Known as Mahatma Gandhi, this popular and influential book covers the period from his birth in 1869 to the year 1921, describing his childhood, schooldays, early marriage, journeys abroad, legal studies and practise. One of the most inspiring figures of our time, Gandhi recounts the story of his life and how he developed his concept of Satyagraha or active non-violent resistance which propelled the Indian struggle for independence and countless other non-violent struggles of the 20th century. A prominent figure in the freedom struggle in India from British rule, he is also known as 'The Father of the Nation' in India. Thrown in prison he remained there for several years due to other political offenses allegedly committed by him. As British rule ended, Gandhi was saddened by India's partition and tried his best to bring peace among the Sikhs and Muslims. On 30th January 1948, Gandhi was shot dead by a Hindu nationalist for allegedly being highly concerned about the nation's Muslim population. This heavyweight softback has a new foreword by noted peace expert and teacher Sissela Bok. 528pp in facsimile reprint of the 1957 edition, an American imported paperback. Tiny remainder mark.

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most widely read Hindu scriptures in the Western world. Taking the form of a dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and the divine Krishna on the eve of battle, it is concerned with the most profound aspects of social and religious duty, and the relationship of human beings to God. In its 18 short chapters it explores the spiritual struggle of the human soul and the search for both the true self and eternal life, culminating in an unparalleled vision of God the omnipotent. This translation has stood the test of time. 160 page paperback.

Chinese alchemy was nourished by Taoism with its two distinct branches: the classical Tao Chia, grounded in mysticism, and the popular Tao Chiao, with its magical, alchemical bias, arising traditionally in the time of the Yellow Emperor and his Three Immortal Ladies. Non-theistic and working in accord with nature, Chinese Alchemy operated through the complementary principles of yin and yang. Many Taoist texts have yet to be translated, but the Alchemical movement must predate 144 BC when an edict ordered execution for anyone making counterfeit gold. The later Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) was a time of interest in science and astronomy, and at this time the first alchemical book was written by Wei Po-yang, while the earliest complete treatise was the work of Ko Hung in the 4th century, dealing with gods, genii, prescriptions and medicines, maintenance of life, extension of years, and banishing misfortune. Ko Hung argued that alchemical change was one aspect of the universal transformation in nature, and that the creation of gold and silver was a logical step from this general principle, with immortality a further possible gain from good living. According to some experts, Chinese Alchemy derives from the northern influence of shamanism, and the author investigates links to shamanism and also to the western tradition of alchemy, with its common principle that death precedes a harmonious renewal. 156pp, paperback, line drawings.

To understand the Universe we must first comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed, the language of mathematics. The book is not merely a history of scientific learning but a stirring defence of Enlightenment values in the quest for human advancement, and how mankind discovered the size, trajectory and age of the Earth. Our planet's elliptical orbit around the Sun and its billions-of-years existence are facts we take for granted, but humanity's struggle towards these scientific truths have lasted millennia. Krivine tells the story of the thinkers and scientists whose work allowed our species to put an age to the planet and pinpoint our place in the solar system. It is a history of bold innovators - not only Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler, but Halley, Kelvin, Darwin and Rutherford among many others. Courage, iniquity, religious dogmatism, genius and blind luck all played a part of freeing the mind from the constraints of cant, ideology and superstition. Chapters include The 20th Century and Radio Activity, The Construction of Heliocentrism and The Battle Over It. The crucial question of knowing whether earth really is immobile, the centre of the universe lay at the root of the battle between the Catholic Church and Galileo, and like many historical battles it has often been simplified. Until the 18th century, scientists (intellectuals) were all believers, even men of the church. Galileo was far from being isolated or misunderstood. Just like Kepler, with whom he corresponded, he was honoured as one of the leading mathematicians of his time and the protégé of the future Pope Urban VIII, who nonetheless had him condemned in 1633. Giordano Bruno and Tycho Brahe, the first a mystic obsessed by a vision of the cosmos, the second a meticulous observer of the positions of the heavenly bodies, were totally different individuals on different paths. Both helped to shatter Ptolemy's construction. Page turning history, beautifully told. 282pp, dozens of diagrams.

