Olasky Books: George Washington was greater than Frederick the Great

Jurgen Overhoff’s George Washington and Frederick the Great: Parallel Lives (Princeton, 2026) shows how two great leaders had different ethics of leadership that helped to create two different political cultures. Washington held himself accountable to Congress and saw the value of checks and balances: The US became a democratic republic. Frederick was an autocrat, and Prussia (which became the cornerstone of Germany) developed a rule-from-above polity that in the 20^th century mutated into fascism. 

The Last Titans: How Churchill and de Gaulle Saved Their Nations and Transformed the World (Simon and Schuster, 2026) is another engaging dual biography. Richard Vinen points out the oddness of those leaders emerging in their countries: Winston Churchill was like the stereotyped Frenchman, a charming bon vivant, and Charles de Gaulle exhibited the reserved stiff upper lip often associated with British rule of land and sea. And yet, had those two not taken leadership in 1940, German rule would have lasted far longer and millions more would have died. 

Kent Dunnington’s Gratitude to God (Baker, 2026) notes the blindness of Roman leaders: “Jesus was seen by many in Roman society to be a contemptible ingrate [since] he did not express much gratitude to his social superiors and benefactors.” Some may also have seen the apostle Paul as rude since he frequently wrote not thank you but I thank God for you.

Arthur Brooks in The Meaning of Your Life (Random House, 2026) offers some entertaining stories amid words about “finding purpose in an age of emptiness.” One concerns Koko, the gorilla who became an international celebrity and twice made the cover of National Geographic because she learned to sign numerous words and seemed to blur the line between humans and animals: “But there was one thing Koko never did with language, even once…. Koko never asked a single question.” She did not “wonder and inquire about things large and small.”

Damon Root’s Emancipation War: The Fall of Slavery and the Coming of the Thirteenth Amendment (U. of Nebraska, 2026) tells how the original Thirteenth Amendment in March 1861 took only two days to clear a Congress desperate to avoid civil war. It said Congress would not have “the power to abolish or interfere” with slavery anywhere.  More than 600,000 American soldiers died before a Thirteenth Amendment declaring the opposite became part of the Constitution in December 1865.

Dongxian Jiang’s Why China Needs Democracy (Princeton, 2026) attacks the dictatorial “China Model” that purportedly delivers stability and prosperity: Given the human yearnings that China’s leftover communists try to suppress, it’s as stable as a house of cards. Ancient Mayan civilization also folded, and I turned to David Stuart’s The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient Maya (Princeton, 2026) to find out why. Alas, we learn about dynasties but nothing about what the people believed.

David George Moore’s God, What on Earth are You Doing? (Two Cities Ministries, 2026) shows how Habakkuk, an often-overlooked Old Testament book, counters some sappy-happy “Christian” movies. Moore took his two young sons to see one and was delighted when both scorned “the predictable and joyous outcome.” Even they knew that life is hard and Babylonian invaders are close by. Habakkuk concluded that fig trees may not blossom, fields may yield no food, and flocks may be lost, yet he would “rejoice in the Lord.”

Briefly noted

In Covid’s Wake (Princeton, 2025) by Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee has as its subtitle How Our Politics Failed Us. They say many Covid policymakers incessantly said “follow the science” but actually imitated Chinese authoritarianism. Catherine Conybeare’s Augustine the African (Liveright, 2025) is a readable dip into the end of ancient history. The great multi-ethnic thinker wrote in Latin but spent only five years in Italy and was an outsider not shocked by the decline of Roman hegemony.

Robert Kolker’s The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia (Doubleday, 2026) is the tragic tale of family members who learn they have an equal possibility of a normal life or early onset dementia—and the same goes for their children, should they choose to have them. Les Csorba’s Aware: The Power of Seeing Yourself Clearly (StoryBrand Books Books, 2025) notes that leaders need help but often surround themselves with toadies.

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