First Review of The Reign of Love

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Jerry D. Salyer, a subscriber who writes in occasionally, has written a brief review published in Catholic World Report.  Here is the concluding paragraphs:

For the benefit of those who may be unfamiliar with the author, it must be said that Dr. Fleming has long since proven his prescience as a dissident voice. Indeed, a case can be made that many of today’s celebrity pundits are merely appropriating themes the Rockford-based philologist addressed long ago and more deeply. For example, Fleming had already testified at length and repeatedly about the importance of national borders and local communities back when Victor Davis Hanson and Rod Dreher were still preoccupied with promoting neoconservative wars in the Middle East.

In any event, Properties of Blood is exactly what one would expect from an experienced scholar with a sharp wit and whose reading ranges far and wide. From the ethical vision of Sir Walter Scott and Saint Augustine’s reflections upon Roman civilization, to Aristotle’s theory of friendship and Thomas Jefferson’s policies regarding inheritance, the author’s deft prose keeps the reader engaged. At least as important for those concerned about the future of the family, we would be hard-pressed to find more profound arguments against the ideology of individualism – and for the person.

For the entire review, go to: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/09/26/persona-vs-individuum/#mh-comments.

 

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Thomas Fleming

Thomas Fleming is president of the Fleming Foundation. He is the author of six books, including The Morality of Everyday Life and The Politics of Human Nature, as well as many articles and columns for newspapers, magazines,and learned journals. He holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Greek from the College of Charleston. He served as editor of Chronicles: a Magazine of American Culture from 1984 to 2015 and president of The Rockford Institute from 1997-2014. In a previous life he taught classics at several colleges and served as a school headmaster in South Carolina

4 Responses

  1. Roger McGrath says:
    September 30, 2022 at 7:53 am

    Emphatically yes–Tom Fleming addressed all these issues “long ago and more deeply” and has “a sharp wit whose reading ranges far and wide.” My only quibble with Jerry Salyer is describing Tom as a philologist, not because Tom isn’t but because that defines Tom too narrowly.

  2. Avatar photo Thomas Fleming says:
    September 30, 2022 at 8:31 am

    I think Jerry probably chose the word out of respect. He once had to introduce me as a speaker, and I told him–as I recall–not to call me a journalist or editor but a philologist. It is a good thing the American Philological Association changed its name, or they would issue an edict stripping me of the right to use the term. I once got formally denounced by the Classical Association of the Midwest and South because of a review article I published on women’s studies in classics–in their own journal!. I only narrowly escaped the wrath of the then APA, because a friend of mine was Secretary Treasurer and apparently suggested to the President that it would be inappropriate to denounce something in a journal published by another organization.

  3. Roger McGrath says:
    September 30, 2022 at 12:08 pm

    Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Fleming: “That you have enemies you must not doubt, when you reflect you have made yourself eminent.”

  4. Sam Dickson says:
    September 30, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (King James Authorized Bible)

    You should review your life and the enemies you have made.

    With perhaps some few exceptions I am confident you will be at peace and even pleased to have made the enemies you have made.