Few tools in the historian’s kit are as fundamental as periodization. By naming distinct stretches of time, historians give shape to history’s flow: the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Age of Exploration (or, alternatively, of Colonization), the Age of Democratic Revolutions, the Age of Anxiety. As those names suggest, periodization always carries interpr (...)
Article
Fabricating Bernardin
How Not to Write About the Cardinal & His Time
The remainder of this article is only available to paid subscribers. If you’re not currently a Commonweal subscriber in print or online, an online-only subscription costs just $34 a year. Click here for immediate access.
"Fabricating Bernardin" is the worth the price of a year's subscription! Many thanks to Peter Steinfels.
I recall back in the days when VOTF started that invitations were sent to major conservative figures to speak at our first conference. Their books were going to be on sale at least. It was a hopeless attempt to establish dialogue, and all invitations were declined in a cordial manner except for one.
Weigel's rejection noted with a scent of hauteur that at least a year's advance notice was necessary.
I see that I am way late in responding to this article. Congratulations, Mr. Steinfels. This is a keeper. I confess I haven't read any of Mr. Weigel's books. Like another commenter, his essays and TV interviews were not enough to encourage me to buy his books. You give Weigel much credit for his scholarly work, his intelligence, his facility with language, etc,. but in essays of his that I have read and television interviews I have seen, his snide comments about those holding opposing ideas and his general , what can I name it?- twee-ness put me off and made me suspicious about his seriousness as a fair and objective analyst.