In 1940, when Hitlers bombers reduced Coventrys ancient cathedral to ruins, he coined a new word. He threatened to coventrate all of Britain. Coventry thus was given an iconic status as a symbol of the triumph of good over evil, of forgiveness over revenge, of reconciliation and peace over division and conflict. The ruins are still there today as a warning, but the new and magnificent new cathedral has become the powerhouse of a ministry both to the city and to international conflicts. The...

Immigration is one of the most important stories of modern British life, yet it has been happening since Caesar first landed in 53 BC. Ever since the first Roman, Saxon, Jute and Dane leaped off a boat we have been a mongrel nation. Our roots are a tangled web. From Huguenot weavers fleeing French Catholic persecution in the 18th century to South African dentists to Indian shopkeepers; from Jews in York in the 12th century (who had to wear a yellow star to distinguish them and who were sha...

In its two thousand years of history, London has ruled a rainy island and a globe-spanning empire, it has endured plague and fire and bombing, it has nurtured and destroyed poets and kings, revolutionaries and financiers, geniuses and visionaries of every stripe. To distill the magic and the majesty of this infinitely enthralling city into a single brief volume would seem an impossible task–yet acclaimed biographer and novelist A. N. Wilson brilliantly accomplishes it in London: A Hist...

An renowned historian offers a "compelling" analysis of the intertwined relationship between politics and religion in Europe during the late Modern period ( The New Yorker ).Masterful, stylish, and authoritative, Earthly Powers sheds new light on the momentous struggles in Europe between church and state, from the French Revolution to the totalitarian movements of the 20th century. Examining the ways in which poli...

Using wide-ranging evidence, Martyn Whittock shines a light on Britain in the Middle Ages, bringing it vividly to life in this fascinating new portrait that brings together the everyday and the extraordinary.Thus we glimpse 11th-century rural society through a conversation between a ploughman and his master.The life of Dick Whittington illuminates the rise of the urban elite. The stories of Roger 'the Raker' who drowned in his own sewage, a 'merman' imprisoned in Orford Cas...

Oxford is a world-renowned stronghold of knowledge, a lush medieval city dotted with beautiful gardens. But it also has a symbolic meaning well beyond these things. It stands for something deep in our minds - excellence, a kind of privilege, a charmed life, deep-veined liberalism, a respect for tradition. It is an ivory tower: a quiet, thoughtful place, yet one whose scholars and ideas affect us all.In his attempt to capture the spirit of this cloistered hall, Cartwright has spoken ...

Part of the Jewish Encounter seriesA dandy, a best-selling novelist, and a man of political and sexual intrigue, Benjamin Disraeli was one of the most captivating figures of the nineteenth century. His flirtation with proto-Zionism, his ideas about power and empire, and his fantasies about the Middle East remain prophetically relevant today. How a man who was born a Jew--and who remained in the eyes of his countrymen a member of a despised minority--managed to beco...

When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, many proclaimed the start of a new Elizabethan Age. Few had any inkling, however, of the stupendous changes that would take place over the next 50 years, in Britain and around the world.In Our Times, A.N. Wilson takes the reader on an exhilarating journey from that day to this. With his acute eye not just for the broad social and cultural sweep but also for the telling detail, he brilliantly distils half a century of unprecedent...

Why do the innocent suffer in a world created by a loving God? Does this mean that God cannot prevent this suffering, despite His supposed omnipotence? Or is God not loving after all? This in brief is 'the problem of evil'. The Devil provides one solution to this problem: his rebellion against God and hatred of His works is responsible for evil.The Christian Devil has fascinated writers and theologians since the time of the New Testament, and inspired many dramatic and haunting works of ar...

Wrestling With God tells the story of the man who came to personify New Zealand’s debates over the role and meaning of religious belief in increasingly secular age.In the public eye ever since his famed heresy trial in 1967, Lloyd Geering describes his journey from a Depression era childhood, through working as a young Presbyterian minister, to becoming Victoria University’s foundation professor of religious studies and a bestselling author.Showing the rigorous commitment to truth and conc...

The Christian Belief for Everyone series comprises five guides to the basic ideas of the Christian faith. Full of stories and helpful illustrations, these guides have been written primarily for ordinary churchgoers, though they will no doubt also appeal to interested readers outside the church.The approach Alister McGrath adopts is non-denominational, very similar to the 'mere Christianity' advocated by C. S. Lewis. Indeed, the series may be seen as a guide to 'mer...

**In this modern classic, a pre-eminent Catholic intellectual illuminates the faith’s core beliefs and practices“An engaging, lucid, and informative introduction to the teachings and traditions of Catholicism.” ―Wall Street Journal**In this remarkable exploration of the Catholic world, prominent Catholic author and papal biographer George Weigel offers a luminous collection of letters to young Catholics, not-so-young Catholics, and curious souls who wonder what it ...