Search results for ""James Clarke Co Ltd""

'Why do I keep this voluminous journal?' - Francis Kilvert asked himself. 'Partly because life appears to me such a curious and wonderful thing that it almost seems a pity that even such a humble and uneventful life as mine should pass all together away without some such record as this...' Kilvert's Diary was an effort to tell the story of his life as well as to picture rural society, which Victorians were prone to idealise. Kilvert's loving portraits of landscapes and country characters were often juxtaposed with the grimmest scenes of squalor and suffering. John Toman presents here the first thorough examination of Kilvert's writing and offers a complete revaluation of the man and his work, tracing the literary and religious influences that brought him to write in the way that he did. This study takes account of Kilvert's education at his uncle's school, his reading of travel guides, and his devotion to such figures as Wordsworth, William Barnes, and the Revd. Frederick Robertson, his visits to key locations, his parochial work, the role played by Romanticism and Evangelicalism in his outlook, and the significance of walking as the driving force of his writing. For those unfamiliar with the Diary, Kilvert's Diary and Landscape is an ideal introduction; it will also take those who already know and love Kilvert back to his diary with renewed interest and deepened insight. This new study has much to offer readers interested in cultural and landscape history, literature, religion and the Victorian period. 'It is hoped that this study of Kilvert and landscape, which may be regarded as the second part of a revaluation of the diarist that began with my Kilvert: The Homeless Heart (2001), contributes to our appreciation of his complexity.' From the author's introduction.

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William Morris is one of the most admired figures of the Victorian era. Studies of his Art and his life fill the shelves of libraries. Yet for all this accessibility, an air of uncertainty has always clouded his image. Since Morris's death, biographers and scholars have portrayed the artist as a victim, bound to an adulterous wife. In Art and Forbidden Fruit, John Le Bourgeois lifts this veil of appearances, and shows the truth about Morris's life. In a close analysis of Morrisís poetry and biography, the author asserts the early existence of an emotional attachment between William Morris and his sister Emma, and how she became the principal source of his inspiration. Le Bourgeois follows the paths of Morris the artist and Morris the man, and points out the links between the poetís love for his sister and his evolution as an artist. Art and Forbidden Fruit provides a highly original biography of William Morris that offers a new perspective on his life and a fresh interpretation of his art by a specialist.

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'During the last night at Boca de Tomates a violent tropical storm raged across the coast, stampeding through the camp and devastating our home. We watched in awe as the already-slanting structure swayed precariously around us, as chunks of the roof flew off into the sky and as a nearby palm tree was struck by lightning. . . . Our comfortable Brighton flat and the once ubiquitous chatter of house prices and internet millionaires seemed a world away.' A great number of people consider volunteering at some point in their life and this is a nuts and bolts guide to volunteering full of honest accounts from the people who know. These are true-life accounts from people of all walks of life and ages who decided to leave their 'normal' lives behind to take up the volunteer challenge overseas. Their stories include tales of travel and adventure, tales of hardship, tales of kindness, frustration and humour. Reading them, you too will experience culture shock in Ghana, the fear of war in Sierra Leone, helplessness in the face of poverty in Cambodia, fishing for piranha in Suriname, the struggles of an outsider in China and much, much more. They will open your eyes to new worlds and may even change your outlook in the ways they changed the volunteers. Volunteer Tales will appeal to those who have already volunteered abroad or are considering it. It can be comforting and interesting to know that others have gone through similar experiences and, in the latter case, extremely useful to know what it would be like. Each contribution has something different to offer and is particularly fascinating for anyone wanting to know the reality of a country they may intend to visit. However, these stories will also be enjoyed by readers with no interest in becoming a volunteer at all. They provide entertaining, humorous reading brimming with memories from life on the road.

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thickly wooded

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The book begins with an introductory survey of the better known and more influential millennium thinkers and movements through history. It shows how the millennium was interpreted as a utopia and expressed in violent ways in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and by the Branch Davidians in Waco and the Aum Shinrikyo sect in Japan. It also examines the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the New Age movement on the millennium. Part Two is devoted to the millennium in the Revelation of St John. It strips the millennium of utopian fantasies and the other accretions it has acquired through the centuries. It sets the millennium within the context of the whole of Revelation and its attack on the deceptive and oppressive ideology propagated by the Roman Empire and John's alternative interpretation of reality. It demonstrates that far from being an isolated reference, the millennium is integral to the whole of Revelation. It shows that the millennium is a metaphor for God's vindication of those who pay the ultimate price in witnessing to truth and justice, i.e. the martyrs, and indicates the relevance of the millennium in the world we live in today. The book is aimed at the general reader wanting an accessible introduction to recent thinking on the millennium. There is nothing here to help those who want to set the doomsday clock, but plenty to encourage those who are going through difficult times, and the book will challenge all to help today's victims of oppression and injustice. For those who wish to pursue the subject further, a bibliography of scholarly works is included.

