{{Short description|American lawyer and history writer}} {{Orphan|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Michael Knox Beran | education = [[Columbia University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Cambridge University]] ([[MPhil]])<br>[[Yale Law School|Yale University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]]) | occupation = History writer and lawyer | known_for = ''WASPS: The Splendors and Miseries of an American Aristocracy'' (2021) | website = {{URL|michaelknoxberan.com/}} }}
'''Michael Knox Beran''' is an American lawyer and author of [[Political history of the United States|American political history]]. He is known for authoring ''WASPS: The Splendors and Miseries of an American Aristocracy'' (2021).
== Early life and education == Beran attended [[Columbia University]] where he earned his bachelor of arts [[magna cum laude]] in 1988. He subsequently received a [[Master of Philosophy]] from [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] in 1990 before earning his [[JD degree]] from [[Yale Law School]] in 1993. He practiced law at various New York law firms afterwards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Knox Beran Archives |url=https://manhattan.institute/person/michael-knox-beran/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[Manhattan Institute]] |language=en}}</ref>
== Writing career ==
=== Early career === In 1998, Beran published his debut book ''The Last Patrician: Bobby Kennedy and the End of American Aristocracy'', a biography of [[Robert F. Kennedy]]. It was published to coincide with the anniversary of Kennedy's death.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-knox-beran/the-last-patrician/?page=12 |title=THE LAST PATRICIAN {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> The book received mostly positive reviews,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-01 |title=WASPs: The Splendors and Miseries of an American Aristocracy by Michael Knox Beran |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781643137063 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|215632698}} |last1=Will |first1=George F |title=The Last Patrician: Bobby Kennedy and the End of the American Aristocracy |journal=Biography |volume=21 |issue=4 |date=Fall 1998 |pages=557 }}</ref> but was noted for its controversial stance on the life of Kennedy. [[George Will|George F. Will]], in a review for the ''[[New York Times]]'', wrote that it "has an unusually high ratio of provocations per page. Some readers will angrily throw it across the room. But they will retrieve it, and continue reading, avidly".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Will |first=George F. |author-link=George F. Will |date=1998-05-24 |title=Kennedy Family Values |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/24/reviews/980524.24willwt.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[New York Times]]}}</ref>
He published ''Jefferson's Demons: Portrait of a Restless Mind'' in 2003, which received mixed reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-07-28 |title=JEFFERSON'S DEMONS: Portrait of a Restless Mind by Michael Knox Beran |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780743232791 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-08-15 |title=JEFFERSON'S DEMONS |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-knox-beran/jeffersons-demons/ |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McClay |first=Wilfred M. |date=March 2004 |title=Jefferson's Demons: Portrait of a Restless Mind {{!}} Wilfred M. McClay |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/03/jeffersons-demons-portrait-of-a-restless-mind |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[First Things]] |language=en}}</ref> Andrew Burstein of ''[[The Journal of American History]]'' considered the book to be a work of Classical prose rather than a history, and wrote that "one comes to wonder, when does informed speculation become mere pretense?".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burstein |first=Andrew |date=2004-09-01 |title=Jefferson's Demons: Portrait of a Restless Mind. (New York: Free Press, 2003. xxii, 265 pp. |url=https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/91/2/611/866068?login=false |journal=[[Journal of American History]] |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=611–612 |doi=10.2307/3660729 |jstor=3660729 |via=Oxford University Press|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This was followed by ''Forge of Empires: Three Revolutionary Statesmen and the World They Made, 1861–1871'' in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forge of Empires: Three Revolutionary Statesmen and the World They Made, 1861–1871 by Michael Knox Beran |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780743270694 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-knox-beran/forge-of-empires/ |title=FORGE OF EMPIRES {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref>
