Saturday Good Reads - April 18, 2026

We’re seeing the beginning of a flood of articles, posts, reports, and television programs about the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The flood is going to continue rising until July 4, but it is, I think, a good thing. We can understand where we came from as a nation. Two examples: Kelt Holt at Just Enough History writes some wonderful articles about the revolution; this week she looks at what were the final steps to independence: Dunmore’s Proclamation, the Olive Branch Petition, and Common Sense. 

If you’re so inclined, you can actually follow in the footsteps of the founders and have a drink where they plotted the revolution over a few beers. 

 

And in the category of you can’t know too much about those who don’t particularly like you or your beliefs, Bradley Green at Crossway has penned “10 Things You Should Know About Critical Theory,” which is sometimes known as cultural Marxism and explains a lot about the crazy things we see in contemporary life in the West.

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

The American Revolution at 250 – review by Kevin Diestelow at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

The Men Who Bankrolled America – James Grant at The Free Press.

 

Britain in 1776 – Madsen Pirie at The Critic Magazine.

 

John Adams’s Rage Bait – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.

 

Poetry

 

The Artist’s Pen Bodying Forth the Poet’s Imagination – Steven Searcy at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

“On the Death of Dr. Benjamin Franklin,” poem by Philip Freneau – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Writing and Literature

 

The Perils of Writing in an Age of Distraction – Adam Smith at Front Porch Republic.

 

Life and Culture

 

Why Avocations Matter – Brianna Lambert at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

Defying decline – James Pierson at The New Criterion on What Really Matters: Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom, and Family by Timothy Goeglein. 

 

Faith

 

4 Things We Added to the Bible – Christ at Homeward Bound.

 

The Watchmaker’s Wager – Joshua Budimlic at Iotas in Eternity.

 

Free Ex Q&A: Ryan Burge – Mary Julia Koch at The Wall Street Journal (story unlocked).

 

American Stuff

 

The Face of Rural America in 1976 – Yuri Bezmenov at How to Subvert Subversion.

 

Let It Be Jesus – We the Kingdom

 Painting: Old Fessli Reading a Newspaper, oil on canvas (1900) by Albert Anker (1831-1910).

Saturday Good Reads - April 11, 2026

I’d read Charles Dickens in high school (David Copperfield, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities), but it was only when I was working as a speechwriter for a CEO that it became serious. He read Dickens, a lot of Dickens, and I was expected to read what he read. And to quote Dickens. So, I did. And I discovered how much I enjoyed his works. I’ve visited the Dickens Museum in London five times and joined the Dickens Fellowship. I read Pickwick Papers back in the 1990s, bit I was reminded of it this week when I saw Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern post and discuss a poem Dickens included in that work – “Ode to an Expiring Frog.” 

It was called a miracle, and it may have saved the American Revolution. The British had occupied Boston, and in very short order, cannons were transported in almost impossible conditions from Fort Ticonderoga on the New York-Vermont border to the hills overlooking Boston. The ensuing bombardment forced the British to their ships in Boston Harbor. In nearby Quincy, Abigal Adams watched the bombardment and sent her observations to her husband John. The transfer of the cannons was a hugely successful operation, and it even had some involvement by none other than Benedict Arnold.

 

As many times as we’ve visited London, I can remember using the iconic red telephone box only once. It was 1983, my wife was recovering from a prescription reaction at our hotel, and I called her at 3 p.m. as the bells of St. Paul’s rang out the hour. More than 40 years later, phone boxes are generally used for one reason – for tourists to take photographs. (There’s one near Parliament Square that always has a long line of people wanted to snap a photo of a phone box with Big Ben and the houses of Parliament in the background.) Spitalfields life posted some pictures of phone boxes this week, and yes, they’re still there.

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero – review by Sam Short at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

A Fleet Against One: The Continental Navy’s Embarrassing Clash Off Block Island, April 6, 1776 – Bjorn Bruckshaw at Emerging Revolutionary War Era. 