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The Bible, as is often said, is the world's least-read bestseller. That is particularly true of the Old Testament. People are often put off by the sheer bulk of the material and its frequently undistinguished quality. John Dancy has selected large samples from most of the canonical and apocryphal books, amounting to just under a third of the total, chosen for artistic merit and intrinsic interest rather than for representative status or theological value. Literature of this stature, he says, should not be restricted to academics and believers. To make it more approachable, the text is presented with commentary on the same page, in smaller type so that attention is never diverted from the original. The commentary mostly concentrates on literary matters but provides technical explanations where necessary. In addition a sensitive and sound introduction also puts the Hebrew writings in the historical context of the ancient Near East. Extracts are used from a variety of translations, preferring the most faithful in language, tone and style for each section. Accuracy is a prime concern, but so is poetry. Above all, the selections bring out the inherent dramatic qualities of the verse dialogues and narrative prose. Nothing quite like this has yet been made available. The Divine Drama will be a welcome addition to the library of any thoughtful reader who cares for good stories.

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The Battle of Waterloo, it was said, was won on the playing fields of Eton. In his new book, Dennis Brailsford explores how this can have been so. Here the acclaimed author of serious sporting history takes the first scholarly look at English sport from 1775 to 1815. The period from the middle of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth has been largely neglected by historians of sport, and yet it saw the establishment of all five classic horse-races, the founding of cricket's ruling body, the MCC, and not only the first recognised championship in boxing but the first transatlantic challenger for the title. Now scholars are beginning to recognise the significance of those years for our sporting inheritance, both its place in and its impact on society in Britain and in many of the outposts of Empire. Dr Brailsford has provided an essential text for academics and general readers alike.

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Richard Cosway was once a more famous artist than Gainsborough. His portraits of the fashionable were the rage in Regency London. From 1785 he became First Painter to the Prince of Wales - the only artist ever to have been accorded such a title. He and his wife Maria entertained everybody who was anybody. Herself a talented artist in her own right, she was also a composer, musician and authority on girls' education. Thomas Jefferson fell in love with her; Napoleon doted on her. And yet, save for Richard Coswayís pre-eminence as a miniaturist, he and Maria have long been neglected by the public, their reputation tarnished by rumour and misrepresentation. Here, Gerald Barnett seeks to present them in a truer and clearer light, emphasising their achievements as artists and individuals and rehabilitating them as major figures in the artistic history of eighteenth-century England. Richard Cosway was the subject of major exhibitions at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Edinburgh) and the National Portrait Gallery (London) from August 1995. Richard and Maria Cosway feature prominently as characters in the Merchant-Ivory film Jefferson in Paris.

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In this beautifully written study, Douglas Dales examines the autobiographical passages in St. Paul's letters, notably II Corinthians, in the light of the continuing spiritual experience and language of the church, to ascertain the saint's own experience of entering into the dying and rising of Christ. This phenomenon is related to certain aspects of other New Testament writings, especially early Christian attitudes to the passages about suffering in the Old Testament, and the testimony of the Apostolic Fathers. Douglas Dales aims to address the question: 'What makes a church a place where the experience of living through dying may be realised?', and concludes his study with a call to the modern church in the West to pursue afresh the steps of the saints. 'This book takes us back to the heart of that mystery which has been worked out in so many different circumstances. It tells of the mystery of Christ and the cross, above all, as it is expounded in the writings of Saint Paul.' From the Foreword by the Revd Canon A.M. Allchin.

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Controversy continues between the supporters of the Book of the Common Prayer and its rival, the Alternative Service Book. People have been known to drive miles to find a service that still uses the former. In this book, Norman Taylor has produced an anthology of passages from English literature that include a reference to the Book of Common Prayer. The Prayer Book has always had an enduring significance for authors from all over the English-speaking world, as much for the beauty of its language, as for its importance to their spiritual life. Combining humour and a passion for his subject, Norman Taylor has selected passages from the novels, autobiographies, poems and letters of authors as diverse as James Boswell, G.K. Chesterton, Margaret Mitchell, Alan Paton, Thomas Hardy and Stevie Smith. Lovers of anthologies will find much material for further reading and will also have their appetites whetted by extracts from lesser known authors such as Charles Williams and Priscilla Napier. Arranged in chapters according to the order of services, the author takes us through the Prayer Book from Matins to Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea. The whole is punctuated by three essay interludes discussing the history of the Prayer Book itself, the place of music in Anglican worship and the shape of Morning and Evening Prayer. The epilogue concludes with a discussion of the challenges by the increasing preferences of many clergymen for the Alternative Service Book.

