Maurice Isserman the William R Kenan Jr Professor of History at Hamilton College in Clinton N Y has a well-earned reputation as a leading historian of the American political left His specialty has led him to explore the life of the socialist activist Michael Harrington (1928-89).

George Orwell commented in his Confessions of a Book Reviewer that reviewing was a thankless task Jeffrey Meyers reports in Orwell Wintry Conscience of a Generation that Orwell learned to skip expertly through these worthless texts Had Orwell been given Meyers rsquo s biography to review he woul

The American activist and pacifist A J Muste once said There is no way to peace peace is the way His maxim is pithy but enigmatic What is the peaceful way and how do you follow it when conflicts become armed and dangerous Most of us simply don rsquo t know It is one of the tragedies of our

Privacy has no enemies Its friends date back at least to St Thomas Aquinas who wrote nemo tenetur seipsum accusare mdash ldquo no one is obliged to accuse himself rdquo Is privacy destined to erode because of the electronic footprints of e-mail the Internet cell phones and the vast amounts of

Ex Corde Ecclesiae the Vatican document issued by John Paul II on Aug 15 1990 describes the relationship that should exist between the Catholic Church and Catholic colleges and universities throughout the world Even before that document was issued there had been considerable discussion and deb

Martin Marty the church historian and trusted commentator on American religious life has recently spearheaded a three-year multi-pronged national conversation about religion and public life Under the sponsorship of the Pew Charitable Trust Marty rsquo s symposia focus groups and probes of this