Reviews
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Loki, Created by Michael Waldron
Thomas Walker-Werth July 19, 2021
The characters in Loki who take a stand against the villainous Time Variance Authority are always clear that they are fighting for free will and defending people’s rights to make their own decisions.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Two Complete Novels of the American West: Hot Iron and The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
F. F. Mormanni July 15, 2021
Texas novelist Elmer Kelton’s West is a vivid, authentic world—one in which farmers struggle to keep their land, ranchers work backbreaking hours to support their families, cowboys explore the depths of the wilderness, and people make difficult but admirable choices in the face of adversity.
History, Reviews
Operation Pedestal: The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942, by Max Hastings
Timothy Sandefur July 6, 2021
Hundreds of airmen and sailors—mostly young, many only teenagers, many of them civilians—under terrifying circumstances, “redeemed from the brink of disaster one of the most hazardous naval operations of the Second World War.” In expertly recounting their courage and the horrors they faced, Max Hastings has helped ensure the well-deserved immortality of this band of heroes.
Arts & Culture, Good Living, Reviews
Tangled, Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Andreea Mincu June 9, 2021
Tangled shows the crucial role of bravery, independence, and self-esteem in overcoming obstacles to achieve one’s values and thus live fully.
History, Politics & Rights, Reviews
The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760–1840 by Akhil Reed Amar
Timothy Sandefur June 2, 2021
Americans need a book that will help them better understand the values underlying our early constitutional history—and they need an authoritative and compelling intellectual voice to explain and vindicate the nation’s fundamental law. Sad to say, they will not find those here.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Ibsen’s Kingdom: The Man and His Works by Evert Sprinchorn
Timothy Sandefur May 14, 2021
“One of the most extraordinary features of Ibsen’s works,” Sprinchorn writes, is the way “each play grows out of its predecessor.” By examining them in order, he draws out their weightier elements, combining an acute understanding of theater and a thorough grasp of the political, social, and artistic controversies that set the background for Ibsen’s career.
Philosophy, Reviews
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Angelica Walker-Werth May 3, 2021
Although philosophically flawed and at times repetitive and anecdotal, The God Delusion presents interesting arguments against God and religion and generally in favor of a worldview informed by science.
Economics, Politics & Rights, Reviews
Wall Street (1987), by Stanley Weiser and Oliver Stone
F. F. Mormanni April 29, 2021
Although fraudsters certainly exist on Wall Street, the vast majority of traders are honest, value driven, and focused on innovating and creating wealth.
Politics & Rights, Reviews
What Killed Michael Brown? by Shelby Steele
Molly Sechrest April 23, 2021
Steele clarifies key issues in the discussion on race, showing how leftists grabbed power by claiming the moral high ground, despite their abysmal disregard for those whose lives are destroyed by their policies.
Reviews
Letter to the Editor: Keep the TOS Reviews Coming
TOS Admin April 20, 2021
I just wanted to send a note expressing my appreciation of the book/film/TV reviews that you publish periodically. Over the past few weeks, I have been watching Anne with an “E”, but I would never even have heard of it if not for the review published in TOS.