Category: books

Book Review: ‘The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America’

I grew up on the West Coast, so I am familiar with the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. I haven’t been to Maine but I have traveled as far north from Virginia to New Hampshire. For me, the idea of traveling a scenic land route from one end of the United States to the…


‘American Muckraker: Rethinking Journalism for the 21st Century’

When I was young, my very favorite hero was Superman: Superman was good. I enjoyed the uplifting and patriotic stories of virtue triumphing over evil. Although Superman had a weakness (kryptonite), he never let this stop him from doing right. I adored his motto “Truth, Justice and the American Way” and repeated it often. Fast…


Book Review: ‘Princes of War: A Novel of America in Iraq’

When interviewing retired Army colonel Claude Schmid for a story about the nonprofit he founded, Veterans Last Patrol, I learned that he had written a novel, “Princes of War.” His organization focuses on partnering veterans with veterans in hospice care.  The story ran in The Epoch Times. I was curious about his book, a fictionalized…


Book Review: ‘The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville’

Arguably the preeminent scholar on Alexis de Tocqueville has written a new biography on the French aristocrat who defied aristocracy in favor of democracy. Olivier Zunz, the James Madison Professor of History at the University of Virginia, has assembled a studious work on the life of an incredibly studious man. “The Man Who Understood Democracy:…


Book Review: ‘The Approaching Storm: Roosevelt, Wilson, Addams, and Their Clash Over America’s Future’

World War I continues to be studied on the merits of how it changed the global landscape: geographically, religiously, and economically. Not to mention how the peace that followed led to the most devastating war the world had ever witnessed, only 20 years after the most devastating war the world had ever witnessed. These studies…


Epoch Booklist: Recommended Reading for April 22–28

This week’s selection of books includes a satire on our times, a novel by C.S. Lewis, and a book to help us communicate and understand numbers. Fiction Scary Accurate Satire ‘The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness’ By The Babylon Bee The world has truly gone insane, and sometimes the best way to reflect the insanity…


Joy in a Gulag

I recently read the newly republished French translation of Nicolae Steinhardt’s “The Diary of Happiness“—which, as I just discovered, also exists in an English translation. This is very good news for English-speaking readers, since it’s a masterpiece on various counts. Translations of this work are to be desired, since there are not many readers who…


Washington Irving and the Birth of American Romanticism

Washington Irving’s brief autobiographical essay “The Author’s Account of Himself” opens his book of numerous writings titled “The Sketch Book.” First published in London in 1809, this slightly satirical introductory essay gives a brief glimpse into Irving’s admiration for his blossoming American continent: Cover page of “The Sketch Book,” 1819, by Washington Irving. (Public Domain)…


Epoch Booklist: Recommended Reading for April 15–21

This week’s selection of books includes a history of world power based on grain production and a children’s tale that speaks to the heart. Fiction Librarian’s Legacy Lives On ‘The Book Woman’s Daughter’ By Kim Michele Richardson Young and on her own, Honey Mary-Angeline Lovett is forced to earn her independence. She picks up where…


Book Review: ‘The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind’

When I was a young girl, my mother gifted me one Christmas with D’Aulaires’ “Book of Greek Myths.” It stuck. When I went off to college, it was classes in Greek and Roman mythology and philosophy that had my mind soaring with a deeper appreciation for these ancient shapers of thought. This scholarly work by…