Liberties Journal of Culture and Politics - 3rd Edition (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Liberties is a quarterly journal of serious, stylish, and controversial essays on culture and politics.

In the Spring 2025 issue: Yaroslav Hrytsak on the surprising lessons of setting the Ukrainian war in the context of history; David Bell asks if we shouldn't still believe in the enlightenment; Durs Grünbein shares cautionary echoes in prose and poetry; Clifford Thompson argues for reviving an honest view of race; Alfred Brendel notes some of the ungenteel qualities of Papa Haydn; Agnes Callard investigates what we see when we look at colors; Enrique Krauze explains what happens when a hunger for power destroyed a democracy; James Traub investigates journalism's tangled relationship with truth; Jaroslaw Anders makes a cautionary tale from the the trajectory of Polish poetry; Gary Saul Morson warns of the danger of ready-made beliefs, and Kenda Mutongi of the use and abuse of magical thinking; Celeste Marcus asks what the American Jew owes her country; Leon Wieseltier muses on the slumber, and slow destruction, of liberalism in America and Israel; and poetry from David Grossman, Paula Bohince, and Karl Kirchwey.

Liberties features essays from leading op-ed writers and scholars, award-winning writers, the next generation's rising talent, and poets from around the world--there's a reason why cultural warriors, political leaders, opinion makers, and engaged citizens from across political and cultural spectrum read and cherish Liberties.

About the Author

Yaroslav Hrytzak is a professor of history at Ukrainian Catholic University and the author of Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation.

David A. Bell is the Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Professor in the Era of North Atlantic Revolutions and Director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center at Princeton University.

Durs Grünbein is a German poet and essayist. His most recent collection of poems in English is Porcelain: Poem on the Downfall of my City.

Clifford Thompson's memoir Twin of Blackness appeared in 2015.

David Grossman is the author, among many books, of To the End of the Land.

Alfred Brendel, the pianist, is the author most recently of The Lady from Arezzo: My Musical Life and Other Matters.

Agnes Callard is a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago. Her book Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life was recently published.

Paula Bohince's most recent poetry collection, Swallows and Waves, appeared in 2016.

Enrique Krauze is a Mexican essayist, producer, and publisher. He is the author of many books and the founder of the magazine Letras Libres.

James Traub's book on civic education, Teaching America, will be published next year.

Jaroslaw Anders is the author of Between Fire and Sleep: Essays on Modern Polish Poetry and Prose.

Gary Saul Morson is Lawrence B. Dumas Professor of the Arts and Humanities at Northwestern University and the author most recently of Wonder Confronts Certainty: Russian Writers on the Timeless Questions and Why Their Answers Matter.

Kenda Mutongi is the Ford International Professor of History at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Pascal Bruckner is a French writer and the author, among other books, of A Brief Eternity: The Philosophy of Longevity.

Karl Kirchwey is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Boston University.

Celeste Marcus is the managing editor of Liberties.

Leon Wieseltier is the editor of Liberties.