Nostalgia ― Going Home in a Homeless World

America's political elite has a stake in the destruction of cultural memory—anything that resists the new management state and the rootless elites. But it is a deeply human thing not only to have a home, which is rare enough in our time, but to long to return home. For Christians, this longing to return home not only makes us defenders of our homes and families here on earth, but also wayfarers, in that we understand we are contantly moving towards our true home, the “patria” that is the presence of God, in eternity. 

This Christian nostalgia is the subject of scorn and condescension from secular elites, who are invested in making us forget our loginging to return home. Instead, they would have us join in the silly and inhuman worship of mother earth as our “home” and the more dangerous and destructive worship of change for change’s sake—as if we could make heaven ourselves or work ourselves up into gods. 

In Nostalgia, this essential new work by Out of the Ashes author Anthony Esolen, the singularly Christian concept of true nostalgia is examined, defended, and brilliantly celebrated as Esolen reveals the central role nostalgia plays in great works of literature including Shakespeare, Dante, Dickens, and Eliot.

Anthony Esolen is a professor of English and a writer in residence at Thomas More College in Merrimack, New Hampshire. A senior editor of Touchstone magazine, Professor Esolen is the editor and translator of several epic poems, including verse translations of the three volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy (Random House, Modern Library). A noted social commentator, Dr. Esolen has published several books, including Out of the Ashes, and is a popular public speaker.. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife, Debra and family and with his dog, Jasper.