A Claremont Christmas

Our friends at the Claremont Institute have posted their annual list of recommended Christmas reading, if not Christmas gifts: “A merry Claremont Christmas.” It’s a varied and thoughtful list. Most surprising choice: My friend Bruce Sanborn’s selection of Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere. Most daunting choice: Richard Samuelson’s selection of Henry Adams’s History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Most inspirational choice: Professor Thomas West’s selection of Milton’s Paradise Lost, along with Tom’s brief interpretation of the poem.
And my daughter will be gratified by the selection of a book by historian Donald Kagan, who is one of her favorite teachers. Professor Kagan’s one-volume history of the Peloponnesian War makes Tom Karako’s list. Tom also notes Professor Kagan’s “more formidable four-volume series” on the war that provided the basis for the one-volume history.