Religion and society

The Devil’s Best Trick

Randall Sullivan
Atlantic Monthly Press

The blithe sophistication of the last few hundred years has dialed back belief in the Devil and evil. But Randall Sullivan, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone for 20 years, believes in both, and he makes that clear from the start. The title of his book is taken from Baudelaire’s The Generous Gambler, in which we read, “Never forget when you hear the progress of the Enlightenment praised, that the Devil’s loveliest ruse is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist.” And yet Sullivan finds so much evidence for the Devil. His survey is largely historical, describing belief in the Devil through the ages. From there it turns to description—everything from the Marquis de Sade, to human sacrifice in Mesoamerica. It’s not nightstand material. At points I wondered if I really needed to know what I was being told. But if the goal is moral outrage, and not reducing evil to mental illness, details matter. The theological sensibility of the book is Roman Catholic. But the strength of the book isn’t Biblical exegesis, it’s honesty—namely, Sullivan’s impatience with explaining evil away in terms acceptable to modern sensibilities. —C.R. Wiley

Read WORLD’s full review of this book here.

Social Policy

The Fall of Roe

Elizabeth Dias & Lisa Lerer
Flatiron Books

The story of how Roe fell is the triumph of a grassroots movement, led by a cadre of savvy political operatives, who fought a multifront battle over 50 years. In The Fall of Roe, two New York Times reporters cover the final decade of that effort, as pro-lifers kept the faith through eight years of Obama, the 2016 primary, the deaths of two sitting justices, Access Hollywood, and Christina Blasey Ford, all the way to victory in Dobbs. They tell this story by profiling the leaders and lawyers for these causes, such as pro-lifers Marjorie Dannenfelser and Leonard Leo and pro-abortion chieftains Cecile Richards and Nancy Northup. Their reporting is straight­forward and fair, even if not written from a Biblical perspective. However, their fundamental premise that an organized minority overrode the will of an unorganized majority is wrong on two fronts. Americans’ approval of abortion depends on how pollsters ask the questions, and pro-choice forces are hardly unorganized and underfunded. America’s conversation over abortion continues, but this book is a testament to the power of prayer and persistence. —Daniel Suhr

Social Policy

Detrans

Mary Margaret Olohan
Regnery

At age 11, Chloe Cole joined Instagram where she was bombarded with impossible body standards and exposed to trans activists. She told her classmates she was a boy at age 12, started taking hormones at 13, and underwent a double mastectomy at 15. In Detrans, Mary Margaret Olohan relates with compassion the stories of detransitioners like Chloe who now regret their choices. Her reporting provides details that aren’t “for family dinner table conversation.” Descriptions of “sex change” surgeries and the side effects of hormone treatment unmask medical euphemisms meant to hide the horrors of genital mutilation. Detransitioners battle complications ranging from infertility to open surgical wounds. Many struggle to obtain healthcare from the same system that footed the bill for testosterone and estradiol. Nearly all the men and women Olohan interviews experienced sexual abuse, mental health comorbidities, autistic traits, porn exposure, or excessive social media use. Therapists and doctors ignored those factors to promote the trans agenda. —Addalai Bouchoc

Religion and Politics

Disarming Leviathan

Caleb E. Campbell
IVP

The Bible describes Christians as aliens and exiles in this world, but some Christian political rhetoric belies those labels. Campbell seeks to address the mistakes of Christian nationalists and calls readers to see Christian nationalists as a mission field. He’s strongest when he counters claims that America has a special relationship with God and that the U.S. government should become officially Christian, funding the church with tax dollars. Both the Bible and historical experience should steer us away from such ideas. He moves to shakier ground, however, when he ties mainstream conservative political positions to Christian nationalism. He castigates Christian nationalists for using terms such as “demonic Democrats” and “Luciferian liberals,” but then writes, without apparent irony, that Christian nationalists “are trapped, held captive by the lies of the evil one.” Campbell admits that not all Christian conservatives are Christian nationalists. But he’s not clear on whether he thinks a Christian who opposes CRT, the LGBTQ agenda, and War on Poverty programs is a Christian nationalist. It should be clear that such a Christian is not. —Timothy Lamer

