A Catholic brain trust?

Those interested in the development and declension of things Catholic in the U.S. over the last century will be interested in Patrick Hayes, A Catholic Brain Trust: The History of the Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs" (University of Notre Dame Press, 2011). I have a brief review of the book coming out in the Catholic Historical Review, which concludes thus: "What happened when the CCICA dissolved itself in 2007, following a period of quiescence, speaks volumes -- it divided its remaining resoures between First Things and Commonweal. Not with a bang, but a whimper." The book's detailed attention to Fr. Murray's early and largely unrememberd efforts on behalf of "religious liberty" will be especially helpful to many working on that question today. Better to read Bellarmine, however.