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Part of the Century series - each book reviews and summarises the key developments in a particular branch of religious studies during the past century. Combining readability and scholarship, this book provides a systematic survey of the relationship between archaeology and Biblical studies in Palestine from the first excavations at Tell el-Hesi in 1890 to 1990. This panoramic overview of the methods and theories that have served to illuminate the archaeology of the Holy Land is set in context by an introductory chapter which covers the earlier pioneering years before Pitt Rivers and Petrie. Roger Moorey examines in details the collaborations and conflicts between archaeologists with differing views as to the purpose of biblical archaeology, and focuses also on the effects of contemporary political and historical events on excavations.

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Thomas Cranmer was a notable ecclesiastical statesman and much involved in the separation of the Church of England from the papacy. As an archbishop of the Reformation, he presided over a Church in transition, revising services, re-formulating doctrine and re-drafting canon law. In pastoral ministry he afforded both faithful and not so faithful a reasonable diversity of worship within a single comprehensive church. His considerable intellectual development, a lifetime's study of the Scriptures and his characteristic moderation make his writings of real significance for the English-speaking world. Cranmer's writings are increasingly difficult to find, either in print or used in worship. Peter Newman Brooks provides a brief life of Cranmer, together with a range of extracts from his correspondence, controversies, treatises and prayers, setting the spotlight on Cranmer's remarkable contribution to sixteenth-century national politics and piety.

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When Australia defeated England for the first time on English soil in 1882, a mock obituary notice was inserted in the Sporting Times lamenting the 'death' of English cricket and stating that the body was to be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. Later, an urn containing ashes came to be recognised as cricketing trophy, and now resides permanently at Lord's cricket ground. The mystery is this: where did the Ashes come from, and are they in fact still there? The author examines the official story and other, alternative suggestions, and details the personalities involved in the foundation of this great tradition. To understand the full significance of the Ashes to both countries, the author recounts the triumphant Australian tour of England in 1882, and the subsequent 'recovery' of the Ashes by England in Australia a year later. Cricket's Biggest Mystery: The Ashes is one of the most fascinating books to be written on the foundation of the competition for what must be one of sport's most unusual trophies. It will be a welcome addition to the library of every cricket enthusiast.

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Fully revised, this is a practical and comprehensive guide to the sources and methods available for those who want to trace their family trees - both the searching out of the facts and the means of displaying them for the generations to come. Chapters include guidance on how to make use of national records, parish registers, wills, vestry books, churchwardens' accounts, the records of the professions and of the services, old trade directories, and even the ancient manorial records through which one may - if lucky - glimpse the people of the great medieval hinterland which lies beyond the first Elizabethan registers. The author provides advice on understanding the historical context of one's family, as well as practical guidance on such matters as how to read old handwriting and how to make best use of libraries and repositories. In addition, the book includes illustrations such as sample family trees, coats of arms and photographs of historical records which are extremely useful in explaining the processes involved in tracing family histories. A bibliography and a sizeable list of addresses for further research complement this lucid and accessible book on one of the most fascinating and increasingly popular interests of today.

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From the Antique Pocket Guides series - a useful series for the collector of small antiques. Collecting small antiques can be of absorbing interest, partly because of items are easy to display and partly because they can be found in a great variety of places, including antique shops, public auctions, bric-a-brac stalls, jumble sales and flea-markets. Each title in this new series is written by an expert in his or her chosen subject. There is a wealth of practical advice to help the novice over any initial hurdles, guidance on prices and over 100 illustrations to help with identification. Each book could lead the way to a remarkably satisfying hobby. Tobacco was unknown in the Old World until the discovery of America, where the various species of the plant seemed to thrive in several regions of both North and South America. The American Indian custom of smoking the dried leaves in pipes quickly reached Europe, and the first pipes were essentially functional and closely resembled one of the types commonly found in America. Before long, ornamentation began to be applied and this increased over the centuries, reaching a peak during the 19th century. Whether a pipe is a cheaply moulded clay or an artistically carved meerschaum, its chief interest from the collector's point of view lies in the social or historical background responsible for its creation, rather than in its monetary value, and it is the former aspect that the author emphasises.

