John Paul II: A Biography

WALSH, Michael

Fount

Proclaiming Justice and Peace

Davies, Brian

Religion & Spirituality

HarperCollins, Publishers

An Inside Look at the Secretive Catholic Organization Made Famous by The Da Vinci Code 
Is Opus Dei a spiritual institute dedicated to preserving Catholic orthodoxy in the face of modernist assault? Or is it an independent society, a "church within the Church," promoting its own allegiances and preserving an antiquated set of spiritual and penitential practices? 
This small organization wields enormous power within the Catholic Church. Due to its status as a "personal prelature" of the pope, it operates independently of local Church authority. The influence of Opus Dei has only grown since this book first appeared. 
<ul>
<li>Opus Dei's founder, St. Josemar#237;a Escriv#225;, was beatified and canonized over the vehement objections of many in the Catholic Church.</li> <li>Powerful members of the Vatican hierarchy, including the pope's own spokesman, are members.</li> <li>The bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code has made millions aware of Opus Dei.</li> </ul>
This classic investigation is needed now more than ever. It tells the real story of this mysterious organization -- a probing but balanced examination of the organization, its charismatic founder, its practices, and its effect upon the Catholic Church at large.

Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Powerful Secretive Society within the Catholic Church

History

World

HarperOne

Brothers in War

The Beecheys were a close-knit family, eight brothers and five sisters under the loving eye of their widowed mother, Amy. As the First World War raged across Europe and beyond, the brothers were one-by-one swept up into its devastating path. Some of them were keen to enlist from the start, others were conscripted, and some dead against. Even Chris and Harold, who thought they had left the Old World behind them for ever for a new life down under, felt honour-bound to enlist in the Australian army and journey back across the Pacific to do their duty. Eventually, all the brothers would serve King and country on the battlefields of France, Flanders and East Africa. Tragedy followed tragedy, as one after another the Beechey boys fell, leaving their mother, sisters and wives to mourn their loss. It was a family sacrifice almost without parallel, and one that has remained forgotten and unmarked for nearly 90 years. Until now. Kept in a small brown case handed down by the brothers' youngest sister, Edie, were hundreds of letters sent home from the front by the Beechey boys: scraps of paper scribbled on in the firing line, heartfelt letters written from a deathbed, exasperated correspondences detailing the absurdities of life in the trenches. Having crossed the globe to piece the Beechey story together, Michael Walsh interweaves the letters with a moving account of brutal warfare and the anxieties of everyday life, revealing first-hand the catastrophe that was the Great War. From it all emerges the remarkable tale of the lost brothers - a wartime epic of courage, loyalty, love and sacrifice.

Brothers In War

Military

Ebury Press

Brothers in War is the immensely powerful and deeply tragic story of the Beechey brothers and how they paid the ultimate price for their country. All eight went to fight in the Great War on such far-flung battlefields as France, Flanders, East Africa, and Gallipoli. Only three would return alive. Even amid the carnage of the trenches, it was a family trauma almost without parallel. Their wives and sweethearts were left bereft, their widowed mother Amy devastated. It is a tragedy that has remained forgotten and unmarked for nearly 90 years. Until now. Kept in a small brown case handed down by the brothers’ youngest sister, Edie, were hundreds of letters sent home from the front by the Beechey boys—scraps of paper scribbled on in the firing line, heartfelt messages written from a deathbed, exasperated correspondences detailing the absurdities of life in the trenches. From it all emerges the remarkable tale of the lost brothers.

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

This acclaimed papal Who's Who presents biographical accounts in chronological order of all the officially recognized popes from St. Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, with a new and expanded entry on Pope John Paul II. Providing a continuous history of the papacy, it also includes their irregularly elected rivals, the so-called 'anti-popes,' and an appendix discussing the legendary existence of a female pope, named Joan. Each papal and anti-papal entry covers family, social background, and pre-papal careers, as well as activities in office, and is arranged chronologically. The Dictionary of Popes presents a continuous history of the almost 2,000 year existence of the papacy, revealing how, for much of that history, spiritual and temporal power have ben inextricably mingled in the person of the pope.

The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (Oxford Quick Reference)

Reference

Kelly, J.N.D.

