A Book Review of “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow’s eponymously titled biography of Alexander Hamilton is nothing short of epic. At a brisk 731 pages (not including extensive notes and index), Chernow’s tome is not something to lug around in airports or while lounging on the beach. Nevertheless, Alexander Hamilton is a titillating read about one of our nation’s foremost founding fathers. [...]

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A Book Review of “Bush at War” by Bob Woodward

The Bush administration is in its last two months. The United States is about to inherit its next president, a man who promises to bring considerable differences in both domestic and foreign policy. As Bush closes out his second term, I’d thought I would examine the policy choices and decisions made that defined his presidency. [...]

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A Book Review of “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil” by Hannah Arendt

When the Israeli secret service kidnapped Nazi functionary Adolf Eichmann from Argentina in 1960, they expected to capture a monster. Instead Israeli psychologists were surprised to examine someone who they claimed were more normal than they. In Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Hannah Arendt explores the concept of evil and [...]

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Is There a Science to History? A Review of “War and Peace and War” by Peter Turchin

Can the cyclical nature of history be explained through science? Ecologist Peter Turchin attempts to do just that in his book “War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires.” Turchin argues that imperiogenesis (the birth of empires) occurs on the fringes of civilization, where members of one society interact with members of [...]

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Embracing Yourself in the Present: A Review of “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle

The source of suffering, according to Eckhart Tolle, is the ego. It contextualizes everything in terms of past and future. People tend to determine themselves based on their previous experiences and interactions, and define their future with those in mind. Tolle states that the key to escaping from this madness and entering enlightenment is to [...]

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The Good Life and the Developing World: A Review of “The End of Poverty” by Jeffrey Sachs

Here’s a fact for you: Half of the world’s population live on two dollars a day or less. Keep that in mind when you feel as though you’re life isn’t going as planned or circumstances didn’t develop the way you had hoped.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs is on a mission. Leading after a brief forward by U2’s [...]

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Government and the Good Life in the Ancient World: A Brief Review of "The Politics" by Aristotle

The role of government in defining the good life is the subject of The Politics by Aristotle. Like his predecessor Plato, Aristotle sought to find the best type of constitution under which any given people could live. His conclusion: a mixed constitution (one that is neither fully an oligarchy or a democracy) provides the most [...]

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Review of Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Nathaniel Philbrick’s account of the first fifty-five years of European settlement in the New England area is both intellectually fascinating and enlightening. You can’t help but feel for the hardships the first-generation Pilgrims faced as they established relations with the Massasoit and the Pokanoket. It makes any of our challenges in today’s world seem [...]

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