 

The Spirited Revolutionary Who Led the Fight for Independence in Corsica Also Inspired America’s Colonial Rabble-Rousers – Anna Richards at Smithsonian Magazine.

 

Colonel William Hill: Hero or Disgrace? – Robert Ford at Journal of the American Revolution. 

 

Faith

 

Christian astronaut pilots first moon mission in 53 years – Bobby Ross Jr. at The Christian Chronicle.

 

Art

 

The Silent Traveler – Spitalfields Life.

 

Poetry

 

Old Fred’s Night Music – Steve Knepper at Front Porch Republic.

 

The Point of Poetry? Slow Down – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

“Knowledge,” poem by Louise Bogan – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Accidentally – Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

British Stuff

 

King Charles Is Failing to Defend the Faith – Garrett Exner at Providence Magazine.

 

Man on the Marquee – Andrew Duhon

Painting: Reading Woman, oil on canvas (ca. 1900) by Jacques-Emile Blanche (1861-1942), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

Saturday Good Reads – April 4, 2026

King Charles III will not issue an Easter message this year, according to Buckingham Palace. He did, however, issue one for Ramadan. A sign of the times? In The Wall Steet Journal, Brit Louise Perry writes that Christendom is no more, and not just in Britain (article unlocked). Canada, for example, has a new hate crime bill which seems to target Christians. Some in Britain have noted that, while the Anglican church seems close to collapse, there is a revival underway. Rhys Laverty at The Critic Magazine says the reports of revival in Britain are not premature, but it’s a phenomenon mostly associated with evangelical and Catholic churches. 

We are assaulted with so much news these days that the temptation is to turn it off. All of it. And yet so much if it is accepted narrative masquerading as news. We slip into our respective siloes to make sense of it all. Joe Duke at Front Porch Republic argues that there’s a better way then listening only to echo chambers.

 

On Easter, Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder went looking for the best evidence of the resurrection.

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

These 7 foreigners helped win the American Revolution – Claire Barrett at Military Times.

 

A Brief Introduction to the Slaving Empire of Henry Laurens – Greg Brooking and George Burkes at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

“Remember the Ladies” – 250 Years Later – Christ Mackowski at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Don’t Call Them Pirates – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.

 

Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston – Keli Holt at Just Enough History.

 

Life and Culture

 

The State of the Internet 2026 – Austin Gravley at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

American Diner Gothic – Robert Mariani at The New Atlantis.

 

American Stuff

 

Gratitude, Not Glory: Why Lincoln Rejected Triumph at Gettysburg – Andrew Lang at The Coolidge Review. 

 

Route 66: The Road of Endless Possibilities – Elena Scherr at Smithsonian Magazine.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Orwell, Lewis, and Us: What Contemporaries Share Without Seeing – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

British Stuff

 

The Tower of Old London – Spitalfields Life.

 

Poetry

 

“Far Over Misty Mountain Cold,” by J.R.R Tolkien – Andrew Henry at The Saxon Cross.

 

The fruit of laughter – poem by Amelia Friedline at Innocence Abroad.

 

His Mercy is More – Matt Boswell and Matt Papa

 Illustration: A man reading a book, by David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690).

Saturday Good Reads – March 28, 2026

When I think about Paul Revere, I think of two things. First, he made a famous ride. And second, he was a silversmith. He was also an engraver, and the Library of Congress Blogs has a post containing several of them.  

Tim Challies has a thoughtful post about marriage. When you get married, you marry the whole person. If you see your spouse as a project, thinking in terms of improvement plans, you may have the wrong focus.

 

My wife and oldest son love the music of Rich Mullins. I will admit to a certain partiality myself. At Mere Orthodoxy, Songwriter and writer Andrew Peterson is interviewed about the singer who died almost 30 years ago.

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

“…to the Liberty Safety and Peace of America: Cut the Gordian Knot…” – Phil Greenwalt at the Emerging Revolutionary War Era. 

