Unto the Ages of Ages: Essays on Political Traditionalism

Modern man, unlike his ancestors, does not see himself as belonging to a civilisation that exists as a continuous stream running down the centuries. Neither does he see himself as belonging to an actual, existent community. He is post-historical and post-communitarian. Modernity has thus created a new kind of human condition, that of the atomised and deracinated individual who is a world unto himself. But according to Sebastian Morello, this novel condition has left us jaded, confused, and traumatised. Unto the Ages of Ages is Morello’s invitation to induct ourselves into our own civilisational inheritance, and hence to reclaim our birthright. Amid Morello’s scathing analysis of the modern paradigm, he reveals a deep admiration—which is nonetheless not without its severe criticisms—for Western Civilisation in general and for his home country of England in particular. Western Civilisation is foundering because, at the most fundamental level, it is ensnared in a spiritual crisis. According to Morello, those of us who do not wish to be victims of this crisis must first recognise that the dogmas of liberalism, secularism, and progressivism are not binding. In short, we must undergo the challenging task of becoming, in every sense, traditionalists.

Sebastian Morello’s Unto the Ages of Ages is a deeply thoughtful set of reflections about Catholicism, Conservatism and England in the twenty-first century. Morello distrusts ideology and abstraction, and defends a piety of love, family and particular connection. This is philosophy through experience and history. Morello’s enemies—the fake, the ugly, the intellectually vulgar—will be your enemies too. —Dr Thomas Pink, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, King’s College London

In Unto the Ages of Ages, Sebastian Morello delivers a ferocious defence of tradition, urging a return to the sacred roots of community and culture amidst secular decay. He dissects and dismantles a dizzying array of the many and various conceptual idols scattered across the wastelands of modernity. Brimming with arresting reflections on family, faith, and folkways, these essays meld philosophical depth, practical wisdom, and political acumen in a manner few other writers today can achieve. Morello’s clarion call for a God-centred conservatism offers hope and clarity to those of us who yearn for meaning and order in our fractured world. —Dr James Orr, Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion, University of Cambridge

This is a book unafraid to go where many others fear to tread—undertaking 'the hard slog of retrieving a pre-modern mind and heart' in the political realm, and working admirably against the tide of today's seemingly endless corruptions and false turns. —Dr Jacob Phillips, Professor of Systematic Theology, St Mary's University, Twickenham 

Sebastian Morello has emerged as one of our finest writers and thinkers on all the things that matter most to mankind, and yet are strangely most beleagued and betrayed: home, country, friendship, worship, God. Reading his essays is a refreshing draught from a limpid stream of insight and courage; these pages flow with rigorous arguments made whole by deeply-felt sentiment. —Dr Peter A. Kwasniewski, Tradition and Sanity

Many writers of a 'Conservative' or ‘Traditional' bent are quite clear as to what they oppose, but are rather vague as to what they favour. Others seek to separate political from religious questions, and still more are ready to accept the present regime as the best we are likely to get, simply advocating alterations of its most egregious features. In this book, Sebastian Morello falls into none of these traps. Instead, he offers an enthralling, encompassing vision, deeply rooted in the Catholic Faith, seeking to convert—not merely accept—what passes for Modernity. Nor is he what might be called defensive—he sees the struggle today for what it ultimately is: a spiritual battle, and one between good and evil. As you will see in these pages, it is a battle he means for all of us to win. —Charles Coulombe, author of The Compleat Monarchist