Edwin Morgan's restless imagination moved easily between multiple worlds, voices and identities. His own life story, told here for the first time, also reveals a range of identities - as academic, cultural activist, radical writer, international traveller, gay man and national poet. These identities were sometimes in conflict, or kept hidden and apart. Beyond the Last Dragon, written with his full support, explores hitherto unknown archive resources and creative work. It recounts an amazing and sometimes troubled career, using the poet's own letters, poems and plays from the 1930s to the present day to uncover the origins of his remarkable - and life-long - inventiveness and flair. All this is set against Edwin Morgan's moving struggle against 'the last dragon' of cancer, and to remain creatively alive in the face of suffering in the final years of his life. This prize-winning biography was published just days after the poet's death. James McGonigal now adds a new chapter to describe subsequent events.

This second volume of the three-volume biography of St. Josemaría covers one of the most remarkable periods of his life: from the outbreak of the civil war in 1936 to his departure for Rome in 1946. In Republican Spain fierce anti-Catholic persecution led St. Josemaría to do his priestly work in secret, fully aware that if caught, he would be executed - as were 6000 other priests. This book recounts the saint's dangerous journey across the Pyrenees to the Nationalist zone, where he could exercise his priestly ministry more freely, his tireless labors to counter (with both heroic charity and determination) the slanders that threatened to overwhelm Opus Dei, and more. Here is an unforgettable picture of the saint's activity during the years of crisis that threatened to obliterate his great gift to the church: Opus Dei.

This is the first volume of three about the life of Saint Josemaría Escrivá. He has been hailed as a pioneer in helping ordinary Christians find God in their daily lives. Moved as a teenager by footprints of a barefoot Carmelite priest in the snow, Josemaría felt called to greater generosity in the priesthood and in his struggles to build up Opus Dei during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This latest biography is the most extensively researched work on his family history, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. The reader benefits from an enormous wealth of details in extensive notes and appendices. Accompanying them are excerpts from his correspondence, spiritual writings and testimonials from dozens of friends and acquaintances. The remarkable story continues in volumes II and III.

Dream, and your dreams will fall short, Saint Josemaría Escrivá told early members of Opus Dei. This third and final volume of the most extensively researched work on the founder of Opus Dei covers his years in Rome, from 1946 until his death there in 1975. It describes how Opus Dei overcame major obstacles and blossomed from a handful of members in Spain into a worldwide institution, with more than 60,000 members of 80 nationalities. Andres Vazquez de Prada, a Spanish diplomat, writer, and historian who knew Saint Josemaría personally, narrates the story, using previously unpublished letters, diaries, and other sources from the archives of the Prelature of Opus Dei.

This biography is part of the most extensive research on Escriva to date. It includes many incidents from his youth and family life that illustrate his deep personal relationship with God. As a child, he witnessed the deaths of his three sisters, the collapse of the family business, and his father's premature death. As a teenager, he noticed one day the footprints left by a Carmelite priest walking barefoot in the snow. Moved, Josemaria felt called to greater generosity. These devine caresses, as he called them, continued during the first years of his priesthood, during which he struggled to build Opus Dei as the Spanish Civil War raged around him. The reader benefits from an enormous wealth of details in extensive notes and appendices. Accompanying them are excerpts from his correspondence, spiritual writings, and testimonials from dozens of friends and acquaitances. Two further volumes will complete this massive undertaking.

This second volume of the three-volume biography of St. Josemaría covers one of the most remarkable periods of his life: from the outbreak of the civil war in 1936 to his departure for Rome in 1946. In Republican Spain fierce anti-Catholic persecution led St. Josemaría to do his priestly work in secret, fully aware that if caught, he would be executed - as were 6000 other priests. This book recounts the saint's dangerous journey across the Pyrenees to the Nationalist zone, where he could exercise his priestly ministry more freely, his tireless labors to counter (with both heroic charity and determination) the slanders that threatened to overwhelm Opus Dei, and more. Here is an unforgettable picture of the saint's activity during the years of crisis that threatened to obliterate his great gift to the church: Opus Dei.

The Day the Bells Rang Out is the first book of a compelling, three-volume biography of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. Covering the early years of his life, The Day the Bells Rang Out reads like a thriller. But it is much more than a breathtaking adventure.This is the story of a fugitive priest at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, caught up in the bloodbath of the religious persecution in which thousands of priests were slaughtered.Through the personal notes of Josemaría Escrivá we experience the terror unfolding day by day. Amid the chaos and horror we are given vivid glimpses into the soul of a man striving for sanctity in a violent and troubled world. And all the while this priest, who had earlier received a vision from God, was spreading the most important spiritual message of our time - that holiness is not just for priests and nuns but also for ordinary men and women, who can become saints through their everyday lives and work. Josemaría Escrivá was himself made a saint when Pope John Paul II canonized him on October 6, 2002.

To the Ends of the Earth is the final book of a compelling, three-volume biography of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. Covering his later years in Rome, To the Ends of the Earth charts the dramatic spread of Opus Dei across five continents. The book also details Josemaría Escrivá's battles within the church to get the most important spiritual message of our time heard: that holiness is not just for priests and nuns but also for ordinary men and women, who can become saints through their everyday lives and work. Initially branded a "madman" and "heretic," Escrivá lived to see his teachings affirmed by Vatican II. To the Ends of the Earth also tells the story of how Josemaría Escrivá became a saint, and the Vatican's investigations into numerous miracles accredited to him, resulting in his canonization by Pope John Paul II on October 6, 2002.