Books

In The Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, the darling among splendidly artistic cathedrals is stunningly brought to life.

Today Lincoln is remembered mostly for his ideals. In his lifetime, people were fascinated with his appearance. This is Richard Wightman Fox's starting point.

Europe and the Islamic World is a grandly ambitious attempt to sketch the interaction of faiths and regions from the seventh century to the present.

Finding a crack in the door of patriarchy, which still patterns the life of both the church and the world, Carolyn Custis James swings it wide open, redirecting the gender conversation towards its rightful focus: the malestrom.

Nina Sankovitch explores the meaning and value of letters in our post-postal age.

Morticians haven't charged too much, they've done too much. With this precisely correct claim, Caitlin Doughty earns her contrarian stripes.

What are the best Psalms commentaries for Christian exposition? Walter Brueggemann and William Bellinger's book deserves a place alongside Clinton McCann and James Mays.

Kaethe Schwehn's memoir of loss, quest, and initiation begins by introducing the special spiritual geography of Holden Village.

Michael Kinnamon raises key questions about the ecumenical movement and its need for renewal. He's ideally positioned to propose answers.

Our spring books issue's reviews include Amy Frykholm on Toni Morrison, Jason Byassee on Richard Hays, Katherine Willis Pershey on Lauren Winner, and more.

If vainglory is about stealing glory from God, it is unintelligible outside the house of faith. This may explain why Rebecca DeYoung's book flows against the current of attempts to reclaim narcissism and pride.

Eric Foner resurrects the history of the Underground Railroad, its powerful place in New York City, and how it helped Harriet Beecher Stowe and others bring about the war that ended slavery.

Marie Gottschalk describes an American penal system that has all but abandoned any real attempt to rehabilitate its inmates.

Anne Tyler's 20th novel is, like her previous 19, about a mildly dysfunctional Baltimore family of loyal yet infuriating people who love one another, but not always helpfully.

Our spring books issue includes scholars' recommendations of the best recently published books in Old Testament, theology, and ethics.

When Jeanne Bishop learned of her sister's murder, she found herself saying aloud, "I don't want to hate anybody."

Why was the first Gilded Age a time of sometimes violent resistance, while ours is an age of acquiescence? Steve Fraser's answer is twofold: capitalism has changed, and so has the social imaginary that enfolds it.

Just when I was feeling despondent, I was asked to review a book by Luigi Giussani. His rhetoric both bamboozled and mesmerized me.