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Few magazines have ever won such affection and regard as the Boy's Own Paper. In its meridian years B.O.P.'s influence reached world-wide, and its name is still a household world. First issued on January 18, 1879, price one penny, it was a modest 16-page publication produced by the Religious Tract Society in the earnest hope of counteracting the lurid penny dreadful of the day. A dedicated team set to work to create a magazine which parents and guardians would approve, schoolmasters and ministers would recommend, and boys themselves would buy, read, enjoy. No easy task - but the result was a triumph. Within five years the readership topped a quarter of a million. It became, and was to remain, a British institution. Two generations of boys had grown up with B.O.P. by the time Jack Cox took over as Editor in 1946. He was to remain until the paper's sad closure twenty years later. Himself a reader as a boy, he treasured his contacts with readers, authors and staff past and present, and writing this splendid history of the paper was a labour of love. Drawing on a wealth of illustrations from the original issues, and with engaging glimpses of boardroom deliberations and office routine in earlier times, Jack Cox tells the paper's own enthralling story. He traces its history from the rattling adventures and bracing advice of the Victorian era to the practical hobbies and technical know-how of the post-War world, showing how it won the trust and love of the readers who remember it still with such warm affection.

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That was the most frequently repeated phrase when listeners to Radio 2 wrote to the BBC asking for a copy of the script of Frank Topping's morning meditations on Pause for Thought. What made me decide to broadcast them regularly

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A simple story of Biblical times for young children, telling how a fisherman's son comes to see Jesus preach. This illustrated book weaves an enjoyable tale around an incident from the Bible with accurate background information.

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When people read the Old Testament they are sometimes puzzled by the supernatural stories: animals that talk, jars of oil that are never empty, dead people restored to life, seas that divide and rivers that dry up. Some have no difficulty with such stories. This is the world of the Bible and the reader must expect such like. Those who cannot believe that have either abandoned the Bible and its world altogether or else they have devised ways of explaining (or explaining away!) events that puzzle them. John Rogerson does neither. Instead of asking what happened and how it happened he chooses instead to ask what it meant. Why did the early church relate and record these tales? And what did they mean? What did they say about God? So the reader begins to see that beyond the stories themselves there is truth about God and his world for every generation. Teachers will find useful lesson materials here, discussion group leaders will find something to start folk talking, and preachers will find a new approach to familiar passages. A companion volume, The Supernatural in the New Testament by Bruce Kaye, is also published by the Lutterworth Press.

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Featuring a short biography of the preacher John Wesley, who founded the Methodist Church, this book is intended for 9-13 year olds. The other titles by this author include: "Lady with a Lamp: The Story of Florence Nightingale", "Never Say Die: The Story of Gladys Aylward", and "Saint in the Slums: The Story of Kagawa of Japan".

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Three friends Cathy, Jane and Belinda spend a summer of discovery, beginning with a mystery surrounding Jane's new pony Belle. This book offers a story with a strong Christian theme for 9 to 12 year olds.

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From the Gateway Books series - a series of interesting stories for the slightly older child, with some adventure and each with a Christian theme. Peter Mason was bitter, unhappy and had a bad reputation in the village. Alan, his friend goes to see Richard Harding about helping Peter.

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Presents an illustrated picture book for young children retelling stories of how Jesus touched the lives of his friends. The other titles by this author include: "The Big Brother: The Story of Joseph", "The Boy Jesus", "Drink of Cold Water: The Story of Rebecca", "The Very Special Present: The Story of Samuel", and others.

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Shedding new light on often neglected areas, this study of the leading literary figures of the 19th and 20th centuries explores the complex interplay between faith and doubt in English literature since the Enlightenment.

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What is the nature of Christian unity? Is it Sacramental, Organic, Federal, Spiritual? These are questions that demand careful examination when different Christian traditions are drawing closer to one another in a common desire to heal the divisions that hinder the witness of the Church to the world. In any attempt to deal with these questions, full weight must be given to the evidence of the New Testament itself: what kind of unity does it reveal? In New Testament Pattern, Jean-Louis Leuba reveals a two-fold framework of unity in the New Testament. One strand - in its witness to Christ, to the Apostles and to the Church - emphasises the institutional, traditional and particular. The other strand emphasises the personal, dynamic and universal. Yet the two strands are actually one. Their unity is more comprehensive, more creative, than any undifferentiated unity could be, with important implications for ecumenism and broader scriptural study.

