Confession was therapy sin was diagnosis

Historian Peter Jones travels through Europe’s archives and libraries to uncover a lost psychology: a world where confession was therapy, sin was diagnosis, and the Seven Deadly Sins served as a man of the human mind. What can Twelfth-century monk teach us about burnout, envy or despair? From the deserts of Egypt to the Vatican Library, from Dante’s Florence to Catherine of Siena’s cell, Jones introduces the thinkers, mystics and rebels who wrestled with the same questions that preoccupy us now: How to live with our flaws, forgive ourselves, and find meaning amid confusion. Medieval lives and landscapes come vividly … Continue reading Confession was therapy sin was diagnosis

Spiritual Reality

Rev Dr Howard Worsley is a researcher, teacher and priest. With an English degree from Manchester, he pursued an MA in Theology at Nottingham, then a PHD in Education at Birmingham. This busy man is currently working as the Diocesan Director of Education for Southwell and Nottingham, as well as being the Chair of the National Association of Church Directors.  He has 3 sons, and loves exploring the world by canoe, bike or foot. In this book, he intends to uncover original visions seen by children which is sometimes termed “Spiritual Reality”.  To create this book, thirty families were selected after … Continue reading Spiritual Reality

Who can truly face who they are?

Edi is facing a disciplinary since her “incident” at work. Forty-seven years in Admin processing the newly dead is not how she foresaw eternity. The Delusions is the tale of a woman processing souls in the afterlife. In Arrivals, the newly dead must take the stages in order: first extract delusion; second, answer HR’s questionnaire truthfully. Yet who among them can truly face who they are? Who may never pass at all? As leader board numbers begin to rise at unprecedented rates, rumours begin to fly. Humans are about to become a banned race. The earth is going to be … Continue reading Who can truly face who they are?

Bitter challenger for the farmer, moneylender and the pimp

Although the story of ancient Rome is predominantly one of great men with great fortunes, Kim Bowes, professor of Ancient History and archaeology at the Univeristy of Pennsylvania, in Surviving Rome, unearths history of ordinary Romans, who worked with their hands and survived through a combination of grit and grinding labour. Bowes focuses on the tenant farmer Epimachus, Faustilla the moneylender, and the pimp Philokies. She reveals how the economic changes of the period created a set of bitter challenges and opportunistic hustles for everyone from farmers and craftspeople to day laborers and slaves. She finds working people producing a … Continue reading Bitter challenger for the farmer, moneylender and the pimp

Pursuit of truth from the other side of the camera

Werner Herzog, the legendary filmmaker and author’s deeply personal exploration of art, philosophy, and history that unravels one of our most elusive and contested questions: What is truth- and how to find it in out “post-truth” era? We wade through the troubling realm of what we see and read, and wonder what AI might have in store for us. For over half a century, Werner Herzog has challenged, enriched, and expanded our understanding of the truth. His films and books have mixed fiction and non-fiction, documentary and drama, reality and imagination. Herzog definitely goes beyond the appearance of what is … Continue reading Pursuit of truth from the other side of the camera

Ultimate hope for survival

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of five novels, Sara Gruen, from western North Carolina, whose works have been translated into forty-three languages and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Water for Elephants was adapted into a major motion picture in 2011 starring Reese Witherspoon, Rob Pattison, and Christoph Waltz and then into a smash Broadway musical. Jacob Jankowski, as a young man, was tossed by fate onto a rickety train. There is preparation for a circus across the street from the nursing home where Jacob lives. He is not sure of his exact age but … Continue reading Ultimate hope for survival

Principles of enjoying a fulfilled and contented life

Charles Handy, a businessman, a writer, a philanthropist and a philosopher, offers wit and words of wisdom from a lifetime’s thinking on management. He did have even a stroke as he approached the age of 90 dimmed his intellectual curiosity or his immense zest for life. The View from Ninety is written from the vantage point of a contemplative old age and drawing on his articles for The Idler, he shares his thoughts on the big questions with which we all grapple. Drawing in part on his own experience, in part on the wisdom of others, he sets out the … Continue reading Principles of enjoying a fulfilled and contented life

Roman Woman who broke all rules “a living breathing flesh-and-blood”

Charismatic Fulvia amassed a degree of military and political power that was unprecedented for a woman in Ancient Rome. Married three times to men who moved in powerful circles, including Marc Anthony, Fulvia was not content to play the usual background role that was expected of wife – instead she challenged the Roman patriarchy and sought to increase her influence in the face of determined opposition. Fulvia is a relative of Julius Caesar, Augustus’s mother-in-law, and a love rival to Cleopatra, She was according to Pultarch, “a woman who took no thought for spinning or housekeeping”, and instead became a … Continue reading Roman Woman who broke all rules “a living breathing flesh-and-blood”

Fight, Thrill and Dazzle

The ancient Roman Empire was the supreme arena, where emperors had no choice but to fight, to thrill, to dazzle. To rule as a Caesar was to stand as an actor upon the great stage of the world. Suetonius’ renowned biography of the twelve Caesars, invite us into the lives of the first Roman Emperor, Caesars more vividly or intimately than those by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, written from the centre of Rome and power, in the early 2nd century AD. Suetonius succeeded in painting Rome’s ultimate portraits of power. The shortfalls, foreign policy crises and sex scandals of the emperors are … Continue reading Fight, Thrill and Dazzle

Declaration of Intent

Canon Andrew White originally qualified as an Operating Department Practitioner,specialising in Anaesthetics, before his ordination. Now Vicar of St George’s inBaghdad, his work there prompted him to write this moving story, acclaimed by Lord Carey of Clifton as an “inspirational read”. In the foreword, Lord Carey cites Andrew as “one of the most remarkable men I have ever encountered …. With a capacity to love, and be loved”. Additionally to providing a preliminary account of his life, leading up to Baghdad, and the deep questions he has had to work through for answers on his chosen stage, Andrew has provided … Continue reading Declaration of Intent