Getting to Good Friday intertwines literary analysis and narrative history in an accessible account of the shifts in thinking and talking about Northern Ireland's divided society that brought thirty years of political violence to a close with the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Drawing on decades of reading, researching, and teaching Northern Irish literature and talking and corresponding with Northern Irish writers, Marilynn Richtarik describes literary reactions and contributions to the peace process during the fifteen years preceding the Agreement and in the immediate post-conflict era. Progress in this period hinged on negotiators' ability to revise the terms used to discuss the conflict. As poet Michael Longley commented in 1998, 'In its language the Good Friday Agreement depended on an almost poetic precision and suggestiveness to get its complicated message across.' Interpreting selected literary works by Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Deirdre Madden, Seamus Deane, Bernard MacLaverty, Colum McCann, and David Park within a detailed historical frame, Richtarik demonstrates the extent to which authors were motivated by a desire both to comment on and to intervene in unfolding political situations. Getting to Good Friday suggests that literature as literature-that is, in its formal properties in addition to anything it might have to 'say' about a given subject-can enrich readers' historical understanding. Through Richtarik's engaging narrative, creative writing emerges as both the medium of and a metaphor for the peace process itself.

This book will explore what the Easter message can mean to children as they grow up so that congregations and families can both share the Easter message with their children and include the children meaningfully in Lent, Holy Week and Easter observances.

Richard Sheffield's preaching is stimulating and unique. Whenever I am burdened or under pressure his pithy insights into the Gospel of our Lord refresh my spirit. They sometimes also sting my soul to pay attention to more significant things in life than preoccupying problems. He is also a courageous preacher when he says things we all think or doubt and dare not to express. He handles life's misgivings kindly and cleanly so that listening to him is a religious experience. This comes about because he came to the temple of religion through the corridors of commerce and knows the real world of his laymen. Under his gentle manner there is the fire of Peter, Thomas and St. Paul, all of whom also preached with integrity and conviction. Bryant Kirkland, Minister Emeritus Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church New York, New York At first glance the Easter title may seem out of place for a book half full of sermons for Lent. But Richard Sheffield argues and preaches that the sermon for Easter Day is really the sermon for every day in the life of a Christian. The Lord Is Risen is really the only sermon we have or need to have. How we live out our lives in response to that central fact of our faith fills the sermons in Lent, as well as Easter, with hope. Hope in the here-and-now as well as in the hereafter. Rev. Sheffield has little patience with those who would turn the good news about God into the bad news about us... and it shows. He writes: "Belief is more than just ascertaining the facts and figures of faith. Or figuring out the best way to keep God happy long enough to get into heaven. Belief is living life now certain of the love of God in Jesus Christ for you and me. Living life unafraid -- even of death itself." Richard L. Sheffield is senior pastor of Market Street Presbyterian Church, Lima, Ohio. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago. He is a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

A timely assessment of loyalist history, identity and community in Northern Ireland today which provides a comprehensive picture of how loyalism has reacted to changes since the Good Friday Agreement. Challenging simplistic stereotypes of loyalism this book provides a complex multi-faceted explanation of the loyalist imagination.

Already a bestseller, this is a wonderfully entertaining collection of Alan Bennett's prose writings. Writing Home brings together diaries, reminiscences and reviews to give us a unique and unforgettable portrait of one of England's leading playwrights. As a memoir it covers the production of his very first play, Forty Years On, which starred John Gieldgud. His television series 'Talking Heads' has become a modern-day classic; as part of the 1960s revue 'Beyond the Fringe' Bennett helped to kick-start the English satire revolution, and has since remained one of our leading dramatists, most recently with The History Boys at the National Theatre. At the heart of the book is The Lady in The Van, since adapted into a radio play featuring Dame Maggie Smith. It is the true account of Miss Mary Shepherd, a homeless tramp who took up residence in Bennett's garden and stayed for fifteen years. This new edition also includes Bennett's introduction to his Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Madness of King George and his more recent diaries.

This book could save you $1 million! OK, maybe not - but some school districts have spent that much defending themselves (and not always successfully) in First Amendment lawsuits brought by students and their parents. First Amendment litigation is on the rise across the nation, and as any principal who has sat through a deposition in one of those cases can tell you, the raw emotions and zealous anger that fuels such disputes can become a massive distraction from your real job of running a school. The Oldest Rule is a comprehensive examination of the different First Amendment issues involving students that public school administrators and attorneys are increasingly facing on daily basis. We will look at such topics as school prayer, dress codes, student threats and cyberbullying, the distribution of literature, the use of public facilities by outside groups, the celebration of religious holidays, and the rise of esoteric religions and their impact in the public schools. Written by Chris Gilbert, an attorney with over twenty-one years' experience advising and representing school districts - big and small, urban and rural -- this book combines discussions of the legal standards and key case decisions with practical advice and hypotheticals.

During the course of the First World War, staff of the Great Western Railway's Audit Office sent letters and photographs back to their employer in Paddington, which were in turn collated into monthly “newsletters” by those who stayed at home to keep Britain moving. Today these newsletters give a unique insight into the Great War – these soldiers were writing to inform and entertain their colleagues rather than to comfort a worrying parent or to confess their love to a distant partner – and bring a distinct band of individuals to life. The story is told chronologically to recreate the suspense in the Audit Office as the remaining few waited to hear from their colleagues at the Front.

This is a nostalgic story about Pat Stacey and friends who joined The League of Ovaltineys in 1941. In 1945 they formed their own club, initially growing and selling garden produce to raise funds. From humble beginnings of camping, cooking and meetings in the back garden they progressed to hiking, camping, ice skating, swimming, youth hosteling and more. They put concerts on and sold handcrafted items made by themselves making donations to Dr Barnardo’s Homes. The accent was on hard work and fun. Pat Stacey compiled log books with hand written essays by the girls so the story is written by them. Michael Parkinson has completed the picture by researching and writing histories of Ovaltine, Barnardo’s and the Youth Hostel Association – all important to Pat and the girls.

After emigrating from Germany to Michigan at age seven, Johannes Strieter (1829-1920) served as a confessional Lutheran pastor in Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana amid almost unbelievable hardships. Though not a well-known person himself, his life's path intersected with that of numerous distinguished persons--August Cramer, Friedrich Wyneken, J. C. W. Lindemann, C. F. W. Walther, and John C. Pritzlaff, just to name a handful. Through his recollections, we also encounter firsthand the Ojibwa; the Civil War; the establishment and founding of roads, cities, churches, and schools; and we travel by sea, lake, river, canal, railroad, horseback, buggy, stagecoach, and on foot. We accompany him as he nearly kills his sister; is spared in a terrible accident; falls in love; navigates difficult pastoral situations and decisions; gets drafted into the Union Army; buries some of his children; ministers to the troubled, misguided, sick, and dying; and finally retires to Michigan on account of deafness. Translated afresh from Strieter's original manuscript and presented with twelve appendices to supplement his autobiography, Sacred Storytelling is a treasure trove of adventure, perspective, entertainment, courage, and conviction.