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June 11, 2004
Christendom's Blum Writes Enlightening New Book

Christopher Olaf Blum, Chairman of Christendom College’s History Department, has written his first book entitled Critics of the Enlightenment: Readings in the French Counter-Revolutionary Tradition.

Published by ISI books, Critics of the Enlightenment makes available new translations of representative selections from some of the leading French conservative thinkers of the nineteenth century: Franccois de Chateabriand, Louis de Bonald, Joseph de Maistre, Frederic Le Play, Emile Keller, and Renee de La Tour du Pin. The sections span much of the nineteenth century, from Chateaubriand’s 1814 pamphlet against Napolean Bonaparte to La Tour du Pin’s 1883 essay on the theory of the corporate state.

In his book review in the May 3 issue of National Review, deputy managing editor Michael Poterma called Critics “a valuable sourcebook for the thought of an often neglected strand of conservatism...The reader will finish it with a sense of an intellectual tradition in its fullness.”

Blum, a member of Christendom College’s faculty since 1996, earned both his Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Notre Dame, and his Bachelors from the University of Virginia.

He has published works on John Henry Newman and the Ultramontanes and Alaisdair MacIntyre and the Catholic Historian. His essays and reviews have appeared in, Downside Review, Faith and Reason, the Journal of Education, Logos, and Sacred Architecture. He has served as a commentator for the panel on the thought of Joseph de Maistre, and has participated in the American Political Science Association’s annual meetings.

While the book’s intended audience is primarily students and teachers of conservative political thought, Blum believes that his subject matter may be appealing to anyone with an interest in European history. In a world that embraces the tenets of change, Critics of the Enlightenment enlightens readers on the true nature of the French Revolution.

The French critics of the Enlightenment, Blum writes in his introduction, “were champions of piety towards family and local customs, fidelity towards kings, solidarity towards fellow men, and loyalty towards the Church.”

Critics of the Enlightenment can be purchased by visiting www.isi.org or by calling (800) 526-7022.
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