Turning Back to Our Legal Traditions

It is not often a book appears that forces the reader to change or challenge long held historic concepts and narratives. Harold Berman’s Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition is one such book. Magisterial in its development, prodigious in its documentation, brilliant in its insight, Berman’s 550-page work … Read more

Getting the Story Right

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A review of Infiltrated:How to Stop the Insiders and Activists Who are Exploiting the Financial Crisis to Control Our Lives and Our Fortunes (McGraw-Hill Professional, August 2013) by Dr. Jay Richards written by John Horvat II. All too often economic decisions are not determined by the facts on the ground but by … Read more

Finding Hope Amid the Hops

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  A review of The Audacity of Hops: The History of America’s Craft Beer Revolution by Tom Acitelli (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2013) *          *          * In the world of mass standardization, the American beer industry stands out. Its gigantic breweries have dominated market share and undiscerning palates for decades. In 1975, some 50 … Read more

A Descent Into Hell

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A Review of Escape From Camp 14 Escape From Camp 14 is a modern-day horror story that spans 224 pages revealing the atrocities of the atheistic communist North Korean regime. Its facts are related by one of the few escapees who lived, Shin Dong-Hyuk. The testimony of a former inmate of the … Read more

Why Economic Culture Matters

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A review of Becoming Europe: Economic Decline, Culture, and How America Can Avoid a European Future by Samuel Gregg (New York: Encounter Books, 2013) *          *          * It is not often that one finds refreshing nuance in books dealing with economy. Economics is not supposed to be about nuance. It usually presents itself in … Read more

The False Accusation Scandal

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When talking about the enormous decline in sexual abuse cases inside the Catholic Church in recent years, it is customary to preface the remarks by saying that even one case of the clerical abuse of minors is too many. Such a qualifier is completely justified. The sacred dignity of the priesthood demands … Read more

Appeasing Red China: A Path to Self-Destruction

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Review of Bowing to Beijing: How Barack Obama is Hastening America’s Decline and Ushering a Century of Chinese Domination by Brett M. Decker and William C. Triplett II. In the early 1920’s, Vladimir Lenin was attending one of his regular meetings with the Politburo. The Soviet Union was facing famine, riots and … Read more

Understanding Saint Vincent de Paul

Understanding Saint Vincent de Paul

A Review of the book Saint Vincent de Paul by Father Raymond de Thomas de Saint Laurent The book, Saint Vincent de Paul is concise and easy to read. Its author, Father Raymond de Saint Laurent wrote it with the same simplicity and benevolence characteristic of Saint Vincent de Paul himself. Just … Read more

A Great Little Book: Francisco of Fatima

A Great Little Book: Francisco of Fatima 2

When America Needs Fatima first published its children’s biography of the youngest of the three little Fatima seers, Jacinta Marto, it was well received by young and old alike. Jacinta’s Story by Andrea F. Phillips continues to be in popular demand and has gone through several printings. One question, however, has persistently … Read more