2019 Books of the Year
Great books tell stories. Here’s our pick of vivid and insightful new releases for better understanding America, world events, history, science, and theology
ROBED RULERS
The Supreme Court waited for the last moment before summer adjournment to issue its most controversial cultural and political decisions.
Report card
Fourth-graders made progress, but eighth-graders plateaued and 12th-graders lost ground in reading
Subsidized radicals
Taxpayers are subsidizing anti-Americanism on university campuses
Testy establishment
Education reformers are increasingly critical of the current teacher-certification system
Voices
Mailbag
flagrant behavior The flagrant behavior of the Senate Democrats does not surprise me. What does is the inconsequential response of the Republican leadership-a lot of wind and no action. It'...
Joel Belz
The 51st book
While editor-in-chief Marvin Olasky and culture editor Ed Veith focus your attention in this issue on the 50 books that, more than any others, will give you an insight into Western civilization, I...
John Piper
God is not boring
ON JUNE 26, 1956, C.S. LEWIS ANSWERED A CHILD'S letter asking about how to write. His answer set me thinking about the imagination. He said, "In writing, don't use adjectives which merely tell us ...
Marvin Olasky
East of Jerusalem
ALONG WITH THE 50 WESTERN CULTURE BOOKS highlighted in this issue, we should be aware of key works from other cultures-not only because it is essential for Christians to understand competing world...
Notebook
Culture
Culture
Novel ideas
Grip. Grin. Flash. Oliver North, the Iran-Contra fall-guy turned one-man media conglomerate, posed for photos with fans who lined up to meet him at a booth operated by his fiction publisher, Broad...
Culture
Ghostwriters in the machine
The University of Virginia last fall expelled 45 students and revoked three graduate degrees following a 20-month investigation by its student-run Honor Committee. Their offense: Each had submitte...
Culture
'Just the way it was'
Reporters talk about pounding the pavement to get a story. Novelist Jeff Shaara crawled through bushes to bring history to life. Mr. Shaara, 51, traveled as an 18-year-old in 1970 to Gettys...
Culture
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Harry Potter used to dominate the New York Times bestseller list, crowding out other big-name titles and their disgruntled publishers. In response, the Times began a children's list and banished t...
Culture
Right angles
The political world is commonly divided with a spatial metaphor; liberals are on the left and conservatives are on the right. Political ideologies, though, are more complicated than that. The "lef...
Culture
BESTSELLERS
Scoring system: 10 points for first place, 9 for second, down to 1 for 10th, on the lists of the American Booksellers Association (independent, so...
Culture
BESTSELLERS
1 HOW THE WEST WAS won Led Zeppelin weeks on chart 1 ...
Culture
Western Culture's Top 50 Books
One WORLD subscriber who teaches accounting recently wrote, "I have a 'professional' school background. My liberal arts education is very limited. However, I make up for both with a 'feel good' sa...
Culture
Chips off the old block
Behind three points with less than 30 seconds in the game, Chip Hilton steals the ball, makes a layup, and prepares for another steal in an effort to lead Valley Falls to another upset victory. ...
Dispatches
The Buzz
Quotables
"Things happen for a reason, and you can't question it." Chicago Bulls forward Marcus Fizer, after teammate Jay Williams suffered a fractured pelvis and damaged ligaments in his left knee in a mot...
Quick Takes
Quick Takes
A thin blue blur A Swedish police officer who assaulted a mo-ped driver he had hit with his car-and handcuffed a man suffering from a stroke-is not guilty of "grossly neglecting his commitm...
The Buzz
Tango with the trendy
The second half of June featured buckets of buzz about books: first Hillary Clinton's memoir, then Harry Potter. Mrs. Clinton is not WORLD's favorite politician nor is Master Potter our fav...
The Buzz
The battle to come
Did the Founders of the Constitution know what they were doing when they organized self-government for individuals, based on certain immutable principles, or were they merely creating an outline, ...
The Buzz
Top Story
1 still dangerous Six British soldiers were killed in southern Iraq, a...