Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Books in Brief

Andy Olree, The Choice Principle: The Biblical Case for Legal Toleration -- An argument founded in Evangelical theology for a quasi-libertarian political framework in which sinful choices are not regulated by law except where they victimize others.

Eric Klinenberg, Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media -- An extended rant against consolidation in the media industry. Plus, some insightful thoughts on the way the new media is challenging traditional media outlets from both the left and right. Worth reading by anybody who cares about the evolution of media.

Andrew Roberts, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900 -- It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to write a book that explicitly picks up where Nobel Prize winner Winston Churchill's famous History of the English-Speaking Peoples left off. Roberts is a better historian the Churchill, and a very good writer, but can't match the master's literary skills. Then again, how many others can? In any case, just like Churchill, Roberts has an agenda -- namely, to advance the claim that the English-speaking peoples are the last best hope of mankind. Atlanticist, pro-American, robustly opinionated. A recommended read.