Category Archives: books

The Christmas Miracle

Posted on December 16, 2025 by theamericanplutarch

For Christmas, this novella is a fictional account of one person’s search for God, for love, as he arrives at the final moment of his life. Calvin is a middle aged husband and father dying of cancer. He is spending … Continue reading →

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The Theology of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in Joseph Razinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI’s) book Eschatology

Posted on September 11, 2025 by theamericanplutarch

What happens when we die? Roman Catholics have death ever on the mind. It is part of Christian theology, to follow the commandments and sacraments so to be prepared when death comes. But then, why do we still fear death? … Continue reading →

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Thomas Merton and the Great Commission

Posted on September 11, 2025 by theamericanplutarch

Thomas Merton spent his life contemplating his purpose in the world, trying to discern how his desires and ambitions fit God’s plan. Born in France in 1915, Merton was well-traveled, a convert to Catholicism, and by his own admission was … Continue reading →

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Primer on Providence: Augustine’s City of God

Posted on September 11, 2025 by theamericanplutarch

Augustine, a convert to Christianity who had experienced four seconds of providence in 386 AD, who had become Bishop of Hippo in Africa in 397, who had written an account of his life, Confessions, in 392, who heard as all … Continue reading →

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The Mirror of the Past is found in Books

Posted on March 26, 2024 by theamericanplutarch

The mirror of the past is the only way to peer at the image of what is human. The reflection is darkened by time and sin. Specters of the dead, haunting the dusty stacks of long-ago thoughts, turn up repeatedly, … Continue reading →

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Books by Russell M. Lawson

Posted on March 26, 2024 by theamericanplutarch

The Memories of Katie Perkins: The Story of the Perkins and Related Families of New England This story of Katie Perkins and her family and friends is centered around hundreds of photographs portraying Victorian and Edwardian life in New England … Continue reading →

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Review of The Sea Mark: Captain John Smith’s Voyage to New England

Posted on March 26, 2024 by theamericanplutarch

The Nautilus: A Maritime Journal of Literature, History, and Culture,  (The Nautilus VII (Spring 2016): 115-118: nautilus.maritime.edu/) published a review of my book: The Sea Mark: Captain John Smith’s Voyage to New England (University of New England Press, 2015): the review, reproduced by permission, follows: … Continue reading →

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Science in the Ancient World: From Antiquity through the Middle Ages

Posted on September 28, 2021 by theamericanplutarch

            Ancient science was the intellectual pursuit to understand the origins and workings of nature and humanity. Science is a term that encompasses many methods and varied disciplines over time. Science has engaged human thought for millennia. The questions that … Continue reading →

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The Working Class of Pre-Industrial and Industrial New England: The Phillips and Camac, Brown and Perkins, Families of New Brunswick, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island

Posted on September 9, 2021 by theamericanplutarch

The United States is a land of immigrants. This is clearly seen when examining the Phillips, Camac, Brown, and Perkins families of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Brunswick. These families were the ancestors of the current living Phillips descendants, including … Continue reading →

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A Review of Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Posted on February 4, 2021 by theamericanplutarch

Slaughterhouse Five, written in 1969, is overall an antiwar book in which war so messes with a person that they go in and out of imaginary dreams and experiences, time is totally disoriented, the traditional narrative of life is broken, … Continue reading →

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