Category Archives: Boston College Book Reviewer
Realism and uncertainty in world politics
In his book An Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics (Princeton University Press, 2022), Boston College Professor of Political Science and International Studies Jonathan Kirshner offers a fresh reassessment of classical realism and reveals how this enduring approach—and not … Continue reading
Book review by Martha Bayles
In her review of Shadi Bartsch’s book Plato Goes to China, Boston College faculty member Martha Bayles writes that the author does not fulfill the promises she lays out in the opening pages of her book. Bayles goes on to … Continue reading
Review: When Magic Failed
Professor of Near Eastern Studies Franck Salameh, chair of BC’s Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Department, has written a review of Fouad Ajami’s memoir, When Magic Failed: A Memoir of a Lebanese Childhood, Caught Between East and West. The review … Continue reading
Review of Paul Farmer’s book
Canisius Professor of Theology James Keenan, S.J., vice provost for global engagement at BC, reviewed Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History by Dr. Paul Farmer. In his new book, Farmer, the renowned physician and anthropologist who … Continue reading
Book review by Alan Wolfe
Professor Emeritus of Political Science Alan Wolfe, former director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, has penned a book review for the New York Times of Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by Benjamin M. Friedman … Continue reading
Salameh book reviews
In Middle East Quarterly, Boston College Professor of Near Eastern Studies Franck Salameh reviews the book City of Beginnings: Poetic Modernism in Beirut by Robyn Creswell. According to Salameh, City of Beginnings is “a learned, nuanced, and deeply searching guide” … Continue reading
Book review from Kathleen Hirsch
Kathleen Hirsch, a part-time faculty member in Boston College’s Philosophy Department, penned a book review of Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife by Bart D. Ehrman for the Boston Globe. She writes that the author Ehrman “knows his … Continue reading
Graver’s NYT Books review
Professor of English Elizabeth Graver has written a review of Niall Williams’ novel, This is Happiness, for The New York Times. In his latest work, Williams’ narrator, 78-year-old Noel Crowe, reflects back on the time he spent in his grandparents’ … Continue reading
Searching for home
The thread running through Michael Brendan Dougherty’s book My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son’s Search for Home (Sentinel/Penguin Random House, 2019) is the author’s spiritual development, which culminates in the discovery of his own vocation as a father. … Continue reading
Bayles on The Big Picture
BC faculty member Martha Bayles offers her take on the new book The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies by entertainment journalist Ben Fritz in a piece for The American Interest. She writes that The Big Picture “offers … Continue reading