 

Surprise Attack at Great Savannah – Drew Palmer at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

The Attack and Defense of the Chew House: British Professionalism at Germantown – Ben Powers at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Women’s Work: Women Who Shaped the American Revolution – Tanya Roth at The Saturday Evening Post.

 

Civilian Life in Revolutionary War Occupied Cities – Lauren Duval and Liz Covart at Bn Franklin’s World.

 

Lexington and Concord: The Shot Heard Round the World – Keli Holt. 

 

Faith

 

“Leaders are Readers” – T.M. Suffield at Nuakh.

 

When Saints Say “I Do” – Kyle Borg at Gentle Reformation.

 

Running Toward a New Life – A.A. Kostas at Front Porch Republic.

 

Life and Culture

 

‘LinkedIn speak’ is a disgrace – Barney Campbell at The Spectator.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Solving This Mystery Might Destroy You – Joal Miller at Miller’s Book Review on Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy.

 

Ships Passing in the Night: My Friendship with C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien – Joshua Budimlic at Iotas in Eternity.

 

Poetry

 

“There Was a Boy,” poem by William Wordsworth – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

“March,” poem by William Cullen Bryant and “London,” poem by William Blake – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

British Stuff

 

Charles Spurgeon’s Street Vendors – Spitalfields Life.

 

Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me – Boyce Collective Worship

 Painting: A Woman Reading, oil on canvas by Augustus John (1878-1961). 

Saturday Good Reads – March 14, 2026

This past week marked the 250^th anniversary of how the occupying British army suddenly evacuated Boston. On March 13, 1776, after having awakened to the shocking site of American cannon overlooking the city, The British started moving 9,000 troops, and a considerable number of Loyalists, to ships in the harbor.  Kevin Pawlak at Emerging Revolutionary War Era, and Jonathan Horn at the Free Press, describe what happened. 

It’s almost bewildering, and painful, for me to watch some of the craziness going on in Britain right no. Police officers arresting people for tweets. Grandmothers sent to prison for defending their country. A government packing the House of Lords with handpicked supporters. A church that seems in the final stages of disintegration. A prime minister whose answer to dissent and opposition is canceling elections. It’s a classic case of “gradually, then suddenly.” Lou Aguilar at The American Spectator discusses the fall of Britain – and the warning for America.

 

On March 12, I reviewed Call Out Coyote, the new poetry collection by Seth Wieck. It’s a wonderful collection. This week, Wieck was interviewed by writer Elizabeth Stice at Orange Blossom Ordinary (which I wonder if it’s a take-off on the old fiddler’s song, “Orange Blossom Special”).

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

A Republic, NOT a Democracy – Bradley Birzer at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

The Boston Massacre – Keli Holt at Just Enough History.

 

A Venezuelan Connection – Nathan Provost at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Coup D’oeil: William Washington at the Battle of Cowpens – Lee McGee at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

The Boston Tea Party – Keli Holt at Just Enough History.

 

Life and Culture

 

I Regret Having Children vs. “I love being your mom” – Yuri Bezmenov at How to Subvert Subversion.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Selling Books During War – Terry Whalin at The Writing Life.

 

Literary Tools – Micah Mattix at Portico.

 

Iran

 

Beware the Dangerous Bedtime Story – Clarity with Michael Oren.

 

Poetry

 

“A Psalm of Life,” poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

“In the Seven Woods,” poem by William Butler Yeats – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Afterwords – Benjamin Myers at Plough.

 

Requiem, too – Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

Operative words: On the career of Henri Coulette – Boris Dralyuk & Michael Caines at The New Criterion. 

 

The Poet’s Vision – Ryan Wilson at New Verse Review.

 

Faith

 

Legacy Over Platform: Six Things That Will Outlast Your Sermons – John Kelly at New Churches.

 

Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet – Joslin & Henry Mancini

Painting: A man reading a letter, oil on canvas by Adriaen Van Ostade (1610-1685).

