Lincoln in Peoria
It was at Peoria that Abraham Lincoln set the pathway leading to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, the Civil War Amendments, and beyond to the civil rights laws of today, writes Harry V. Jaffa in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Failed State
No analysis of the Golden State's political demise would be complete without discussing how the Progressive legacy has undermined the state's ability to govern itself, writes William Voegeli in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Is Deregulation to Blame?
Deregulation did not cause the collapse, writes James Keller in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
CRB Reader Survey
The publisher of the Claremont Review of Books and our advertisers would like to know who reads the CRB and what our readers think about the journal. Please take our brief online survey and tell us what you think.
A Very Claremont Christmas - 2009
Great reading for the season, recommended by Hadley Arkes, Kathleen Arnn, Elliott Banfield, Mark Blitz, Ben Boychuk, Matthew Franck, Larry Greenfield, Jakub Grygiel, Allen Guelzo, Alonzo Hamby, Daniel Walker Howe, Brian Janiskee, Thomas Karako, John Kienker, Daniel Mahoney, Harvey Mansfield, Wilfred McClay, Cheryl Miller, Jack Pitney, Julie Ponzi, Robert Reilly, Bruce Sanborn, Carl Schramm, Algis Valiunas, Thomas West, Ryan Williams, John Yoo, and Michael Zuckert.An Advent Conversation with James V. Schall, S.J.
Senior Fellow Ken Masugi continues his series of Advent interviews with political theorist James V. Schall, S.J. Topics for discussion include President Obama's recent speeches and Pope Benedict's statements on economics and morality in his encyclical "Caritas in Veritate."
A Very Claremont Christmas - 2009 (part 4)
A Very Claremont Christmas - 2009 (part 3)
A Very Claremont Christmas - 2009 (part 2)
Fall 2009 CRB (6.5 MB PDF)
Remembering Winston Churchill
We remember Winston Churchill for his defense of the free world against the forces of evil led by Adolph Hitler. The world today is no less dangerous and we are just as ill-prepared to meet the challenges, writes Brian T. Kennedy.Unrepentant
Madison's Avenues
Two new books look back to our greatest founder for guidance in restoring the political to our politics, writes Michael P. Zuckert in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Worst Case Scenario
Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States faces a greater risk of nuclear attack than at any time in its history, writes Michael Anton in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Transcendental Hustlers
In the 21st century as in the 17th, Americans want to be transcendentally good even as we hustle to do well for ourselves, writes Angelo M. Codevilla in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.History and Mythology
Still Great
Common Sense and Philosophy
Correspondence
The Politics of Repeal
If Obamacare comes to pass, it won't be the end of the fight, writes Charles R. Kesler in the Fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Obama Blinks Twice
In September, the Iranian president and the Russian prime minister put Barack Obama to the test, and he blinked not once but twice, writes Mark Helprin in the fall 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Disputed Question
The Liberals' Constitution
The modern understanding of law is an eternally unfolding process without any fixed end in sight, writes Michael M. Uhlmann in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Reemerging Republican Majority?
In order to win again, Republicans today must create a rhetoric and politics that appeal both to the party base and the new American suburbanites, writes Henry Olsen in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Red Beating Heart
Many American newspapers in the course of the last century developed a stultifying self-importance, writes Charles R. Kesler in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
From the Archives: How to Eliminate Iran's Nuclear Weapons
Seven leading thinkers reflect on our political and military options in eliminating Iran's nuclear capability in the spring 2006 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
School is Now in Session: Buy Your Favorite Student a Gift Subscription to the CRB
The Claremont Review of Books is the perfect resource for students. Addressing politics, economics, philosophy, literature, and more, each issue of the CRB contains essays and reviews from the country's leading lights. Reward your favorite student with a one-year subscription to the CRB, and save 25% off the cover price. A one-year subscription to the CRB is just $19.95. Subscribe here.
