From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower comes a fascinating book about religion in America, about the passions, triumphs, and failures of the life of faith, revealing stories of grace and despair, sexual scandal and attempted murder. • "Insightful...vivid...beautifully rendered stories." —Chicago Tribune Lawrence Wright's Saints and Sinners are Jimmy Swaggart, who preached a hellfire gospel with rock 'n' roll abandon before he was caught with a, prostitute in a seedy motel; Anton LaVey, the kitsch-loving, gleefully fraudulent founder of the First Church of Satan; Madalyn Murray O'Hair, whose litigious atheism sometimes resembled a brand of faith; Matthew Fox, the Dominican priest who has aroused the fury of the Vatican for dismissing the doctrine of original sin and denouncing the church as a dysfunctional family; Walker Railey, the rising star of Dallas's Methodist church, who, at the pinnacle of his success, was suspected of attempting to murder his wife; and Will Campbell, the eccentric liberal Southern Baptist preacher whose challenges to established ways of thinking have made him a legend in his own time.

A collection of original essays, Saints, Sinners, and Sisters showcases the diverse questions currently being asked by gender scholars dealing with French, Netherlandish and German art from the medieval and early modern periods. Moving beyond the reclamation of personalities and oeuvres of 'lost' female artists, the contributors pose questions about gender and sex within specific historical contexts, addressing such issues as intended audience, use of the object, and patronage. These avenues of inquiry intersect with larger cultural questions concerning societal control of women. The book's three sections, 'Saints,' 'Sinners,' and 'Sisters, Wives, Poets' are each preceded by a concise introductory essay, detailing themes and offering reflective comparisons of theses and information. In 'Saints,' contributors look at women who were positive exemplar used by society to uphold standards. In the second section, the essays focus on the power of women's sexuality. The third section expands beyond the customary dichotomous division of the first two to examine women in diverse roles not widely studied as positions of women in those times. This final section expands our definitions of women's responsibilities and realigns them historically; it argues that women, and thus gender, need to be understood within a much broader historical context and beyond simplistic approaches sometimes superimposed by present-day readers on past times. This volume answers an acute need for research on the art of Northern Europe prior to the 20th century, and highlights the possibilities of new directions in the field. The effect of the new scholarship presented here is to broaden the discursive field, allowing fluidity of disciplinary boundaries, resulting in a volume that is illuminating to historians of more than art alone.

The latest edition of “the most comprehensive single-volume history of the popes,” updated to cover the election of Pope Francis (Sunday Telegraph). This engrossing book, from a professor of the history of Christianity at Cambridge, encompasses the extraordinary story of the papacy, from its beginnings to the present day, as empires rose and fell around it. This new edition covers the unprecedented resignation of Benedict XVI, and the historic election of the first Argentinian pope. Praise for the earlier editions: “Duffy enlivens the long march through church history with anecdotes that bring the different pontiffs to life…Saints and Sinners is a remarkable achievement.”—The Times (London) “A distinguished text…offering plenty of historical facts and sobering, valuable judgments.”—TheNew York Times Book Review “Will fascinate anyone wishing to better understand the history of the Catholic Church and the forces that have shaped the role of the papacy.”—Christian Century

This unique look at history elaborately recounts the birth of human civilization through the vehicle of ancient Egyptian deities, albeit in light of the most recent knowledge on archaeology, anthropology, comparative religion, linguistics, sociology, and general history. It moves quickly but seamlessly to Greece via Crete, revealing the relatively young age of Continental European (and by extension, all Western) culture, science, art, and religion, and their highly derivative nature - a point subtly repeated throughout this stunningly wide-ranging work. A book of contrasts, it constantly compares not only the Saints and the Sinners, but the East and the West, be the issues dealt with political or religious; in most cases, the one cannot be separated from the other. It does not, however, presume to pass judgement, only to relate the events as they happened, the facts as they stand, even if many of them are little known ones, conspicuous by their absence in standard school history books.

It tells of the trials, abuse, and wrong decisions I made throughout my life. How my dad, a pastor, really was behind the scenes. How he stopped at nothing to destroy me and my life.

Father Michael Seed has been at the privileged centre of events for a quarter of a century, and has played a uniquely influential role. In this explosive memoir Britain's 'priest to the stars' covers his encounters with some of the most prominent political and public figures of a generation, and gives a rare and fascinating glimpse of behind-the-scenes events in the corridors of power. His remarkable disclosures of life at the top, in parliament, palace and church, are revealed through a series of hilarious anecdotes that will have you laughing out loud.For years he secretly gave Mass to the Blairs in Downing Street, initially slipping in through the rear ground floor window, before it was leaked to the press in 2006.His has been a turbulent ride through life and envied by those who dislike his champagne style of Catholicism, loved by those who declare him a saint, and so admired by The Times that it demanded he be made instantly a bishop.His friendship with people like best chum Ann Widdecombe, Alan Clark, The Duchess of Argyll, Lord Longford, George Carman QC, John Paul Getty, the Duke of Norfolk, a host of royals and half a dozen prime ministers, has left little room for dullness. His insights into life in Westminster Cathedral and with Cardinal Basil Hume make all religion-based television sitcoms seem deadly boring by comparison with the real thing.This is a revealing and extremely humorous memoir from a truly unique figure in British society.

A study of Graham Greene's novels. Also provides concise plot summaries.

This book brings together the portraits and autobiographical texts of six 17th-century Latin American women, drawing on primary sources that include Inquisition and canonization records, confessional and mystic journals, and legal defenses and petitions.

This collection of 700 quotes includes the last words of commoners, atheists, poets, and politicians along with noted Christians and martyrs. Ready reference source for the pastor or public speaker.