Using dramatic license, “The Crown” features the romance between Charles, Prince of Wales, and his future queen. Though appearing to be in a sense a real-life Cinderella, Diana, Princess of Wales, is a kind of symbol of our dysfunctional modern Western society. We were living in England in 1997, when Diana, Princess of Wales, [...]
The project of the Stonehenge tunnel is a financially irresponsible state goal endeavour during a time of fiscal crisis and contraction, ignoring the reverence of heritage and undermining the social contract. From the bulldozing of Victorian buildings to the sacrilegious tunnelling, England’s Conservative Party is not acting conservative. The greatest obstacle facing Boris Johnson [...]
Once the British had returned to first principles and right reason, Edmund Burke argued, they would also be reminded of the practical things, such as good government, the cultivation of the middle class, and the protection of property. In other words, through the fight against the French Revolution, the British would return to being [...]
Attempts by the secular state to curtail or crush religious liberty are nothing new. More than four hundred years ago, during the reign of Elizabeth I in England, it was a crime punishable by death to be a Catholic priest and a crime punishable by death to hide a priest from the government’s priest-hunters. The [...]
There is so much pertinent history and so much wisdom in Russell Kirk’s “America’s British Culture” that his book would serve as a useful summary of America and its culture for the busy student—even for one who is hard pressed by the demands of a multicultural curriculum. America’s British Culture, by Russell Kirk (New [...]
“The Tempest” is indubitably the final play that William Shakespeare wrote. Why did Shakespeare, who was still in good health, bow out in such an apparently premature fashion? What might have induced such a decision to leave his career in theatre? Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have’s mine own, [...]
If lockdowns worked, we would expect Sweden, which did not impose one, to top the mortality table, and for the pandemic curve to have risen exponentially, as predicted by the notorious Imperial College model. This predicted that without a lockdown Sweden would have 44,000 dead by now. But Sweden’s actual figure is not nearly [...]
There is a Tory tradition in America that runs against the grain of establishment Liberalism, embracing home, hearth, community, family, church, nature, and the moral realities of everyday life, and opposed to individualism, unlimited free markets, libertarianism, secularism, and the rootless loneliness of global modernity. This tradition comes from within America, not without. One [...]
Winston Churchill’s leadership through World War Two led the United Kingdom to victory against Nazi Germany. His decision at Mers el-Kebir is a clear example of statesmanship, one worth study and imitation. Winston S. Churchill demonstrated statesmanship, prudence, and determination in the destruction of the French Fleet at Oran. Prime Minister Churchill sat at [...]
Even though President James Monroe could not fix the economy or dismiss the Missouri question, he could certainly distract the nation from its problems. In his second inaugural address, he gleefully announced a new target for American anger: The British were not allowing free trade between the United States and the English-occupied West Indies. [...]
Marchette Chute’s “Shakespeare of London” is a delight to read. With a fluid narrative, Chute has produced a fascinating wealth of research in a most readable form. Shakespeare of London, by Marchette Chute (397 pages, E.P. Dutton and Company, 1949) It was a classic when it was first published in 1949, but it remains [...]
Today’s enthusiasts for a socialist America will not be likely to know the name of Robert Blatchford or his story. If they did, they might think twice about their current enthusiasm. […]
“Imperial Legacies” is a spirited polemic that exposes the misunderstandings, cynical disregard, and hypocrisy surrounding the history of the British Empire. Jeremy Black systematically debunks the ideologies of “decolonization” and postcolonial resentment and shows the harm of dismissing British history as a story of monolithic oppression. Imperial Legacies: The British Empire Around the World, [...]
Instead of putting John Milton in the context of his own time, scholar David Hawkes proposes to put him in the context of ours, believing that the great poet and political writer’s life and work offer solutions to our own predicament. John Milton: A Hero of Our Time, by David Hawkes (356 pages, Counterpoint, [...]