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

Oxford University Press

This fascinating dictionary gives concise accounts of every officially recognized pope in history, from St Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, as well as all of their irregularly elected rivals, the so-called antipopes. Each pope and antipope's entry covers his family and social background and pre-papal career as well as his activities in office. Also, an appendix provides a detailed discussion and analysis of many topics including the theory that there has been a female pope. This new edition reflects the very latest in papal research and contains additional information in the further reading sections of each entry, making the book an even more useful starting place for research into specific pontiffs. Moreover, the entries are arranged chronologically, creating a continuous history of the papacy over almost 2,000 years. It reveals how, for much of that history, spiritual and temporal power has been inextricably mingled in the person of the pope. A fascinating read for students of theology and history, as well as the general reader with an interest in Christian history.

A Dictionary of Popes (Oxford Quick Reference)

Buddhist monasteries in medieval China employed a variety of practices to ensure their ascendancy and survival. Most successful was the exchange of material goods for salvation, as in the donation of land, which allowed monks to spread their teachings throughout China. By investigating a variety of socioeconomic spaces produced and perpetuated by Chinese monasteries, Michael J. Walsh reveals the "sacred economies" that shaped early Buddhism and its relationship with consumption and salvation. Centering his study on Tiantong, a Buddhist monastery that has thrived for close to seventeen centuries in southeast China, Walsh follows three main topics: the spaces monks produced, within and around which a community could pursue a meaningful existence; the social and economic avenues through which monasteries provided diverse sacred resources and secured the primacy of Buddhist teachings within an agrarian culture; and the nature of "transactive" participation within monastic spaces, which later became a fundamental component of a broader Chinese religiosity. Unpacking these sacred economies and repositioning them within the history of religion in China, Walsh encourages a different approach to the study of Chinese religion, emphasizing the critical link between religious exchange and the production of material culture.

Sacred Economies: Buddhist Monasticism and Territoriality in Medieval China (The Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist Studies)

Asia

Columbia University Press

Stating the Sacred: Religion, China, and the Formation of the Nation-State

China’s constitution explicitly refers to its sovereign domain as “sacred territory.” Why does an avowedly secular state make such a claim, and what does this suggest about the relations between religion and the nation-state? Focusing primarily on China, Stating the Sacred offers a novel approach to nation-state formation, arguing that its most critical element is how the state sacralizes the nation.\nMichael J. Walsh explores the religious and political dimensions of Chinese state ideology, making the case that the sacred is a constitutive part of modern China. He examines the structural connection among texts (constitutions, legal codes, national histories), ostensibly universal and normative categories (race, religion, citizenship, freedom, human rights), and territoriality (the integrity of sovereignty and control over resources and people), showing how they are bound together by the sacred. Considering a variety of what he refers to as theopolitical techniques, Walsh argues that nation-states undertake sacralization in order to legitimate the violence of establishing and expanding their sovereignty. Ultimately, territorialization is a form of sacralization, and the foundational role of the sacred makes all nation-states religious states. Stating the Sacred offers new ways of understanding China’s approach to legality, control of the populace, religious freedom, human rights, and the structuring of international relations, and it raises existential questions about the fundamental nature of the nation-state.

China's constitution explicitly refers to its sovereign domain as "sacred territory." Why does an avowedly secular state make such a claim, and what does this suggest about the relations between religion and the nation-state? Focusing primarily on China, Stating the Sacred offers a novel approach to nation-state formation, arguing that its most critical element is how the state sacralizes the nation. Michael J. Walsh explores the religious and political dimensions of Chinese state ideology, making the case that the sacred is a constitutive part of modern China. He examines the structural connection among texts (constitutions, legal codes, national histories), ostensibly universal and normative categories (race, religion, citizenship, freedom, human rights), and territoriality (the integrity of sovereignty and control over resources and people), showing how they are bound together by the sacred. Considering a variety of what he refers to as theopolitical techniques, Walsh argues that nation-states undertake sacralization in order to legitimate the violence of establishing and expanding their sovereignty. Ultimately, territorialization is a form of sacralization, and the foundational role of the sacred makes all nation-states religious states. Stating the Sacred offers new ways of understanding China's approach to legality, control of the populace, religious freedom, human rights, and the structuring of international relations, and it raises existential questions about the fundamental nature of the nation-state.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by WALSH, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by WALSH, Michael

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by WALSH, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

John Paul II: A Biography

Proclaiming Justice and Peace

Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Powerful Secretive Society within the Catholic Church

Brothers In War

Brothers in War

The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (Oxford Quick Reference)

A Dictionary of Popes (Oxford Quick Reference)

Sacred Economies: Buddhist Monasticism and Territoriality in Medieval China (The Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist Studies)

Stating the Sacred: Religion, China, and the Formation of the Nation-State

Stating the Sacred: Religion, China, and the Formation of the Nation-State