The Great Books of the Great War

By |2023-12-03T15:15:08-06:00December 3rd, 2023|Categories: Books, Literature, World War I|

Reconsidered, some classic works of the Great War challenge our customary apprehension of the literature of this period and prompt fresh thinking about these writings. The war and the widespread disruptions of the years following it stirred up questions about meaning and value, about ties between the past and the future, about the mystery and [...]

The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War

By |2023-04-25T14:52:16-05:00April 25th, 2023|Categories: Books, Conservatism, George Orwell, World War I, World War II|

Does the "socialist-patriot" George Orwell offer a model for us today? Specifically for the young—of left or right—for whom Peter Stansky's book is likely meant to serve as an introduction of sorts? The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War by Peter Stansky (130 pages, Stanford University Press, 2023) Less a brief biography than a lengthy [...]

Going Over Jordan: Images of Baptism in “1917”

By |2020-07-18T17:49:07-05:00July 18th, 2020|Categories: Christianity, Culture, Film, Literature, Poetry, War, World War I|

Sam Mendes’ appropriation of baptismal imagery allows the film “1917” to achieve the rare feat of portraying the First World War in terms of hope and rebirth rather than merely of pity and death. As we watch the protagonist Schofield’s journey, we recall that we have been buried and raised with Christ. I was surprised [...]

The Politics of “Normalcy:” The American Confrontation with Progressivism

By |2020-07-13T14:32:11-05:00July 14th, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Economics, Mark Malvasi, Politics, Progressivism, Senior Contributors, War, World War I|

The Great War altered relations between the state and its citizens. The Progressives had inspired—or perhaps, more accurately, had revived—fears that regulation was necessary if modern society were to reach its potential and not descend into chaos. They had advocated state intervention to solve a host of social and economic problems and, ultimately, to create [...]

“Memoriae Tuae”

By |2022-04-05T18:34:37-05:00June 5th, 2020|Categories: Audio/Video, Film, Music, World War I|

“Memoriae Tuae” Martis nec gladius, belli nec ignis impiger Vivum momentum unquam memoriae tuae consumet Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory* Patrick Doyle wrote "Memoriae Tuae" as part of his score for the animated film, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, a 2018 computer-animated adventure film [...]

“The Dreaded Blueness:” The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919

By |2020-05-10T14:47:33-05:00May 10th, 2020|Categories: Coronavirus, Culture, History, Mark Malvasi, Senior Contributors, War, World War I, World War II|

The Spanish Flu had arisen without warning and was especially virulent. It challenged established knowledge about the nature of such diseases, killing not the young and the old, but instead men and women who were in the prime of life. Not only did doctors struggle to treat it, but they were also at a loss [...]

Making the World Safe for Democracy?

By |2020-02-22T18:59:10-06:00February 23rd, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Democracy, Government, Joseph Pearce, Senior Contributors, War, Western Civilization, World War I, World War II|

The belief that wars can be fought to defend democracy or to make the world safe from tyranny retains its potency and still has political mileage. It is indeed a large part of the rationale for the neoconservative worldview. Nonetheless, it is worthy of serious consideration. The tragedy of war is that it is self-perpetuating, [...]

The First World War Economy & the Rise of American Power

By |2021-09-04T12:33:57-05:00August 11th, 2019|Categories: American Republic, Economics, History, Mark Malvasi, Senior Contributors, War, World War I|

The architects of the Great War set the world on the path to self-destruction. Although the worst has not taken place, the world still treads along the same perilous course. For human beings have yet to devise a sure way of imposing rational limits on irrational acts of violence. I. The Progressives could not have [...]

An Introduction to English War Poetry

By |2019-08-09T21:38:25-05:00August 9th, 2019|Categories: Death, England, History, Literature, Poetry, War, World War I|

The poet’s career doesn’t end once he dies. The soldier’s career arguably does. The poet-soldier, then, has died physically, but what remains of him is his art. Both Edward Thomas and Francis Ledwidge managed to create something that transcended their persons and lasted long after being killed in war. When we think of English poetry, [...]

World War I and the Inklings

By |2019-07-18T21:38:17-05:00July 18th, 2019|Categories: Bradley J. Birzer, C.S. Lewis, Christian Humanism, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Literature, Senior Contributors, War, World War I|

The Great War destroyed much the Inklings had held true, personally and culturally. Each lost friends, and each felt the guilt that any survivor of a war feels. Many of them refused to talk about their own experiences, for good or ill. J.R.R. Tolkien, perhaps, provides the best example. Though not the best-known Inkling, Adam [...]

World War I: War as Revolution

By |2020-11-18T10:56:22-06:00July 7th, 2019|Categories: Foreign Affairs, Mark Malvasi, Politics, Progressivism, Senior Contributors, War, World War I|

When World War I ended in disillusionment, with much of Europe in chaos and ruin, many Progressives blamed Woodrow Wilson. It was he, in the end, who betrayed the cause of democracy. Only after the war did John Dewey and other Progressives admit that the Allies had never championed democratic values at all, but had [...]

Progressives at War: The United States Enters The Great War

By |2019-05-26T22:22:51-05:00May 26th, 2019|Categories: Defining America Series, History, Mark Malvasi, Senior Contributors, War, Western Civilization, World War I|

I. Entry into the First World War revealed the entanglement of interest and idealism that has long characterized American politics and thought. Yet, apart from fears about the disruption of international commerce, few Americans regarded the outbreak of another war in the Balkans as a matter demanding serious attention or concern. Still fewer could have [...]

Versailles, a Century Later

By |2021-12-04T10:07:28-06:00January 1st, 2019|Categories: Civilization, Democracy, Europe, History, Mark Malvasi, Nationalism, Senior Contributors, War, Western Civilization, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, World War II|

The Great War, in Woodrow Wilson’s view, had to become precisely what the delegates to the Congress of Vienna feared: a moral crusade, an instrument of social and political revolution. For American president Woodrow Wilson, the First World War was the “war to end all wars” by making “the world safe for democracy,” not least [...]

Go to Top