In the September issue, Commentary Magazine published Wilfred Reilly’s review of Charles Murray’s new book, Facing Reality. It is a critical but fair assessment of Murray’s contention that racial differences account for differences in cognitive ability and crime rates. …

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The City of Nets is funny, poignant, historically accurate and totally engrossing. The fantasy characters Hollywood projected on the screen were not as improbable as the people who transformed a California desert into an oasis of dreams, beguiling the nation and the world.   Read the rest of this entry »

Amy Greenberg shows Sarah Polk as manipulative, scheming, deceptive, cunning and devoid of inconvenient compassion. But she also depicts a bright, sociable, and charming woman of her time, and in a regal way, attractive.   Read the rest of this entry »

Cons work on a macro level, too. It’s not that difficult to wholesale a lie. Bernie Madoff did by persuading investors he was realizing mathematically impossible investment gains. Only there were no investments. He used investor money to pay off other investors. He had everyone believing he had a golden touch. It worked until he ran out of other people’s money. Sort of like socialism, it was all a fairy story.

America has the necessary components: a dedicated minority determined to sell a myth and a larger population mesmerized by promises of a perfect society (and lots of free stuff).   Read the rest of this entry »

It is not true that “no one can speak honestly about race.” Thomas Sowell does that and more in this book of essays. “Facts matter,” he writes in the Preface, especially when they challenge widely held beliefs based on false premises.   Read the rest of this entry »

The pairing of Churchill and Orwell in a title attracted this reader’s attention. That they were both superb writers did not seem adequate justification. Thomas Ricks explains that both were dedicated to preserving freedom, albeit in different ways. It is an intriguing title, but the author had to strain to maintain the connection.   Read the rest of this entry »

Orwell delivered a speech on the BBC in 1941 that appears to be a precursor to his novel 1984. Marcia examines the speech and finds some parallels for today and that despite his prescience, Orwell refused to give up on his dream of a socialist utopia. Such is cognitive dissonance.   Read the rest of this entry »

As one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, Dr. Benjamin Rush qualifies as a Founder. Yet, few people today know his name. That is unfortunate because he was a remarkable man and his memory should be preserved. That is what historian Harlow Giles Unger intended by writing this biography.   Read the rest of this entry »

This is an excellent book on many levels. The husband-and-wife team of Cloud (former Washington bureau chief for Time) and Olson (former Moscow correspondent for Associated Press) pierce the smog of time to recall The Murrow Boys. They were broadcast journalists who both reported history and made it. In an accompanying chronicle, the authors’ describe radio’s glory days, its decline, and its impact on American life.   Read the rest of this entry »

Irony or cognitive dissonance? The author admits to admiring President Roosevelt. He had, (and has) plenty of company. Many, if not most American Jews idolize Roosevelt for saving the Jews from the Holocaust. Beir’s book makes that assertion doubtful.   Read the rest of this entry »