Book Reviews

Dr. David Gordon, in today’s Friday Philosophy, reviews Clyde N. Wilson’s, Defending Dixie: Essays in Southern History and Culture. In these essays, Professor Wilson defends secession and the Southern cause.

What do we mean by “individualism” in the American tradition? It is not separatist or atomistic, but rather freedom from having state actors running one’s life.

This week, Dr. David Gordon reviews Ivan Eland's A Balance of Titans. While admiring Eland’s call for less intervention, Dr. Gordon asks why the US needs to intervene militarily overseas at all.

In this week’s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews Steven Pinker’s new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows. As Dr. Gordon aptly points out, Pinker knows a lot less than he thinks he does.

H.W. Brands offers a refreshing detour from the usual smears lobbed at Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee.

Philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe questioned the legitimacy of the state, but left open a possible justification for its existence. Dr. David Gordon examines Anscombe’s argument and finds it interesting but wanting.

In this week’s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews Liberating Liberty; Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness and the Creator of Man by Bert Schwitters, praising the author's insights into the founding of the United States.

Mark Thornton reviews Thomas Piketty's A Brief History of Equality. The book is the siren song of communism: “economic justice” without any cost or noteworthy harm to society. In reality Piketty's solutions are implicitly violent and destructive.

David Gordon reviews Shawn Ritenour's The Economics of Prosperity. The book shows how economic growth stems from entrepreneurship, the division of labor, and investments in capital and technology. These factors, Ritenour argues, are the key to prosperity in underdeveloped countries.

Greg Kaza reviews Brian Domitrovic's The Emergence of Arthur Laffer. Alienated from academia during the stagflation era, Laffer was able to reach policymakers by presenting his ideas in a simple way, such as with his famous napkin Laffer curve.