FDR's Long Shadow
The New Deal, in both its successes and failures, was a faithful representation of the main tendencies of American liberalism in the first half of the 20th century, writes Alonzo Hamby in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Lowering the Boom
Why did it take policymakers nearly a decade and a half before they dealt decisively with the rampant inflation of the 1960s and '70s, asks Steve Forbes in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Conservative Challenge
To an amazing degree, President Obama's agenda represents a return to liberalism's roots. Why then were conservatives caught so flat-footed, asks Charles R. Kesler in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Look Out for the Union Label
Conservatives can relinquish their hopes, and paleoliberals their fears, that the Obama Administration will be guided by pragmatists who have learned to respect markets' usefulness and government's limits, writes William Voegeli in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Against the Virtual Life
In his new book, Mark Helprin makes the case that digital technology inculcates a frenetic habit of mind, quick on the trigger yet slow to appreciate subtlety and dazzlingly blind to beauty, writes Joseph Epstein in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Summer 2009 CRB (5.2 MB PDF)
Sacred Enterprise
The diffidence of capitalist intellectuals and the disaffection of their social conservative allies are two sides of the same problem—a crisis in capitalism's moral philosophy, writes Greg Forster in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Statecraft as Warcraft
Many statesmen, diplomats, policy planners, political scientists, and think tank thinkers spent the better part of the last century attempting to wish away the unpleasant facts of international relations by coining sweet-sounding euphemisms, writes Bret Stephens in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Closing of the Judicial Mind
Judicial virtue must be the product of both the man and the office, writes David F. Forte in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Rudyard's Adventures in Wonderland
It was principally India that furnished Rudyard Kipling's literary imagination, writes John Derbyshire in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Rediscovering Herodotus
Thanks to Robert Strassler, we stand at the beginning of a Herodotus Renaissance, writes Paul A. Rahe in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Beautiful and the Good
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics can and must be read as a kind of dialogue with his teacher and his teacher's teacher, writes Susan D. Collins in the Summer 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Thinking Like A Terrorist
By seeing Islamist jihad for what it is—an expression of a pseudo-religion and false reality—we can both ascertain the sources of its strength and divine its vulnerabilities, writes Robert R. Reilly in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Correspondence
Conservatism's Future; Too Few Doctors?; Third World Corruption; An Open LetterK-Street Consultants’ Memo to the Somali Pirates
Video: Jaffa Interview on the Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of his classic work, Crisis of the House Divided, Distinguished Fellow Harry V. Jaffa discusses Abraham Lincoln's statesmanship and defense of human equality with Peter Robinson on National Review Online's "Uncommon Knowledge."First, Do No Harm
Whether by the cruelty of fact in a market economy or the cruelty of fiat in a socialist system, medical care will be rationed one way or another, writes Mark Helprin in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Two Billion Dollar Judge
Courts have not demonstrated the capacity to produce the equal educational opportunity that they so ostentatiously and self-righteously champion, writes R. Shep Melnick in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Light and Liberty
Thomas Jefferson's real greatness, he wanted posterity to understand, came not from the power that men had given to him but from the power that he had given to men, writes Robert M.S. McDonald in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Education Mill
Do we need more than 15,000 Americans with advanced degrees fixing people's hair, asks Richard Vedder in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
What Caused the Financial Meltdown?
Too much success bred failure, explains Robert J. Samuelson in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Video: Kesler Interview on Liberalism's Past and Future
Peter Robinson interviews Claremont Institute Senior Fellow and Editor of the Claremont Review of Books, Charles Kesler, at National Review Online. Robinson and Kesler discuss the theoretical and political roots of modern liberalism, its evolution, and its continuing project.
