Book Gallery: Christopher Dawson: A Cultural Mind in the Age of the Great War
Luke Sheahan and David Bonagura, editors of the University Bookman, are joined by Joseph T. Stuart, author of “Christopher Dawson: A Cultural Mind in the Age of the Great War.” British historian Christopher Dawson possessed one of the 20th century's sharpest minds and was the first Catholic Studies professor at Harvard University. This episode discusses how Dawson established the necessary connection between religion and culture and explores his prescient insights on topics ranging from education, history, sociology, and conservatism, to the threat of political religion to Christian civilization.
Dawson made unique contributions to the field of historiography while presciently analyzing the dangers of post-World War I political movements. Dawson’s work had a notable influence on the historian of ideas Russell Kirk, especially toward the end of Kirk’s life. Most importantly, Dawson and Kirk both believed that religion and culture have an essential relationship.
Dr. Stuart was a residential Wilbur Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center while writing his doctoral dissertation, which later formed the basis for this book. Since its publication, it has been praised as the best book so far on Dawson's life and thought.
This conversation aired on January 10, 2023.
The University Bookman, a journal founded by Russell Kirk six decades ago, identifies and discusses those books that diagnose the modern age and encourage cultural renewal. Published online by the Russell Kirk Center, the Bookman continues its mission of examining our times from the perspective of what Kirk called the Permanent Things.
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