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Any student of the New Testament must be conscious of the competing expectations in ancient Jewish thought of what and who the Messiah would be. In King and Messiah, Aage Bentzen offers a fascinating glimpse into this topic, which preoccupied the most eminent Scandinavian biblical scholars of the mid-twentieth century. Beginning with the Messiah described in many of the Psalms, representing a demythologised form of the Oriental concept of kingship, Bentzen proceeds to the eschatological Messiah of Isaiah and Micah. He next discusses the later, prophetic-Messianic Moses Redivivus of Deutero-Isaiah, reaching the final stage of Old Testament Messianic thought in the description of the Son of Man in Daniel 7, which carries the 'eschatologising' process still further. Bentzen shows how all of these Old Testament types are synthesised in the Christology of the New Testament - Jesus is the new Adam, the present Messiah, the suffering Prophet, the new Moses and the future Divine King - and yet simultaneously superseded. The Christian 'myth' adds its own adornment to the complex question of Jesus' identity.

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The highly popular First Books series, which brings together favourite prayers, hymns, carols and poetry along with the beautiful illustrations by Brenda Meredith Seymour and Tasha Tudor, has been in print for over thirty years. They will make perfect gifts for children aged 2-4, and are ideal for adults and children to read together. This edition is bound in white with gold-edged leaves in an attractive presentation box.

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There anchoring, Peter chose from Man to hide, There hang his Head, and view the lazy Tide In its hot slimy Channel slowly glide . George Crabbe, eighteenth-century poet, clergyman and surgeon-apothecary, is best known for 'Peter Grimes', the tale of a sadistic fisherman that inspired Benjamin Britten's opera of the same name. The brutal crimes and 'tortur'd guilt' of Grimes play out within the bleak, improbably beautiful setting of Aldeburgh. While Crabbe has fallen in and out of fashion, the Suffolk town and its landscape have continued to captivate writers and artists, including Britten, Ronald Blythe, Susan Hill and Maggi Hambling - all drawn to the stark coastline, eerie mudflats and open skies. In A Time and a Place, Frances Gibb engages afresh with Crabbe's writing - tracing, for the first time, the resonance of this place in his life and work. She delves into his creative struggles, religious faith, romantic loves and opium addiction. Above all, she explores the continual lure - for Crabbe and those who have followed - of the 'little venal borough', and the land and sea beyond.

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In this accessible and erudite commentary, the respected New Testament scholar Linda Belleville shows how Paul's letter to the Philippians provides a unique opportunity to see the similarities between the culture of his day and ours and to understand not only what is needed to cope in a hostile society but also to be bold in sharing the sole hope for our global world: knowing Christ and eternal citizenship in heaven. Philippians was written while Paul was imprisoned in the imperial barracks, awaiting the outcome of a life-or-death trial. His most beloved church was facing strong opponents without and selfish division within. Paul's strategy is to remind the church of the reasons to rejoice and forgo selfish opinion differences. There is much cause to rejoice because, despite imprisonment, the gospel had reached the entire imperial guard and emboldened Christians everywhere to boldly proclaim Christ; even if he dies, Paul's ministry of preaching Christ will continue. Yet the Philippians' best exemplar is Christ himself, who, while enjoying his heavenly riches, willingly took on the human condition with its pain, suffering, and death so that they might gain their own heavenly riches.

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'Merton still matters', writes Paul R. Dekar about Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. Calling people to act justly, love kindness and walk humbly, Merton used his contemplative practice to see beyond what disrupts and divides us from one another to find the truth of our common humanity - unity in our creation in the image of God. In Thomas Merton and the New World, Dekar focuses primarily on two issues of concern to our current world. First, he studies Merton's warnings of the abuse that stems from unmindful and irresponsible use of technology, and its ecological devastation. Second, he examines Merton's thinking on racial injustice in the mid-1960s through his correspondence with his allies and contemporaries - James Baldwin, for example. Using Micah 6:8 to arrange Merton's focus on justice, lovingkindness, and humility, with input from Merton's dialogue with Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rachel Carson and others, Dekar demonstrates just how prophetic and transferable Merton's teachings remain.

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C.S. Lewis's enlightened, foundational respect for the Jews as God's chosen people is a feature in much of his apologetic and theological writing. Although as a boy and young man Lewis reflected much of the implicit anti-Semitism inherent in the public-school-educated Edwardian establishment, this was replaced by deep respect when he became a Christian. Later on, Lewis's understanding was much enhanced by his wife, Joy Davidman (m. 1956); born to American Jewish parents, she was an adult convert to Yeshua Ha Mashiach - Jesus Christ - and Lewis referred to her as a Jewish Christian. A Hebraic Inkling examines in depth this Jewish-Hebrew influence in Lewis' life and works. Analysing some of his key writings in theology, philosophy, literature and apologetics, his rigorous stand against anti-Semitism and affinity for Jewish literature and culture is outlined, as well as his vision of how Christians are enfolded into the chosen people. This respect and affinity extended to Lewis' own family; when one of Joy's children sought to return to his mother's birth-faith, Lewis moved all to accommodate his wishes and raise him as a Jew, after Joy's untimely death.

