William Wellman's Battleground
Whenever I say that the last century has been impoverished in the arts, the first objection I meet is that I've fallen for an illusion. The argument is thus: Most of the art in any period is trash. We sift through it, so that what is great endures, and we forget the rest. The art of our time is no different. We just haven't yet done the sifting.
My first reply is to deny the premise. Most of the art in any period is not trash. Most of it, like the handicrafts in any healthy culture, ranges from the workmanlike to the superb, before you get to the masterpieces.
But my second...
is the author of over thirty books and many articles in both scholarly and general interest journals. A senior editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, Dr. Esolen is known for his elegant essays on the faith and for his clear social commentaries. In addition to Salvo, his articles appear regularly in Touchstone, Crisis, First Things, Inside the Vatican, Public Discourse, Magnificat, Chronicles and in his own online literary magazine, Word & Song.
Get Salvo in your inbox! This article originally appeared in Salvo, Issue #55, Winter 2020 Copyright © 2023 Salvo | www.salvomag.com https://salvomag.com/article/salvo55/real-men-at-war
