John Berger’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Berger) Ways of Seeing (1972) is one of the most stimulating and influential books on art in any language. It was based on the BBC television series about which the Sunday Times critic commented: ‘This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . […]
Ways of Seeing by John Berger Read More »
Homer called it a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. As Mark Kurlansky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kurlansky and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kurlansky) so brilliantly relates here, salt has shaped civilisation from the beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. Wars have been fought over salt and, while salt taxes secured
Salt: A World History Read More »
The Nature and Destiny of Man (1943) issues a vigorous challenge to Western civilization to understand its roots in the faith of the Bible, particularly the Hebraic tradition. The growth, corruption, and purification of the important Western emphases on individuality are insightfully chronicled here. This book is arguably Reinhold Niebuhr’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr and http://niebuhrsociety.typepad.com/) most important work.
The Nature and Destiny of Man by Reinhold Niebuhr Read More »
Drawing on his own incarceration and exile, as well as on evidence from more than 200 fellow prisoners and Soviet archives, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn) reveals the entire apparatus of Soviet repression, the state within the state, that ruled the lives of millions. Through truly Shakespearean portraits of its victims, men, women, and children, we encounter
The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn Read More »
Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defence? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt’s sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Read More »
The famous child psychologist, Bruno Bettelheim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Bettelheim), explains how fairy tales educate, support, and liberate the emotions of children. Wicked stepmothers and beautiful princesses … magic forests and enchanted towers … little pigs and big bad wolves … Fairy tales have been an integral part of childhood for hundreds of years. It’s in this book
The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim Read More »
Saloon-keepers and street preachers, gypsies and steel-walking Mohawks, a bearded lady and a 93-year-old ‘seafoodetarian’ who believes his specialized diet will keep him alive for another two decades. These are among the people that Joseph Mitchell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mitchell_(writer)) immortalized in his reportage for The New Yorker and in four books McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon, Old Mr. Flood, The
Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell Read More »
A central bond, a cherished value, a unique relationship, a profound human need, a type of love. What is the nature of friendship, and what is its significance in our lives? How has friendship changed since the ancient Greeks began to analyze it, and has modern technology altered its very definition? In this fascinating exploration
Friendship by Anthony Grayling Read More »
For anyone with questions about the concept of God and wishing to delve into theological matters, try Systematic Theology by Wolfhart Pannenberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannenberg) (1988-1994, 3 volumes in the English translation published by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company). This is an exhaustive analysis of all the key points in Christian doctrine. Required reading for Divinity students. For
Systematic Theology by Wolfhart Pannenberg Read More »
