The Persistence of Order

Edited by Christopher Dawson and T. F. Burns

Volumes 1-3

The Persistence of Order, Vol. I

In 1931, preeminent historian and scholar Christopher Dawson commissioned a new series (titled Essays in Order), whose purpose was, in part, “to examine the possibilities of cooperation and of conflict that exist between the Catholic order and the new world.” The Persistence of Order comprises fourteen of those commissioned essays, published across three volumes. Volume I contains Jacques Maritain’s “Religion and Culture”; Peter Wust’s “Crisis in the West”; Ida Friederike Coudenhove’s “Nature of Sanctity”; and Dawson’s own “Christianity and the New Age.” Each with its own distinctive style and approach, the essays speak to the vital role of religion and culture in the development of civilization and the flourishing of the human person.

The Persistence of Order, Vol. II

In 1931, preeminent historian and scholar Christopher Dawson commissioned a new series (titled Essays in Order), whose purpose was, in part, “to examine the possibilities of cooperation and of conflict that exist between the Catholic order and the new world.” The Persistence of Order comprises fourteen of those commissioned essays, published across three volumes.

Volume II contains Dawson on “The Modern Dilemma”; Rudolf Allers on “The New Psychologies”; Michael de la Bédoyère on “The Drift of Democracy”; Nicholas Berdyaev on “The Russian Revolution”; and Gerald Vann, O.P., on “Being Human.” Each with its own distinctive style and approach, the essays speak to the essential elements of a right political order and a vibrant, virtuous society.

The Persistence of Order, Vol. III

In 1931, preeminent historian and scholar Christopher Dawson commissioned a new series (titled Essays in Order), whose purpose was, in part, “to examine the possibilities of cooperation and of conflict that exist between the Catholic order and the new world.” The Persistence of Order comprises fourteen of those commissioned essays, published across three volumes. The third volume contains Haecker on “Virgil, Father of the West”; E. I. Watkin on “The Bow in the Clouds”; Gilby on “Poetic Experience”; Herbert Read on “Form in Modern Poetry”; and Mauriac on “God and Mammon.” Each with its own distinctive style and approach, the essays speak to the dynamic relationship between art and nature, the manifold manifestations of the artistic habit, and the unique power and responsibility of art to orient men and women to the truly good life.