Saturday Good Reads – March 14, 2026

Forty years ago, I was taking a course called “The Nature of Story,” and one of the books we read was Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. Only 10 years old at the time, it was deservedly already a classic, and it would eventually be made into a movie with Brad Pitt, Tom Skerrit and Brenda Blethyn (who became Vera the detective on PBS Masterpiece Mystery).  The novel has just turned 50 years old, and Brandon McNeice at Front Porch Republic has a reflection. 

You may not know the name Philo Farnsworth, but he invented what was likely the most influential technology of the 20^th century – the television. In 1921, when he was 14 years old, he realized how images might be transmitted through electric current. And the rest, as they say, is history. Jason Clark at This Is the Day has a retrospective.

 

At Mere Orthodoxy, Nadya Williams interviews Mark Graham about his new book. The subject – the history of Christianity told in 30 key moments. 

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

Atlas of Independence: John Adams and the American Revolution by Chris Mackowski – review by Kelsey DeFord at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

Have You Seen the First Declaration? – Michael Auslin at Patowmack Packet.

 

Pontiac, taxes and mobs: The American colonists battle Parliament – Keli Holt.

 

The Siege of Boston, General Washington, and Phillis Wheatley – Patrick Hastings at Library of Congress Blog.

 

Isaiah Thomas and the Declaration of Independence – Sherman Lohnes at the Journal of the American Revolution.

 

The Glories of Small Towns – K.E. Colombini at Front Porch Republic.

 

George Washington’s Warning About Religion Still Matters – Andrew Fowler at Real Clear Religion.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Misfits and Moral Injury: Why Shusaku Endo Matters Today – Brian Volck at Church Life Journal.

 

Wrestling Coach Bets on Tolstoy and Dante to Save the Classics – and Young Men – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

Life and Culture

 

Science Has a Big Fraud Problem – Joe Nocera at The Free Press.

 

The Celtic Mind: How Adam Smith and Edmund Burke Saved Western Civilization – Bradley Birzer.

 

Iran

 

Two Days Over Iran – Michael Smith at Unlicensed Punditry.

 

Who’s That Source? Iran Edition – Jillian Butler at Racket News.

 

The Blood Libel Comes to Iran – Michael Oren at Clarity.

 

Jeffrey Sachs Is Trying to Fix The New York Times’ Coverage, One Email at a Time – Emily Kopp at Racket News.

 

Iran Can’t Hold the World Hostage – Matthew Continetti at The Wall Street Journal (unlocked).

 

Faith

 

All the Stars We Never See – Even Patrohay at Front Porch Republic.

 

American Stuff

 

Framing History: ‘I could not die in a cause more sacred’ – Melissa Winn at Emerging Civil War.

 

Poetry

 

“Two Sewing,” poem by Hazel Hall – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Learning by Poetry: Dans la Nuit – L.L. Barkat at Tweetspeak Poetry.

 

“The Homestead,” poem by Joseph Bottum – A.M. Juster and Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

I’m With You – Mari Frangoulis

Painting: Woman with Romance Novel, oil on canvas by Johann Baptist Reiter (1813-1890).

Saturday Good Reads – March 7, 2026

We know of several U.S. presidents who read poetry, but one in particular is known for his love of verse. And it won’t be a big surprise, given the man’s speeches. Marlena Figge at Society of Classical Poets has the story. 

We’ve visited Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, several times. It’s still rather amazing that this small town in mid-America became the site of one of the most famous speeches of the 20^th century. And now there’s a museum dedicated to the man who gave it, sitting below a church bombed during the London Blitz and reconstructed at the college. This week marked the 80^th anniversary of the Iron Curtain speech by Winston Churchill. John Rossi at the Imaginative Conservative has the story.

 

Maybe it’s because we live here, but I think we often forget the impact the American Revolution had on the world. And in many ways, it’s still having an impact. Naturalized American Richard Bell (he’s a native Brit) at American Heritagetakes a look at some of that impact in “They Turned the World Upside Down.” 