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The Limits of a Catholic Spirit presents an extraordinary, in-depth study of John Wesley's relationship with Catholicism, examining the limits to which Wesley, as an evangelical Protestant, practiced his ideal of a Catholic spirit. Through the use of rare primary sources from the National Archives, Kelly Diehl Yates provides a refreshing investigation of Wesley's interaction and strained relationship with Catholicism, taking the path less trodden in studies of his theology. While revisionist scholars argue that Wesley proposed principles of religious tolerance in his sermon, Catholic Spirit, Yates argues that he did not expect unity between Protestants and Catholics, remaining wedded to anti-Catholic beliefs himself. By paying attention to this previously unfilled gap in Wesley studies, Yates' exemplary historical and critical study tackles questions which have beset Wesley scholars for decades, including Wesley's relationship with the Jesuits, Jacobitism, the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, and his time in Ireland. Grounded in historical case studies, Yates explores these questions from a fresh perspective, providing answers to these questions, and more.

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In 1736, a century into Britain's expansion in North America, Charles Wesley arrived, and departed, the American colonies. His time in Georgia, where he was a missionary of the Church of England, Colonel Oglethorpe's personal aide, and secretary of Indian Affairs, was filled with discord and difficulty. Despite being treated warmly by the Anglican clergy of Boston, he struggled as a newly ordained Anglican priest, and was enveloped by scandal when two women accused him and Oglethorpe of moral impropriety. Charles Wesley in America is the first comprehensive treatment of this period in Wesley's ministry. Kimbrough provides the first explanation of Wesley's silence following the Oglethorpe affair, and also examines his negative attitudes towards the Revolutionary War and nascent opposition to slavery. Drawing on primary sources such as Wesley's poetry and a rare letter exchange between two former slaves whom Wesley befriended in Bristol, Kimbrough gives fresh insight into this formative period and the impact it had on Wesley's later career.

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Whether he is reflecting on the horrors of the bus queue, the heartache of loneliness or a rose in a bottle, Frank Topping succeeds in helping us all see what we so easily miss. The same is true when he turns to the words of Jesus."It seemed as if this had been written specially for me," That was the most frequently repeated phrase when listeners to Radio 2 wrote to the BBC asking for a copy of the script of Frank Topping's morning meditations on Pause for Thought. "What made me decide to broadcast them regularly," says Frank, "was the huge response from listeners - literally thousands."In the Frank Topping series, the Lutterworth Press has published many of his most popular radio meditations. These collections of thoughts and prayers remain a pleasure to use and also a handy reference for those who want to find their favourite meditation."

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One of the most important architects practising in Britain during the years 1820-1880, Anthony Salvin had a long and successful career as a builder of country houses and churches and as a restorer of some of the most important castles in England, including Windsor Castle and the Tower of London. In the first book-length study of this important architect, Dr Allibone has incorporated previously unpublished material concerning Salvin's life and buildings, including contemporary letters, building accounts, diaries, and reproductions of Salvin's architectural drawings, in order to shed new light on artistic, political, economic and religious developments in nineteenth-century England. Concerned through his career with finding authentic medieval examples for new buildings in the Gothic style, Salvin led the way to return to the 'real' Gothic architecture that cumulated later in the nineteenth century with the works of men like Alfred Waterhouse, William Burges and George Edmund Street. Knowledge of his career will further an appreciation of the works of these later, more widely studied architects. Including 181 illustrations as well as a comprehensive catalogue listing all the known data for 366 of Salvin's projected and executed works, this study should find a large audience among those interested in the history of architecture and in Victorian England in general.

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The doctrinal and structural revolution currently underway in the Roman Catholic Church is alarming for several reasons, not least because of the arbitrary nature of its imposition and the absence of resistance it has encountered. The reluctance of many to challenge the authority of the pope, tied to the increasing personal veneration by the faithful of each successive incumbent of the Holy See, is arguably a symptom of unresolved unclarity surrounding the nature of authority in the Church dating back to the First Vatican Council. In Infallibility, Integrity and Obedience, John Rist unflinchingly exposes the developments that have bred this crisis of understanding - and the resulting rejection of tradition in the papal agenda - over the past hundred and fifty years. Reserving particular attention for the Roman Catholic dilemmas, political and theological, of the 1930s, the mid-twentieth-century debates on reproductive technology, and the advent of 'celebrity autocracy', he shows how a misapprehension of the nature and definition of papal infallibility is at the root of the major issues facing the Church today. Most importantly, he proposes how the conciliar and individual decisions that have led to the current situation might be reversed, and how the proper role of the Pope can be reclaimed for the good of the Church.

