Books

Russell Shorto fires a powerful salvo in the war of words over America rsquo s origins Forcefully contesting the ingrained notion that English settlements set the mold for American values he mounts a convincing case for an alternative scenario in which the Dutch-sponsored colony of New Netherland

Yes When I read I write lots of notes in the margins What I wrote most often in the margins of this book by James Bretzke is simply yes yes what a fine way of putting things yes what a wonderful example yes I think I rsquo ll use that idea in my own course on Christian morality next time ar

The Sahara has never been a very hospitable place least of all for interlopers from Western countries Sailors who found themselves shipwrecked on the treacherous North African coast were subjected not only to brutal treatment by the warrior tribes of the Sahara but also to the harsh elements of th

The inordinate power of the United States under George W Bush according to Jim Garrison president of State of the World which is based in San Francisco disturbs people on the American left but excites people on the American right Conservatives view the fall of the Soviet empire as Ronald Reaga

Not long ago an English critic and essayist Geoffrey Wheatcroft cast a cold eye on the rash of memoirs written by Irish Catholics from both sides of the Atlantic Would there ever come a day Wheatcroft wondered when an Irish-Catholic memoirist would have something good to say about his or her f

This book as its subtitle indicates is a history of the Jesuits from their origins up to the present day It is well researched broadly learned sophisticated fast-paced sympathetic yet critical somewhat impressionistic in approach and sometimes breezy in style I recommend it Jonathan Wright

Journalism can be a difficult and tricky trade for those whose heads are on straight and whose hearts are in the right places It is hard to get past the people those looking for decent housing the immigrants who seem to hold so much of the rest of this country up on their brave and persevering sho

A former Algerian army officer named Mohamed Moulessehoul writing under the pseudonym Yasmina Khadra paints a graphic picture of Afghanistan and Kabul under Taliban rule that is as troubling as it is unforgettable His evocative prose describes a once proud city brought to its knees by Islamic fund

A few years ago when Paul Wilkes wrote Excellent Catholic Parishes The Guide to Best Places and Practices and later when he penned Excellent Protestant Congregations he was not primarily interested in theory trends or statistics Rather he observed the approaches and programs in several hundr