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding by Joseph Ellis – review by Timothy Symington at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

“You express a Desire to become acquainted with our American Ladies” – Phill Greenwalt at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

When Some Americans First Lost Their Constitution – Ray Raphael at Journal of the American Revolution. 

 

The Fortress Washington Built Overnight – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.

 

 “Remember, it is the fifth of March, a day ever to be forgotten; avenge the death of your brethren” – Rob Orrison at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Trumbull: Connecticut’s “Revolutionary” Governor –Andrew Fowler at Real Clear History.

 

British Stuff

 

The Treachery of Sr. George Downing – A London Inheritance.

 

Faith

 

A Perilous Salvation – Andrew Klavan at The New Jerusalem.

 

The Language of Joy: The Lure of Three Insatiable Letters – Ethan Jones at Front Porch Republic.

 

Walk Away from the Sea – Paul Kingsnorth at The Abbey of Misrule.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Still Got It: Authors Who Thrive as Super Agers – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

My Wife Read One of Admiral David Dixon Porter’s Romance Novels So You Don’t Have To – Neil Chatelain at Emerging Civil War.

 

Poetry

 

Atmosphere in Eight Lines – Maryann Corbett at New Verse Review.

 

“Water,” poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson and “A Musical Instrument,” poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Steingraber the Poet – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

 

Life and Culture

 

Welcoming the Shadow Brother – Mel Livatino at Front Porch Republic.

 

Light of World – We the Kingdom

Painting: Andreas Reading, oil on canvas by Edvard Munch (1863-1944).

Saturday Good Reads - Feb. 28, 2026

I’m not a big hockey fan, but I cheered along with (most of) the rest of America when the USA team defeated Canada and won the gold medal in the Olympics in Milan. The algorithms at Facebook and Instagram noted my interest and filled my feeds with reels, posts, photos and news reports. And then came the Huffington Post and its coverage. I suppose there will always be one Ebenezer Scrooge shouting “Bah! Humbug!” 

When the American Revolution began, colonists had a choice – join, resist, or stay out of it. Quakers usually avoided participation, but one, Abraham Carlile of Philadelphia, chose active support of the British when they occupied the city. When the British army abandoned the city the following year, Carlile remained, believing he’d doing nothing wrong. And that decision turned out to be a mistake.

 

If you’re interested in Medieval history, you might be interested in what Andrew Roycroft is starting at New Grub Street. He’s beginning a series on the Medieval period, starting with a discussion of Piers Plowman by William Langland. I haven’t read the poem since taking English literature in college some 50 years ago, and I think I’ll revisit it.

 

More Good Reads

 

America 250

 

Philadelphia’s President House – Phil Greenwalt at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

The Genius of America: Our Constitution – Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes at American Heritage.

 

The Breaking of Maryland’s “Old Line” – Drew Palmer at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.

 

Jefferson’s Words for a Fractured Country – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.

 

Reluctant Ally: The Dutch Republic and the American Revolution – Nicholas Marsella at Journal of the American Revolution.

 

American Stuff

 

James K. Polk and the 5,106 Votes That Changed America – Walter Borneman at The Coolidge Review.

 

America Is the West. Is Europe? – Spencer Klavan at The New Jerusalem. 

 

British Stuff

 

The Decline of Classical Liberal Policing in Britain and its Former Dominions – Martin George Holmes at Insomnia Quarterly.

 

Why is Andrew “not above the law”? – Stephen McAlpine.

 

Art

 

The Monet Line – Jeffrey Streeter at English Republic of Letters.

 

Life and Culture

 

Every Child is Born a Person: Classical Education for All – Aimee Davis at Front Porch Republic.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Writing Is Pain, but Environment Can Help – Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Poetry

 

57 – Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

“On Mites (To a Lady),” poem by Stephen Duck – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

“On Barn,” poem by Jeanetta Calhoun Mish – Benjamin Myers at HPPR Poets on the Plains.

 

Life and Death – Paul Cardell

 Painting: Lady Reading lit by an Attic, oil on canvas by Pol Friis Nybo (1869-1929).