Radulich University

Year 1: Foundations

This is the first and most important book recommended by Radulich University. It explains, using science and sound reasoning, why some society’s failed and were conquered and why others were successful and became the conquerors. It’s a fairly dense but easy to read tome and is essential for understanding the modern world we live in. Any argument about how the world developed the way that it did must begin with an understanding of Guns, Germs and Steel.

This is the second book recommended by Radulich University. It is a combination of history and sociology. It explains why Christianity caught on amidst a sea of mystery religions and the predominant polytheistic Roman pantheon of gods. From Amazon, “Stark finds that early Christianity attracted the privileged rather than the poor, that most early converts were women or marginalized Jews–and ultimately “that Christianity was a success because it proved those who joined it with a more appealing, more assuring, happier, and perhaps longer life.” It’s a must read in order to understand why Christianity is legitimate and compelling despite it’s detractors.

The third mandatory book here at Radulich University. Radulich University focuses on history because if you don’t know where we’ve been then we can’t know where we’re going. Themes like liberty, democracy, republicanism, freedom and capitalism all have origins in the Scottish Enlightenment. From Amazon, “Forged in the Scottish Enlightenment, that ideal would inform the political theories of Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and David Hume, and other Scottish thinkers who viewed “man as a product of history,” and whose collective enterprise involved “nothing less than a massive reordering of human knowledge” (yielding, among other things, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, first published in Edinburgh in 1768, and the Declaration of Independence, published in Philadelphia just a few years later). On a more immediately practical front, but no less bound to that notion of progress, Scotland also fielded inventors, warriors, administrators, and diplomats such as Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie, Simon MacTavish, and Charles James Napier, who created empires and great fortunes, extending Scotland’s reach into every corner of the world.

Herman examines the lives and work of these and many more eminent Scots, capably defending his thesis and arguing, with both skill and good cheer, that the Scots “have by and large made the world a better place rather than a worse place.” –Gregory McNamee”

From Publishers Weekly, “Harris seems to have burst on the scene with a series of articles in the Hoover Institution’s Policy Review. These articles, according to the publisher, created a tremendous buzz, and they form the basis of this book, arguing that in the aftermath of September 11, America must regard itself as the legitimate defender of world civilization. Because Americans are so highly civilized, Harris maintains, they “forget” the realpolitik truths of enmity and barbarianism, and he has come to sound the alarm. Western “liberal left” intellectuals mislead, Harris says, by mistakenly dignifying al-Qaeda as political activists instead of dismissing them as a gang of ruthless “fantasists” who don’t share any of our assumptions about how the world should work. Generally ignoring the lessons of other countries’ experiences of terrorism, Harris dwells instead on the failures of WWI-era liberal internationalism and on the fantasist ideologies of Hitler and Mussolini.” This became one of my favorite books in the wake of 9/11. It’s a great place to start for those who realize there can be no bargaining with terrorists.

The last mandatory book here Radulich University. All students must be proficient in understanding the history of Israel (see the next page). Dershowitz, like a good lawyer, examines every nook and cranny of the Middle East debate and goes through the whole history showing that Israel absolutely has the right to exist and has never been the impediment to a Palestinian state. Dershowitz shows that is has been Arafat and Hamas that have walked away from peace, even when Israel nearly destroyed itself to make peace. A must read as I’m finding people just don’t understand why Israel exists and how history in that area of the world has unfolded. Also, if you are caught suggesting that Israel should be moved to Wyoming or South Carolina or anywhere you automatically fail out of Radulich University.

This is an elective at Radulich University. You don’t have to know what this book is about but I think it gives perspective. Blending the work of archeologists, scientists and theologians, Pellegrino explores the factual bases of the events recorded in the Old Testament.

Year 2: Specific Episodes and Themes in History; A Proper Introduction to Food and Society
More to Come