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In Divine Audacity, Peter Dillard presents a historically informed and rigorous analysis of the themes of mystical union, volition and virtue that occupied several of the foremost theological minds in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. In particular, the work of Marguerite Porete raises complex questions in these areas, which are further explored by a trio of her near contemporaries. Their respective meditations are thoroughly analysed and then skilfully brought into dialogue. What emerges from Dillard's synthesis of these voices is a contemporary mystical theology that is rooted in Hugh of Balma's affective approach, sharpened through critical engagement with Meister Eckhart's intellectualism, and strengthened by crucial insights gleaned from the writings of John Ruusbroec. The fresh examination of these thinkers - one of whom paid with her life for her radicalism - will appeal to philosophers and theologians alike, while Dillard's own propositions demand attention from all who concern themselves with the nature of the union between the soul and God.

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Henry Wilson (1864 - 1934) worked in a highly individual style, uniting influences from the Arts & Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau with his own interpretation of traditional forms, symbols and nature. Drawing on original archives, biographical details and insights from family members, this is the first published study devoted wholly to Wilson and his work. This book discusses examples of his work throughout the UK and in North America, where he designed the bronze entrance doors for a leading Boston tea importer and the great West doors of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York. Of equal impact were his exhibition designs, and his influential teaching at the Royal College of Art, at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and at the Vittoria Street School for Silversmiths and Jewellers in Birmingham. He began his career as Chief Assistant to the Gothic Revival architect J. D. Sedding, but felt increasingly drawn to the associated arts: church furnishings, sculpture, metalworking and jewellery. His remarkable achievements in these fields range from the breathtaking green marble fittings of St. Bartholomewís Church in Brighton, to the monumental Elphinstone Tomb in Aberdeen, and from strikingly original schemes of interior decoration and plans for a post-War craft village, to vibrant jewellery glowing with enamel and semi-precious gems. His role as Master of the Art Workers Guild (1917) and as President of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society (1915-22) serve to confirm his significance in the context of early-twentieth century design and education.

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A vibrant collection of paintings and drawings of the landscape and wildlife of the Thames, following the river as it flows from the rural countryside of Gloucestershire, meandering past fields, villages and towns, through the heart of metropolitan London and to the sea. After his previous book on the River Derwent, Riverside Journey, Ashley Bryant took up the challenge of painting the Thames, the most famous and fascinating river in England. The book covers the story of the whole river, from beginning to end, providing an artist's view of the most interesting places it passes, giving a great view and insight into the life of the river. The paintings reflect the beauty of the river itself, of the natural landscape through which it passes, and many of the architectural gems? Palaces, Oxford colleges, churches, as well as bridges and humble cottages. That have been raised alongside it. The Thames is an ideal companion for anyone walking beside the river, boating on it, or simply interested in the wildlife and the countryside that surrounds the Thames. As such it will appeal to those who live near the Thames, as well as to visitors.

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Like the author's previous book Meetings That Work, this is a self-help manual giving practical advice in an accessible way, helping people to realise their full potential. Aimed at those in small life-giving communities practising collegiality, subsidiarity and collaborative reflective ministry, the book offers the benefit of Catherine Widdicombe's wide experience to leaders and members of communities who have no outside aid. The importance of small communities in religious life is explored and the problems faced while living in them is examined, from unfamiliar and unexpected relational demands to new spiritual challenges. The author has spent over 20 years working in these areas, primarily with women from widely different religious communities, and has developed a highly accessible book to help leaders and members of communities who have little access to facilitators.