Slipcased softback with quality ridged cover and dedication page, the stories have been retold by Vic Parker from the Old and New Testaments of the world's bestselling book. From the Creation of the World, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Noah and the Ark, the Ten Commandments, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, to Daniel in the Lions' Den and other famous stories from the Old Testament, beautiful colour illustrations and border decoration artwork entice us through each little story of approximately four pages, with Bible references and large text, often wrapped around the images. The second part of the book begins with The Angel Gabriel Brings News from the New Testament, Follow the Star, John the Baptist, Jesus is Tempted, Jesus Chooses Special Helpers, Two Fish and Five Loaves, The Good Samaritan, The First Palm Sunday, The Last Supper right through to The Crucifixion and The Coming of The Holy Spirit. Pastel coloured beautifully decorated pages, all in colour. Slipcased softback. Ages 5 -10.

'Punchy, clear, well-argued, and beautifully translated, both linguistically and culturally.' - Peter Brown, Princeton University. Sensitive and informed, this is an appreciation of and introduction to the Confessions, doing justice both to the appealing narrative of sin and fall that preoccupies most readers, and to the more complicated structure and ending of the whole work. Garry Wills tells the story of what motivated Augustine to dictate it, how it asks to be read, and the many ways it has been misread in the one and a half millennia since it was composed. This is an unparalleled introduction to one of the most important books in the Christian and Western traditions. Understandably fascinated by the story of Augustine's life, modern readers have largely succumbed to the temptation to read it as autobiography but this Wills argues this is a mistake. He argues it is rather a long prayer, suffused with the language of Scripture and addressed to God, not man. Augustine tells the story of his life not for its own significance, but in order to discern how, as a drama of sin and salvation leading to God, it fits into sacred society. 'We have to read Augustine as we do Dante, alert to rich layer upon layer of Scriptural and theological symbolisms.' Wills also addresses the long afterlife of the book, from controversy in its own time and relative neglect during the Middle Ages, to a renewed prominence beginning in the 14th century and persisting to today. Confessions has become an object of interest not just for Christians, but also historians, philosophers, psychiatrists and literary critics. It is a spiritual classic. 166 roughcut pages, highly desirable in the USA from where we have imported this Princeton University Press publication.

Most people under 60 have never seen a person die, so have become deeply fearful about death; both their own, and the deaths of their beloved others. They have no role models to show them how to care for a dying person, and therefore no confidence in being able to do so. 'My hope is that the baby boomer cohort who pushed for the return of the midwives to de-medicalised birth will also be instrumental in reclaiming the death process. This book is my contribution to the re-empowering of all of us to take charge of our lives and our deaths, remembering that we know how to die, just as we knew how to come into this world. We also know how to heal, and how to settle our lives as best we can before we die... The greatest gift we could give our loved ones.' Janie Brown, oncology nurse for 30 years and counsellor of cancer patients with terminal diagnoses, recounts 20 conversations she has had with the dying, including those personally close to her. Each conversation uncovers a different perspective and experience of death, while at the same time exploring its universalities. We meet George, defying death, Jim who will have no talk of dying, Brigid with her best laid plans and Bella talking about soul retrieval. Each chapter illuminates the experience of opening up to death, preparing, healing the past, dealing with unfinished business or accepting what is unresolved, making choices about dying on one's own terms, and learning to draw comfort from nature. A reassuring road map through one of the most important and least discussed experiences of our lives. These stories heal, nourish and strengthen your heart. 282pp.

The Song of Solomon from the Bible is a poem that has exercised great minds for centuries. Dr Gillow Reynolds explores a difficult and controversial subject bringing his vast knowledge of art, literature, medieval mystics, psychology, the classics and not least the Bible to analyse the poem and his unique approach is refreshing, accessible and often humorous. Long considered the most important book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Song of Solomon is nowadays relatively unknown yet it remains one of the greatest love poems of all time and this superb book brings context to the disparate mystical, academic and secular interpretations of the Song bringing us new light and insight. The book includes a complete reproduction of the verses from The Song of Songs. It is a story of human love imbued with divine poetry which until the 18th century was presumed that the Eros, the erotic relations portrayed in the Song, were really and only about the longing for God and a guide to the mystical and experiential relationship to God. Today despite parts being read at marriages, this beautiful text as a whole languishes, largely unread and only seen in disconnected fragments. The aim of the book is to join the dots to tell the real story and significance over the course of ecclesiastical history. The Song points to a garden of paradise where human and divine love is one and the same, and where man and woman are in harmony and where power is wisdom. 355 glamorous pages in clothbound hardback with useful Glossary, 13 colour plates and black and white illustrations including Simon Reynolds' from 1984 where each picture depicts three figures - the maiden, the king and a winged and haloed figure representing wisdom and love and containing a leading quote from the Song.

