Books

The French writer Guy Sorman has taught economics served in public office traveled widely and authored numerous books on contemporary affairs But he is first and foremost a devout democrat His firm belief in the universality of democracy shines through in The Empire of Lies a book that challeng

What Gandhi and Jesus can teach us

Aviad Kleinberg a professor of history at Tel Aviv University belongs to that not inconsiderable number of contemporary historians who have taken seriously the cult of the saints in the history of Christianity That interest in the saints has been especially energized by Peter Brown rsquo s The Cu

Martin Marty rsquo s new book appears in a series called ldquo Modern Library Chronicles rdquo which includes similarly concise volumes on such complex subjects as the Renaissance Shakespeare and the Catholic Church by authors as redoubtable as Paul Johnson Frank Kermode and Hans K uuml ng Tr

James O'Toole's 'The Faithful,' reviewed

Like many of my contemporaries I eagerly read The Divine Milieu in the early 1960s as soon as it was translated into English I recall being inspired by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin rsquo s bold and sweeping vision It was the first time I had ever been exposed to such a radical and optimistic Chris

I am always intrigued by the epigraph an author uses to set the thematic mood for his or her work Gerald O rsquo Collins is prodigal with epigraphs often providing one or two to introduce each chapter Perhaps most telling is the one with which he prefaces the last chapter of his latest book Jesu

Charles E Curran is a highly regarded theologian whose works have been widely read and appreciated by colleagues for nearly 50 years He is also well known beyond the academy in the best sense he has been a ldquo man of the church rdquo who has not shied away from controversy when he thought t

Older readers mdash well really old readers mdash may recall a ditty sung by the irrepressibly cheerful Dinning Sisters back in 1946 ldquo Soon the sun disappeared from view The stars came out like they always do Then I cuddled up close to you And we both fell in love on a Greyhound Bus T

Michael Sean Winters' 'Left at the Altar,' reviewed