The fighting on the Kokoda Track in World War II is second only to Gallipoli in the Australian national consciousness. The Kokoda campaign of 1942 has taken on mythical status in Australian military history. According to the legend, Australian soldiers were vastly outnumbered by the Japanese, who suffered great losses in battle and as a result of the harsh conditions of the Kokoda Track. In this important book, Peter Williams seeks to dispel the Kokoda myth. Using extensive research and Ja...

A natural and cultural history of the oft-reviled slug, exploring the important role of these exquisite molluscs within ecosystems, their evolution and our complex relationship with them.Whether we are fascinated or repelled by them, few of us are indifferent to slugs. In evolutionary terms, they are among the most successful animals on the planet – all the more extraordinary given that they have done away with the protective shell of their ancestors. But slugs hav...

Written on the Wind (1956) is one of classical Hollywood's most striking films andranks among Douglas Sirk's finest achievements. An intense melodrama aboutan alcoholic playboy who marries the woman his best friend secretly loves,the film is highly stylised, psychologically complex, and marked by Sirk'scharacteristic charting of the social realities of 1950s America.This first single study of Written on the Wind reassesses the film's artisticherit...

Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 black comedy-melodrama Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown established its director as one of the most exciting of European film-making talents. An often hilarious study of sexual mores, Women on the Verge has a central character, Pepa (Carmen Maura), as warm and richly drawn as any modern film heroine. Made strong and self-reliant by suffering in a troubled relationship, Pepa is the centre of a network of lovers, friends and family who repres...

This text analyses director Pedro Almodovar's insights into gender, sexuality and subjectivity in his film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The author draws on a range of psychoanalytic and critical concepts and sees the film as an account of the often tyrannical spell of sexual desire, of the anxieties of relationships and families, but also of the possibilities of personal liberation. Peter William Evans also discusses the recent history of Spain and ties the film's co...

This is an accessible response to the contemporary anti-God arguments of the 'new atheists' (Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens, Grayling, etc). Atheism has become militant in the past few years, with its own popular mass media evangelists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett.In this readable book, Christian philosopher Peter S. Williams considers the arguments of the 'new atheists' and finds them wanting. Williams explains the history of atheism and responds to the claims th...

Houses of God is the first broad survey of American religious architecture, a cultural cross-country expedition that will benefit travelers as much as scholars. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 photographs — some by well-known photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange — this handsome book provides a highly accessible look at how Americans shape their places of worship into multifaceted reflections of their culture, beliefs, and times.

A look at the current debate and its implications. Recent consultations by governments on allowing same-sex marriage have sparked fierce debates across the media and society. In this simple and clear ebooklet, the Catholic perspective on this vital issue is explained, looking at what marriage is and where it comes from, what arguments are being proposed in favour of same-sex marriage, and what the results of a change in the law might be.

In 1914, Philadelphia was the third largest city in the United States with a population of just over one and a half million people. It was fitting, therefore, that during World War I, Philadelphia mobilized itself for the war effort perhaps more than any other large American city. Nicknamed the �Workshop of the World,� Philadelphia saw its manufacturing and textile companies converted, almost overnight, to full wartime production. Meanwhile, private and city-sponsored organizations sprang ...

Examines the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life the claims of Jesus' life and ministry. Peter S. Williams brings a philosopher's Jesus and argues that understanding the spirituality of Jesus is the path to our own spiritual enlightenment. Williams takes issue with 'new-atheist' discussions of faith and historical Jesus studies before guiding Christian understanding of Jesus.

Join a cast of characters, with different perspectives, thinking through some of the biggest questions in life, as they discuss atheist Richard Dawkins’s book Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. Written in the form of a dialogue between members of a student book club, Outgrowing God? A Beginner’s Guide to Richard Dawkins and the God Debate encourages critical thinking about Professor Dawkins’s arguments concerning God, Jesus, and the Bible.

A major new introduction to Philosophy from a Christian viewpoint.A Faithful Guide to Philosophy is the only British Christian introduction to Philosophy, a book that will be used as a course textbook and by church study groups and individual readers alike. It covers subjects of central importance to the Christian worldview - the relationship between faith and reason, the objective reality or truth, goodness and beauty, the existence and nature of God, the existence of the...