ChroniclesrnA M A G A Z I N E OF A M E R I C A N C U L T U RErnPERSPECTIVErnLiterature Among the Ruinsrnby Thomas FlemingrnFord Madox Ford and the art of good writing.rn10rnVIEWSrnThe Country Writer by Wendell Berry 14rnLiving large, dreaming small.rnCleaning Our Stables by Gore Vidal 16rnMaking sense of American rhetoric.rnOnce Upon a Time in America 18rnby Bill KauffmanrnWhen freethinkers reigned.rnFrederick Turner and the Rebirth of Literature 21rnby Paul LakernThe science of modern art.rnFor Love of the Muse by Stacc} Kors 25rnThe poetry of Peter Russell.rnOPINIONSrnA Happy Man in a Terrible Centuryrnby Max OelschlaegerrnEdward O. Wilson: Naturalist.rnA man of integrity.rnREVIEWSrnRichard S. Wheeler preserves the worthyrnmyth of the West in Cashbox, reportsrnStephen L. Tanner • • William R. Hawkinsrntells a sad and tragic tale in ImportingrnRevolution: Open Borders and the RadicalrnAgenda, argues Richard D. Lamm • •rnBernard Corn well’s Battle Flag regains a realrnsense of our history, notes Clyde Wilson • •rnHarry Elmer Barnes As J Knew Him by RobertrnH. Barnes reminds us of a time when men werernmen, writes Theodore Pappas -••rnCORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Italy: The Gay Nihilismrnof Umberto Ecornbv Andrea Scifforn30rn33rn38rnLetter From Virginia: People From Nowherernby Wayne AllensworthrnVITAL SIGNSrn40rnPOETRY: Erato in the Throes 42rnby Ralph de ToledanornEDUCATION: Student Reports on the 43rnPerverse and PoliticalrnLfniversity of Michiganrnbv Aaron SteelmanrnColumbia University 45rnbv Tom WoodsrnUniversity of Wisconsin—Milwaukee 4 5rnby Michael KentrnElizabethtown College 46rnby Timothy RichardsonrnRELIGION: Descent into the Episcopal Church 47rnby The Rev. Fr. Gene GeromelrnDEPARTMENTSrnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnPRINCIPALITIES & POWERSrnPoker on the Titanicrnby Samuel FrancisrnTHE HUNDREDTH MERIDIANrnPapagueria: IIrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rnPOETRYrnOld Newport by Rudolph SchirmerrnProgress by Richard MoorernON THE COVERrnCover and illustrations by Janusz Kapusta.rn49rn17rn28rnJUNE 1995/3rnrnrn