Reviews and Recommendations
| The 5 most important books on education in the 20th
century
1.
Latin and Greek in American Education, Frederick
Kelsey, ed. This collection of essays was presented in 1911 at the high
point of the education war between the pragmatists
(progressives) and classicists. Contents include the following
essays (and many more): You must read this book if you seek to lead or teach in a classical school
2. Reforming Education, Mortimer Adler Mortimer Adler was a champion of the great books curriculum, and a defender of what we might call the Great Tradition and what he and Robert Hutchins called The great Conversation, from early in the 20th century until his death in 2001. This book collects essays and speeches by Adler from as far back as 1939 and covers the years leading to the publication of this book in 1988. No other single educator did more to preserve the western and classical heritage in than Mortimer Adler, who developed the Great Books program that has converted tens of thousands of adults into readers of great thought. This book is divided into five parts: I. Education in America--Problems and Principles II. Liberal Education and Schooling III. Teaching and Learning IV. Thinking About Moral Values V. Padeia: Its Inception and Development Individual essays include (noted by the part in which each belongs):
I. This Prewar Generation (1940)
II. Liberal Education--Theory and Practice (1945)
III. Teaching, Learning, and Their Counterfeits (1976, 1987) IV. Ethics: Fourth Century B.C. and Twentieth Century A.D. (1988)
V. Reconstituting the Schools (1983)
If you want to understand education in the 20th century and if
you want to see it improved in the 21st, you need this book. |
Student Guides to the Major Disciplines
from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Introductions to disciplines in the liberal arts, including
Liberal Learning, the Core Curriculum, Philosophy, Literature,
Economics, Classics, Study of History, U.S. History, American
Political Thought, Political Philosophy, Psychology, and the
Study of Law. These small books offer a history of the
discipline, explains the main ideas of the subject, and points
out the most important works in the discipline.
Standing by Words, by Wendell Berry
(Washington, DC: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2005). Wendell Berry is
committed to making words meaningful and to reminding writers of
their responsibility for the words they put on paper. In
Standing by Words, Berry articulates his clearest and most
profound insights into the meaning, power, and value of words.
Lovers of Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter will enjoy this
backstage glimpse at the thought and writing process behind
these important works.
The Red Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang, (Dover
Publications, 1966).
Here are 37 timeless unadulterated fairy tales from your own
childhood (hopefully), and most definitely part of your
children’s childhood. Here you’ll read about the Twelve Dancing
Princesses, Jack and the Beanstalk, Minnikin, the Twelve
Brothers, and many more.
In his book Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic
Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination, Vigen Guroian
explains how fairy tales “capture the meaning of morality
through vivid depictions of the struggle between good and
evil….” Guroian quotes the great contemporary moral philosopher
Alisdair MacIntyre: “It is through hearing about wicked
stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves
that suckle twin boys, youngest sons who receive no inheritance
but must make their own way in the world and eldest sons who
waste their inheritance…that children learn or mislearn what a
child and what a parent is, what the cast of characters may be
in the drama into which they have been born and what the ways of
the world are. Deprive children of stories and you leave them
unscripted, anxious stutterers in their actions as in their
words.”
The Red Fairy Book is one of the many
excellent tools that help cultivate the moral imagination.
Christianity and Classical Culture: A Study of Thought
and Action from Augustus to Augustine, by Charles Norris
Cochrane, (Liberty Fund, 2003).
This thorough book will guide you through the fall of the pagan
Roman world to the rise of Christianity. A great reference book
as well. Purchase it from our online
Catalogue for $15.
Longing to Know, The Philosophy of Knowledge for Normal People, by Esther Meeks, is about real world knowledge, showing the errors that philosophers can easily fall into when they loose touch with common sense. Visit Christianbook.com to learn more.
The Roots of American Order, written by Russell Kirk and
published by ISI Books. For the finest book on the history behind our legal
traditions and the ideas behind them, get your hands on this
book. You can purchase this book through ISI at 40%
off by clicking on the title.