The Wilderness Years Begin
Does conservatism need to reinvent itself, asks William Voegeli in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The New New Deal
President Obama's recovery plans and proposed new programs would leave government permanently bigger, more costly, and more intrusive, writes Charles R. Kesler in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Econs and Humans
Economists are often unaware of what their discipline can and cannot prove, writes Lawrence M. Mead in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Riddle of the Sands
Three new books sum up the liberal conventional wisdom on post-Bush Middle East policy, writes Andrew C. McCarthy in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Highborn Fools
The Duc de Saint-Simon's memoirs are full of highborn fools and miscreants, who have done nothing to deserve their golden fortune, and a great deal to deserve the contempt of good men, writes Algis Valiunas in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Iron Lady
We still have much to learn from this remarkable statesman, writes Kenneth Minogue in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Spring 2009 CRB (4.4 MB PDF)
The Disputed Question
Under pressure from the United States, Iraq is unenthusiastically pretending to be a democracy while it remains a forced confederation of three homogenous and mutually hostile religious and/or ethnic communities that will not and cannot be brought together contentedly, writes Mark Helprin in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The Ways and Means of War
In war, many controversial choices are guided by economic necessities, writes Victor Davis Hanson in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Correspondence
The Ages of Jackson
Is he an American hero, asks Daniel Walker Howe in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Notes on the State of Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia—the only book he ever published—is a more systematic work than first meets the eye, and therefore a more important source for understanding Jefferson than one might think, writes John Zvesper in the Spring 2009 Claremont Review of Books.
Dead End
The mandarins of contemporary culture leave this reader bored to death, writes Joseph Tartakovsky in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Up From Poverty
Economic growth owes more to the forbearance of the state than to its intervention, writes Carl J. Schramm in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Hail to the Chief
Modern scholars have trouble sorting out Thomas Jefferson's understanding of the executive power vested by the U.S. Constitution, writes Joseph M. Bessette in the Spring 2009 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Kicking Nixon Around
Richard Nixon came to the presidency at the third most difficult time in our history to do so, writes Michael Barone in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Clever, Enduring Odysseus
The adventures of the wily Odysseus can seem a mere crowd-pleasing romance, but Homer's Odyssey asks the central question of later Greek philosophy: what makes us human beings, writes Bruce S. Thornton in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
The New Patriotism
President Obama's repeated invocations in his Inaugural Address of the American Founders and the virtues of the American character lent dignity to the speech and pleased conservatives who didn't grasp the president's ulterior motive: to recapture patriotism for the Left and restore the Democrats as the patriotic party, writes Charles R. Kesler in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books....And We're Here to Help You
Like John F. Kennedy before him, Barack Obama seems to have tapped into a vein of idealism in the American people that could lead to an enthusiasm for government service not seen since the Vietnam War and Watergate. The problem is that government service has over the years become ever more unpleasant and unrewarding, writes Carnes Lord in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Inside the Iraq War
When the political venom and hyperbole fade, those interested in understanding the decisions and debates behind the critical first years of the war to remove Saddam Hussein from power will have to put Douglas Feith's book on their must-read list, writes Stanley Renshon.Getting Beyond Race
With President Obama and a crop of maverick authors, we are witnessing what might be called the incredible shrinking of the civil rights community, the mainstream media, and the politically timid who fear that someone, someday, might play the race card and destroy their careers, writes Abigail Thernstrom in the Winter 2008/08 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Is Health Care a Right?
Conservatives will have to prevail in the argument with President Obama and his followers over whether health care is a right, writes Andrew E. Busch in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.The Roots of Liberal Condescension
Political parties have traditionally been coalitions held together by beliefs and interests. The modern Democratic Party may be the first where the mortar is a shared disdain, writes William Voegeli in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.The Right Prescription
Although perpetually threatening to unravel, American health care is also widely praised as the best in the world. How did we get to this point and where do we go from here to improve the system, asks John R. Graham in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.The Great Black Hope
There is some good news about race and crime, writes Barry Latzer in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.All the Leaves are Brown
In response to the popular indifference to green alarms, conventional environmentalists have ratcheted up their level of vitriol against humanity and democratic institutions, writes Steven F. Hayward in the Winter 2008/09 Claremont Review of Books.Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, 1809 - 2009
The Claremont Institute takes the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth to honor his memory. We are pleased to feature reviews and essays from the Claremont Review of Books and from our archives.Steeped in Shakespeare
Lincoln's knowledge of Shakespeare, in depth if not in breadth, was prodigious, writes John Channing Briggs in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
O Captain! My Captain!
