking help for his ill sister. Judith is his twin, and her lifeblood seems to course through his veins. Her pain is his….


Book Review: “Revolutionary Monsters: Five Men Who Turned Liberation Into Tyranny”

Donald T. Critchlow has written an important book in a time when it seems to be most needed. The Katzin Family Professor at Arizona State University (ASU) has constructed a very readable and relatively short book on the danger of tyranny arising under the promise of liberty.  The 177 pages of “Revolutionary Monsters,” which excludes…


Book Review: Beauty, Delight, Wisdom: Blown Away by ‘The Critical Temper’

Joy comes in many guises. A proposal of marriage, a promotion at work after two years of putting in extra time and effort, the birth of a child: These can leave us walking on air with a smile as big as the crescent moon. Even transitory delights—the gap-toothed grin of a 7-year-old, an unexpected gift…


Book Review: ‘Lady Editor: Sarah Josepha Hale and the Making of the Modern American Woman’

It’s a name that many, if not most, people are unfamiliar with—unless they remember the name of the author who wrote the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I was unfamiliar with Sarah Josepha Hale until reading this book, but upon completing it, I feel a sense of regret knowing that she has been…


The Euthanasia Slippery Slope: A Demand Driven Business

Commentary In May 2003, the “International Trade and Business Law Annual,” of which I was founding Editor-in-Chief, published an article on Belgium’s new euthanasia laws, which were passed on May 28, 2002. Written by Prof. Walter De Bondt of the University of Ghent, it provided an overview of one of the earliest iterations of voluntary assisted dying…


Book Review: A Curious Melding of Cultures in ‘The Discovery of Genesis’

Anyone with a mild interest in both the Bible and the Chinese language and characters might want to check out C. H. Kang and Ethel R. Nelson’s “The Discovery of Genesis.” This curious but thought-provoking book attempts to explain the possible relationship between the two. “The Discovery of Genesis” blends the origins and structure of…