'The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany' is the sub-title of this magnificent Chicago exhibition catalogue complete with splendid gatefold pages of close up exquisitely coloured details of these glass masterpieces. The great American designer and visionary Louis Comfort Tiffany created ecclesiastical windows at the Tiffany firm, masterpieces that tell stories of American entrepreneurship, of places of worship as community incubators, and of America's evolving relationship to religion. The book is not only about beautiful objects exceptionally crafted, but also about the ideas and stories behind the windows - progressive technologies, designers and patrons. This aspect of the Tiffany business proved most lucrative, outlasting Tiffany's other endeavours years after his death in 1933, yet this is the first book and collection to focus on this aspect. In the early 1980s, Richard H. Driehaus started collecting Tiffany windows because of the innovative quality of the glass and their narrative content - angels with feathery wings, rippled surfaces in shimmering colours, gathering of tranquil figures enrobed in long drapery, folded and creased. A sublimely tranquil mother introduces Christ to his cousin John the Baptist; in another image a group of finely draped men exude appropriate gravitas in the presence of their master, Jesus Christ. Hemmed in by lusciously mottled shrubs, 12 figures fill a shallow stage while blue mountains and an ominous sky expand the distance. A simply robed soul is guided by an auburn-haired angel with gossamer wings. The technical magnificence of these wings combined with the long, single cuts of the garment, make this window a tour de force of design and glass-cutting wizardry. There is an extended essay on Tiffany's modern religious window and his process, and the Chicago World Fair of 1893, the windows themselves such as the early ecclesiastical triptych designed by Frederick Wilson, Tiffany's principal figural window designer is Christ and the Apostles, circa 1890 which employed multiple layers of glass for colour depth and visual interest. King Solomon in extraordinarily vivid purple robe and golden headdress, the opalescent and caramel colours and enamel for faces, hands and hair for a softer palette and iridescent mosaic tiles incorporated into the angel's wings makes a shimmering effect in the Guiding Angel on page 67. There are landscapes, lilies and palms, poppies and passionflowers for our close-up delectation. 84 pages, 22.9 x 30.5cm.
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A beautiful overview of fascinating paintings of the classical world and holy land by a beloved American artist. Frederic Church (1826-1900), was of the Hudson River School who journeyed around the globe to find fresh inspiration for his highly detailed compositions. Among his lesser known masterpieces are his paintings of the Middle East, Italy and Greece produced in the late 1860s to the late 1870s, which explore themes of human history and achievement. Taking a closer look at this geographical and thematic shift the book brings together paintings of Athens, Rome, Jerusalem and the surrounding region. The essays concentrate on a set of six major paintings of architectural and archaeological marvels, one also spotlighting Olana, Church's home in New York State, which reflects the influence of Middle Eastern design. The big swirling brush strokes in the foreground depicting the windmill and grasslands at the foot of the hilly climb to the Parthenon, the red flecks in the foreground denoting colourful flowers, a tall sweeping upright Cypress trees, the overall effect is of heat and scale. We set sail with Church on a steamship bound for Alexandria in Egypt from New York in November 1867 via Beirut. The Arch of Titus, Evening on the Sea, Ruins of St, George Church Lydda, Parade Entering the City of Jaffa, A Distant View of Damascus in Syria, Mount Lebanon (in brush and oil on cardboard), olive trees in Athens, rooftops at sunset from the Pincio in Rome, there are also depictions of his landscapes of American creeks and mother and child from The Deluge, and astonishing waterfalls. But it is the pictures of the Holy Land which could rival those of David Roberts which are new to our eyes here on the editorial team at Bibliophile. We pass with him through Bethlehem, Hebron, the great Petra, Beersheba and Gaza before reaching Jaffa. The landscapes are extraordinary whether depicted in charcoal, pencil, oil or graphite. The depictions of the Bedouin people in their colourful dress are particularly arresting. The oil on canvas of The Parthenon catalogue reference 47 and page 141 is almost photographic in its detail and quality. Colour illustrations throughout, a Yale University Press publication, 28 x 26.6cm, softback.
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