Saturday Good Reads

World War I, or what was then called “The Great War,” toppled four empires – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. Lenin’s Bolsheviks seized power from a weak provisional government in Russia, and the communists came close to grabbing power in Germany. The war also had powerful effects on the combatant least physically affected – the United States. Mark Malvasi at The Imaginative Conservative writes about World War I: War as Revolution.

It’s been many weeks since the first at Notre Dame Cathedral, and everyone’s still waiting for the billionaires who pledged financial aid to deliver. Many words have been written about the cathedral, how it should be restored, and how the fire likely started. But the fire and its aftermath can be seen as a kind of morality tale, and Sean O’Hare at Mere Orthodoxy tells that story in A Call to Remembrance: Notre Dame and the Internet Age. 

In April, the deputy editor of Britain’s New Statesman Magazine tweeted a series of what he described as racist quotations by Sir Roger Scruton, an unpaid advisor to the British government, author, philosopher, and one of the finest minds of our age. The Tory government immediately fired Scruton from his unpaid job, which tells you a lot about the Tory government. What the staffer, George Eaton, actually did, however, was pull statements and fragments of statements out of context. Eaton, in turn, was outed by defenders of Scruton, and the magazine undertook an investigation. It’s now publicly issued an apology to Scruton, and (possibly) demoted the staffer. Douglas Murray at The Spectator says there are still three unanswered questions about the hit job on Scruton.

More Good Reads

Culture

You Are Not Too Old for Lullabies – Kaitlin Miller at The Rabbit Room. 

Jeffrey Bilbro: Wendell Berry exemplifies sustainable life – Faith & Leadership.

9 Essential Points on the Theology of Work – Dr. Art Lindsley at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

Farmers and Humanists in an Age of Crisis: Technology, Death, and Resurrection – Tessa Carman at Mere Orthodoxy.

Faith

Fr. Jerzy Popieluzsko’s Long Road – Rod Dreher at American Conservative.

Art and Photography

The Importance of American Art – Michael De Sapio at The Imaginative Conservative.

Poetry

Asperges – Martha Serpas at Image Journal.

British Stuff

The Foundation of Britain's Feudal System – Eifion Wyn Williams at English Historical Fiction Authors.

American Stuff

A Harvest of Death: The Days After Gettysburg – Paige Gibbons Backus at Emerging Civil War.

The Gerrymander: A Gift from the Founding Fathers – Eric Stermer at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

Writing and Literature

Giving him his due: Claire Lowdon on why we should still read John Updike – The Times Literary Supplement.

She’s Always a Woman – Fyfe Dangerfield

Photograph of man reading by Kyle Wagner via Unsplash. Used with permission.