Posted October 9, 2000

November 19 is a date of dual significance for us. First and foremost, it marks the anniversary of the day in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln visited the battlefield at Gettysberg and delivered his immortal address. But this year, it will also mark the revival of the Claremont Review of Books.

A few readers will remember the Claremont Review of Books as the Claremont Institute's flagship publication during its early critical years. Published in its pages were reviews of the most important books of the day, together with interviews and essays on politics and statesmanship.

The CRB developed a core of devoted subscribers. And although the Review was a fine effort, it was impossible for a young organization with very limited resources to sustain it. Publication was suspended in 1988 in order to spend more time strengthening the foundation and better advance the mission of the Claremont Institute.

Today, that foundation is strong. The Institute has offices in Claremont, Sacramento and Washington D.C. We have more than 35,000 members and a growing endowment. Our websites are visited by thousands of readers each day, and more than 15,000 people receive Precepts in their electronic mailboxes each week. The time is right to restore the Claremont Review of Books to its rightful place on the battlefield of ideas.

The CRB returns in November as a quarterly. Appropriate to the day of its publication, the inaugural issue will feature a review of Harry V. Jaffa's A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War by Charles R. Kesler. Also featured will be essays and reviews by Martha Bayles, Herman Belz, Joseph Bessette, Ben Boychuk, William F. Buckley Jr., Glenn Ellmers, Steven Hayward, and Ken Masugi.

The Claremont Review of Books is "a journal of statesmanship and political philosophy." It is aimed at a broad audience, not just scholars but citizens interested in ideas and the role they play in American government.