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The strongest voices in Christian history regarding the place of women in religious and secular society gave them only a very limited role, but there have always been those who disagreed with that view and with much other church orthodoxy. Often reviled by the Church, many of these women nevertheless had significant influence in their times. Some of them were considered to be heretics - unsurprisingly since they made great claims for themselves and their written and spoken words: Maximilla, a Montanist, announced that 'After me there will be no further prophets', while Joanna Southcott later claimed to be 'The Greatest Prophet that ever came into the world'. As this demonstrates, they did not speak with a single voice, but included Montanists, Jansenists, Pelagians, Antinomians, Spiritualists and Theosophists as well as Saints. This book describes the lives of twelve such women, outlining their beliefs, their attempts to make themselves heard, their clashes with the spiritual authorities, the influence they achieved and the legacies they left behind: Elizabeth Barton, Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumad, Jeanne Marie Guyon, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, Ann Lee, Joanna Southcott, Barbara Juliana, Baroness De Krudener, Lydia Sellon, Mary Baker Eddy, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Ethel Cecilia Dodd, Aimee Semple Macpherson. Some of these women saw themselves as reformers, others as revolutionaries; some saw their mission as lying within the Church, others broke with established religion completely. What they had in common was that each of them had a vision, some literally, others in a more figurative sense. None of them had any doubts as to the rightness of the mission to which they were called. While some of the opprobrium that they attracted from the ecclesiastical authorities related to their heterodox opinions, it is clear that had they been men their ideas might well have found more support and their activities greater approbation. Everyone who has an interest in Christian history and in women in the church - as well as in menís reaction to them - will want to read this book.

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Greek civilisation is universally recognised as the basis of the modern West. But what was the basis of the Greek civilisation? From the dawn of history in the empires of Sumer and Babylon, where writing was developed and laws first codified, to the Medes and the Persians whom Alexander the Great conquered, this history charts the political and social changes that took place over the course of many centuries, culminating at last in the intellectual and material achievements of Greece, Rome and their later successors. As well as the famous races like the Jews and Egyptians, Chahin explores less well known but vitally important groups such as the Hittites and Hurrians. The fascinating kingdoms of Crete and Mycenae hover in the shadowy background of the earliest Greek writings; the Sea Peoples are a source of great controversy among Homeric scholars and other students of that period; and the terrible might of the Assyrians is remembered to this day. All those to whom Ancient history means Greece and Rome should read this book and learn what happened in earlier generations to shape the world that the makers of Europe found when they rose to significance. It will appeal to the general reader interested in history, the enthusiast for Greek antiquities keen to discover their context and the Bible student wishing to understand more of the background to the Old Testament.

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Christian art is rich, complex and heavily invested with symbolism. The painting reproduced on the cover of this book is a case in point. Who are the central figures? (A glance at the entry under 'Baptism' will enlighten those who are unsure). And, perhaps more challenging, how can we identify the fourteen saints around them? Do the flowers at Jesus' feet have a special significance? The Dictionary of Christian Art provides the answers, giving the modern reader access to the pictorial tradition that was once the common visual vocabulary of western Europeans. There are over 1,000 entries, from Aaron to Zucchetto, covering the following areas: artists, art and architectural terms, the symbolism of numbers, flora and fauna, and parts of the body, Christian saints, biblical and mythological figures, liturgical objects and vestments. In addition, there are more than 160 reproductions by the greatest artists from the two millennia of Christian art, ranging from sixth-century mosaics and icons, through the great Italian fresco painters of the Middle Ages and the contribution of the Renaissance, to Georges Rouault and Salvador Dali in more modern times.

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Arthur Henry Knighton-Hammond was born in 1875 at Arnold, Nottingham, the youngest son of a modest shopkeeper and his wife. Leaving school at the age of 11, he was reluctantly apprenticed to a local watchmaker but never gave up his determination to study art and become a painter. For some years he was obliged to limit his passion to evening classes at the Nottingham School of Art and the occasional day snatched from work on the pretext of illness or convalescence. Nonetheless, his natural ability shone through, and in 1900 he moved to London to make a living as an artist. This was to be the start of a long and prolific career, which encompassed periods as a landscape painter, a society portraitist and an industrial artist. Knighton-Hammond's subjects ranged from the serene beauty of the Derbyshire dales and the picturesque charm of the French Riviera, to the dynamic interiors of the Dow Chemical Plant in Midland, Michigan, and from the most celebrated figures of his generation to colourful local characters in Sussex. His work took him all over Europe and to the United States, although his first love remained the English countryside. Admirers and collectors of his art included members of the Greek Royal family, American industrialists, English aristocrats and fellow artists. Augustus John, noted for his harsh criticisms of his brother artists, exclaimed upon seeing one of Knighton-Hammond's numerous exhibitions in France: 'That man is the greatest English painter in water-colour of our time.' It is, then, a curious anomaly that until now there has been no biography of this remarkable painter and that, since his death in 1970 at the age of 94, his works have received very little attention. At last this omission has been rectified with this, the first full biography of one of England's great water-colourists. It includes a catalogue of the artist's work together with a complete list of his exhibitions and of his paintings currently in public collections.

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