'This biography restores Gaudí to life as one of the most original architects of all time...Stanford shows how the Catalan genius put his soul into everything he did.' Blake Morrison'This riveting portrait brings together as a compelling whole the triumphs and the tragedies of Gaudí's life.' Antonia Fraser'In daring to trace the complex connections between Gaudí's religious faith and his famous buildings, this is a...

In this fascinating historical and cultural biography, writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford deconstructs that most vilified of Bible characters: Judas Iscariot, who famously betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Beginning with the gospel accounts, Peter explores two thousand years of cultural and theological history to investigate how the very name Judas came to be synonymous with betrayal and, ultimately, human evil.But as Peter points out, there has long been a counter-current of thought ...

'A heavenly book, elegant and thoughtful. Get one for yourself and one for the church-crawler in your life!' Lucy WorsleyChristianity has been central to the lives of the people of Britain and Ireland for almost 2,000 years. It has given us laws, customs, traditions and our national character. From a persecuted minority in Roman Britannia through the 'golden age' of Anglo-Saxon monasticism, the devastating impact of the Vikings, the alliance of church and ...

Pilgrimage, a global ritual embraced by all faiths, is one of the most enduring traits in our human story. In this compelling history Peter Stanford reflects on the reasons people have walked along the same sacred paths across the ages. How do the experiences of the first pilgrims to Jerusalem, Mecca and Santiago de Compostela compare to the millions of people who embark upon life-changing physical and spiritual journeys today? And why do we still feel compelled to walk, stop and think abo...

Contemporary pilgrim Peter Stanford visits some of the most ancient religious sites in Britain, taking the spiritual temperature of our apparently secular and sceptical age.

What does it mean to be a Catholic in today's world? What distinguishes the modern Catholic from anyone else? At a time when the Vatican provokes hostility by its opposition to contraception, abortion and the use of condoms in fighting AIDS, how many Catholics share its views? And if they don't, how can they in good conscience stay in the Church? These are among the many questions that writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford is addressing here. There is a whole spectrum of response in this e...

Interviews with people of faith including: Sara Maitland | Sister Wendy Beckett | Delia Smith | The Revd Richard Coles | Dermot O'Leary | Cherie Blair | Archbishop Desmond Tutu | Bronwen Astor | Amos Oz | Nick CavePeter Stanford has been interviewing people of faith during his thirty-five years as a journalist at national papers including the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and The Guardian, as well as for the church pre...

'An intriguing exploration of the many roles that angels have played in spiritual life.' - The Sunday Times: Nick Rennison'In a 2016 poll, one in 10 Britons claimed to have experienced the presence of an angel, while one in three remain convinced that they have a guardian angel. These are huge numbers and mean that, on some counts, angels are doing better than God.'In the secular, sceptical, post-Christian world of the West, contin...

'A compelling biography of one of the greatest men of the modern age. Stanford is particularly brilliant on the tensions inside Luther's private and spiritual life. This is a very fine book, written with a flourish.' Melvyn BraggThe 31st of October 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther pinning his 95 'Theses' - or reform proposals - to the door of his local university church in Wittenberg. Most scholars now agree that the details of this eye-ca...

A stimulating inquiry into one of the great religious mysteries – and what theologians, artists, writers, psychologists, priests, historians and people from all religions and walks of life have thought of heaven, where many of us still hope to go one day.The author writes: ‘While images of hell are firmly fixed in the human psyche, no parallel standard vision exists for heaven either within the Christian Church or more widely in the world’s various religious traditions…it has someh...

For the first time since the Profumo scandal of the 1960s, the Astors’ own version of the events at Cliveden is told. Peter Stanford has been granted unprecedented access to Lady Astor, her private papers and her friends, as well as to many family members and key players in the drama.When Bronwen Pugh married into the celebrated Astor clan in 1960, she seemed to have the world at her feet. She was a media darling, BBC television presenter, the most celebrated model of her generatio...

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CATHOLICISM, ALL IN ONE PLACEThis is your go-to guide to the Catholic faith. It covers the basics and history of Catholicism, the Catholic Church today and teachings and traditions. It is your comprehensive and essential account of Catholic doctrine, faith and history.On the world stage, Catholicism is the largest of the branches of Christianity with over 1.2 billion followers. How has the Catholic Church's message reached i...