History

Taking London

Martin Dugard
Dutton

Dugard tells the story of the Battle of Britain through the eyes of leaders such as Winston Churchill and Air Marshal Hugh Dowding as well as fighter pilots Richard Hillary, Peter Townsend, Geoffrey Wellum, and American Billy Fiske. The narrative starts years before the 1940 battle, with Churchill’s unheeded warnings about Hitler, a dying R.J. Mitchell’s development of the airplane that would become the Supermarine Spitfire, and Dowding’s development of a revolutionary ground-control fighter system. Dugard then, in chronological order, intersperses chapters on Churchill’s and Dowding's leadership during the battle with chapters on the pilots’ harrowing combat over England and the channel. Other books offer more details on specific events—such as the interplay between Churchill and Lord Halifax, the other potential prime minister in 1940, or the excruciating decision about how many precious fighter squadrons to send to their desperate French allies—but Dugard gives a good overview of the personalities and crucial events of this early stage of WWII. —T.L.

History

The Future Was Now

Chris Nashawaty
Flatiron Books

The Future Was Now tells the story of the summer of 1982 when eight science-­fiction classics arrived in theaters over the course of eight weeks. Five years earlier, Star Wars had become a surprise box-office sensation. All the major studios wanted their own sci-fi blockbusters, and they wanted them fast. The book follows the development, the production, and the box-office reactions to Blade Runner, The Thing, The Road Warrior, Poltergeist (which started out as an alien movie), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, and Tron. These movies would become cinematic classics, but in 1982, they were all eclipsed by the world’s biggest hit up to that time: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Chris Nashawaty has an engaging style, and he seamlessly weaves the disparate narratives into a tale about a pivotal moment for Hollywood and the attendant rise of fan culture. It’s too bad he lets occasional profanities slip into his prose. —Collin Garbarino

Poetry Criticism

Word Made Fresh

Abram Van Engen
Eerdmans

Word Made Fresh is an invitation, particularly to Christians, to rethink how we read poems and how valuable they can be in our experience of the world. Abram Van Engen demonstrates that poetry is baked into Christianity. Poetry “fills the Bible,” from the Psalms to the Magnificat. It can also help us explore aspects of the Christian faith, from the role of language in Creation and the image of God in humanity to the devastation of sin and our need for redemption. Much of the book is a primer on how to read poetry, drawing on examples from John Donne to Philip Larkin. Van Engen’s refreshing advice: Read poetry “for the joy of it.” Read personally and for pleasure. Read out loud or in groups. Read poems slow and read them fast. Dive deep into a poem or “water-ski” across the surface. The secret is to keep reading until we find poems that “land”—that strike, challenge, move, amuse, and confound us. Whether poems are reveling in Creation’s glory or mourning the Fall’s desolation, Word Made Fresh calls us to join in experiencing them as the kinds of “new songs” Psalm 96 exhorts us to sing. —David J. Davis

Read WORLD’s full review of this book here.

Fiction

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons

Peter S. Beagle
Saga Press

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons introduces dragon exterminator Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax, who prefers to go by Robert. That should clue readers in to the tenor of this novel. Robert travels through a mythical kingdom where he meets two other teenage protagonists: Cerise, a princess who insists on learning to read, and Reginald, a prince trapped by his father’s expectations. Dragons offers a refreshing departure from today’s typical fantasy fare. Instead of the sprawling complexity of Brandon Sanderson or the grimdark pessimism of George R.R. Martin, Beagle presents a sleek volume akin to the tongue-in-cheek works of Terry Pratchett. He balances laugh-out-loud prose with beats of real poignance. It’s more fairy tale than fantasy, and it’s easy to fall in love with these characters—almost as easy as it is for them to fall in love with each other. Parents thinking about handing this book to teens should be aware of some brief, violent depictions of dragon attacks. Characters also sometimes invoke the name of God (or of deities from this fantasy world) outside of prayer. The novel might not stick with you for long—but it makes for a fun summer read. —Jonathan Boes