Find a college teacher prepared to risk his career because he is
convinced that undergraduate elective curricula must be abandoned
and ready to lay out a detailed remedy. Add a partner in full
agreement, to share the risk. That is the improbable story of
Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan and their 1937 creation, at
St. John's College of an all-required four-year curriculum based on
the great books. Then add their shared convictions in attacking the
Cold War, standing together for civil liberties and against
McCarthyism. This story of personal courage is based on Nelson's
knowledge and access to unpublished manuscripts and hundreds of
letters.
Nelson tells the story of a remarkable life-long friendship and
collaboration. He describes the 1937 transformation of St. John's
College in Annapolis, in which an all-required, four-year program
of study built around the great books of the Western tradition, the
study of languages, mathematics, and science replaced the
conventional elective curriculum. The influences on other
institutions, from Oxford's Balliol College to the University of
Chicago are traced and related.
Nelson examines the effort of the U.S. Navy, in the closing days
of World War II, to acquire the campus of St. John's. This is
followed by the unsuccessful efforts of Barr and Buchanan, after
leaving St. John's, to start another college. Barr is persuaded to
head the Foundation for World Government, in the course of which he
and Buchanan redefine the nature of the problem of world law and
world peace. The Cold War intervenes, and a new set of
complications arises, subjecting Barr to attack from the
McCarthyites, and the Foundation to attack from the Internal
Revenue Serice. Nelson also reviews Barr's first hand encounter
with India and its charismatic leaders.He recounts Buchanan's five
month visit to the kibbutzim of Israel. The remainder of the text
reviews their extensive writings and their years as Fellows of
Robert Hutchins' Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions.
Based on Charles A. Nelson's knowledge of both men and access to
extensive unpublished manuscripts and hundreds of revealing
letters, the book will be of interest to scholars, students, and
researchers involved with American higher education, the world
government movement, and post-World War II civil liberty
issues.
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