It was Lincoln's goodness—that firmness in the right, as God gave him to see the right—that was sovereign in his noble soul even at a young age, writes Christopher Flannery in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Douglass and Lincoln
At first, Frederick Douglass sided with those who would abolish the evil of slavery regardless of consequences, and had no patience for the constitutional scruples of those, like Lincoln, who resisted abolitionism as firmly as they opposed the spread of slavery. But experience seasoned him; he became a Lincoln supporter and eventually Lincoln's friend, writes Peter W. Schramm in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.The Great Debate
Last year marked the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The sequence of names, contravening alphabetical order, indicates who won—ultimately, that is, writes Diana Schaub in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Winter 2008/09 CRB (5 MB PDF)
ABSTRACTCommander-in-Chief
Though the Union may have possessed a material edge over the Confederacy, a strategy was needed to translate this advantage into victory. This Lincoln supplied and saw through to the end, writes Mackubin T. Owens in the Winter 2008/09 Claremont Review of Books.Decision in the West
The administrations of George W. Bush have catastrophically thrown the country off balance, both politically and financially, while breaking the nation's sword in an inconclusive seven-year struggle against a ragtag enemy in two small bankrupt states, writes Mark Helprin in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Government and the Economic Crisis
George Gilder, Robert Higgs, Stephen Moore, and Alan Reynolds explain the current economic situation, and assess the bailout and what it will mean for the future of constitutional government, in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Correspondence
ABSTRACTThe Disputed Question
Hadley Arkes and William Voegeli discuss conservatism and the civil rights movement in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.The Speech That Changed the World
Of all Lincoln's speeches, whether greater or lesser, the only one that can be said truly to have changed the course of history, was delivered to the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858, writes Claremont Institute Distinguished Fellow Harry V. Jaffa.Voting Rights and Wrongs
Congress and the Supreme Court have attempted to cure racial discrimination with more racial discrimination, writes Robert F. Nagel in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Growing Up Fast
Though our age seems in certain respects child-centric—we helmet our children, shuttle them to after-school activities, and bubble-wrap their self-esteems—ours is in fact an R-rated era. Adults today seem unwilling to serve as filters for their children, whether out of selfishness, indifference, or just plain ignorance, writes Dorothea Israel Wolfson in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Lincoln's Audition
It is hard not to step back from Abraham Lincoln's 1859 Cooper Union speech and see in it exactly a conservative's plea against reckless political innovation, writes Allen C. Guelzo in the Fall 2004 issue of the Claremont Review of BooksRepublic of Devils
The American Founders accepted the political theory of the English Commonwealth, not because it had been successful in the past (it hadn't), but because they thought it was the most enlightened and advanced political theory of the day, writes James Hankins in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Statecraft and Wordcraft
Interpreters of Lincoln who attempt to shed new light on his presidential speeches, especially the Gettysburg Address, enter a contested holy land. Two new books approach these challenges in different yet complimentary ways, writes John C. Briggs in the Summer 2007 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Unfinished Work
Can any film do justice to the political genius of Abraham Lincoln? Probably not. But there's plenty of room for improvement, writes Martha Bayles in the Winter 2008/09 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.One Last Card to Play
Lincoln's greatest deed and the statesmanship that lay behind it is no easy thing to understand, writes Peter W. Schramm in the Spring 2004 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Is There Intelligent Life on Television?
Television has reached the point where it can serve as the vehicle for some true artists to express themselves, writes Paul A. Cantor in the Fall 2008 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