=== ''WASPS'' === In 2021, Beran published ''WASPS: The Splendors and Miseries of an American Aristocracy''. The book is based around the concept of WASPs ([[White Anglo-Saxon Protestants]]) in the United States, but uses a looser definition that includes non-Protestant from [[Old money|affluent, colonial backgrounds]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Goldman |first=Samuel |date=2021-08-04 |title=How the WASPs won by losing |url=https://theweek.com/politics/1003258/the-wasps-died-out-as-a-distinctive-class |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[The Week]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McGinness |first=Mark |date=2021-09-02 |title=To the brownstone born: WASPS, by Michael Knox Beran, reviewed |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/to-the-brownstone-born-wasps-by-michael-knox-beran-reviewed/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[The Spectator]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Karen Sandstrom summarized Beran's definition of WASPs as being "typically found at the intersection of [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patrician]] bloodlines, political and cultural influence, and a desire for completeness."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Sandstrom |first=Karen |date=2021-08-19 |title=Review {{!}} Privilege, duty and despair among America's WASPs |language=en-US |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/privilege-duty-and-despair-among-americas-wasps/2021/08/19/495e0a92-f3bc-11eb-9738-8395ec2a44e7_story.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
It follows the rise of WASPs in American culture and politics during the [[Reconstruction era]] and their decline into the 21st century. The book argues that the postwar generation of WASPs were wracked with mental illness and addiction, which contributed to the fall of the American upper class and families like the [[Kennedys]] and [[Roosevelts]]. The book received a mostly positive response from critics for its humor, writing style, and research.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Blaikie |first=Thomas |date=September 2021 |title=No Catholics or Californians |url=https://literaryreview.co.uk/no-catholics-or-californians |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[Literary Review]] |language=en}}</ref> However, it received some criticism for its pacing and "chaotic" chapter organization.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weiner |first=Lauren |date=2021-11-09 |title=Beran's 'WASPS' Catalogues the Rise and Fall of American Aristocracy {{!}} RealClearPublicAffairs |url=https://www.realclearpublicaffairs.com/articles/2021/11/09/berans_wasps_catalogues_the_rise_and_fall_of_american_aristocracy_802661.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=Real Clear Public Affairs |language=en}}</ref> Mark McGinness of ''[[The Spectator]]'' praised Beran's depth of research and "acerbic asides and witty one-liners".<ref name=":2" /> [[Paula Byrne]] of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' described it as "meticulously researched, exhaustive, slightly bonkers, a [[wikt:smorgasbord#Noun|smorgasbord]] of delicious and outrageous details".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Byrne |first=Paula |author-link=Paula Byrne |date=2021-07-31 |title=Wasps by Michael Knox Beran review — a history of 'Mayflower screwballs' |language=en |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/wasps-by-michael-knox-beran-review-kfdcj97lr |access-date=2023-04-30 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> It was included on [[Town & Country (magazine)|''Town & Country'']]'s Best Releases of August 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-04 |title=A Revealing Look at How America's Richest Kids Learn is One of August's Must-Read Books |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/g37089989/best-books-august-2021/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[Town & Country (magazine)|Town & Country]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
* ''WASPS: The Splendors and Miseries of an American Aristocracy.'' Pegasus Books. 2021 * ''Pathology of the Elites: How the Arrogant Classes Plan to Run Your Life''. [[Rowman & Littlefield]], 2010 * ''Forge of Empires 1861-1871: Three Revolutionary Statesmen and the World They Made''. [[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]], 2007 * ''Jefferson's Demons: Portrait of a Restless Mind''. Free Press, 2003 * ''The Last Patrician: Bobby Kennedy and the End of the American Aristocracy''. [[St. Martin's Press|St. Martin's Books]], 1998
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beran, Michael Knox}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:20th-century American historians]] [[Category:21st-century American historians]] [[Category:American male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Historians of the United States]] [[Category:Columbia University alumni]] [[Category:Yale Law School alumni]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge]] [[Category:Lawyers from New York City]] [[Category:20th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:20th-century American biographers]] [[Category:21st-century American biographers]] [[Category:Works about Robert F. Kennedy]] [[Category:Elite theory]]