Andrew Kern uses this book when he teaches his American
history/letters class and says, “I believe the ideas contained
in this book are forgotten at our peril. The United States did
not drop from heaven or rise from hell in 1776. We sit on a
continuum that goes back to the ancient Hebrews, the Greeks, and
Romans, and includes the medieval church, the Carolingian
Empire, Magna Carta and all its consequences. Russell Kirk puts
American history in its context on that continuum and in so
doing he reminds us of our duties both to our ancestors and to
our descendents. This may be one of the most important
history/civics books for an American young person to read.”
Images From a Creation Myth, by Shannon Roquemore.
Shannon Roquemore was a
teacher at Veritas Christian Academy in Asheville, North
Carolina until her sad and untimely death in July of 2005. This
book is a deeply moving and remarkably
insightful recollection of her spiritual journey. Don’t be
surprised if you see a great deal more of it over the years.
To purchase a copy (and I think this is one of the
finest gifts books you could give a person, especially
one who thinks about his faith), visit our
Catalogue.
Genius, A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds,
by Harold Bloom. This book is not written from a Christian
perspective, but for those of you who love literature and
thought and are ready to grapple with some profoundly insightful
essays, this book is a treasure chest. It will also teach a
great deal about Gnosticism, which Bloom has described as
“America’s civil religion” and which we need to come to
understand much better than we do.
The New York Times Sunday Magazine calls Harold Bloom “A
colossus among critics… His enthusiasm for literature is a
joyous intoxicant.”
The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man’s Guide to Chivalry,
by Brad Miner. If you are a man or have sons, this is one of
those books that can meet a profound need. With chapters called
The Warrior, The Knight, The Gentleman, The Lover, The Monk, and
Chivalry in a Democratic Age, Miner describes the roles and
challenges confronted by the man who is not content to conform
to the forces around him. It is a wide-ranging book exploring
the ideals of manhood throughout western history and dealing
with issues like handling a mugging, dying like a man, educating
a gentleman, and loving like a knight.
Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin,
by Tracy Lee Simmons
On the Incarnation, Athanasius the Great. This is
a great treatise written by the fourth century theologian,
Athanasius of Alexandria. Written actually before the Arian
heresies, it worked to fight against the Arians, who said that
Jesus Christ was divine, but was created and therefore inferior
to the Father. This version also includes an introduction by C.S.
Lewis, who explains why we should read primary texts, not just
books about books. Lewis tells how the simplicity of Athanasius’
writing shows that this text is indeed a masterpiece.
Brother Juniper’s Bread Book: Slow Rise as Method and
Metaphor, by Peter Reinhart.
If you've been a CiRCE fan for more than a couple hours, you're
sure to have heard us offer various metaphors that help us
teach. For instance, gardening, by its very organic nature, is
an appropriate metaphor as we seek to cultivate wisdom and
virtue in our children. Brother Juniper’s Bread Book: Slow Rise
as Method and Metaphor presents another example that will
inspire not only your teaching habits, but also your living
habits. Peter Reinhart, a master baker who has won awards in
numerous bread competitions, explains why a baker cannot cut
corners. Kneading by hand is better than by electric mixer.
Allowing bread to rise a second time is necessary for proper
bread consistency. And no two bread loaves are exactly alike—a
loaf of bread from San Francisco could end up completely
different from one in Georgia —even if you use the same exact
ingredients. Take these lessons to heart, and your teaching will
be sure to improve! You'll learn to have patience with your
students and to recognize that no two students are
identical—each requires careful attention and understanding.
What's more, if you love to bake, you'll find some of the best
recipes within these pages, including recipes for a basic white
bread loaf, focaccia, pizza, muffins, the world’s greatest
brownies, and the famous sticky buns.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die,
by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.
Lewis delivered Mere Christianity as a series of radio lectures
during World War II. As the Christian world continues to divide
itself, creating new denominations and fighting against others,
Lewis points out what it is exactly that unites us as
Christians.
If you haven't yet read C.S. Lewis's remarkable book, you've
been missing out on one of best lessons in Christian apologetics
you'll find. If you have read it, may we suggest you pick it up
again this summer?
Buy a copy, and wear it out.