Browse Results

Showing 16,976 through 17,000 of 23,781 results

Politics, Poverty and Belief: A Political Memoir

by Frank Field

In this touching but also profound memoir, Field explains two key factors in his upbringing – the poverty of his own childhood and the deep and lasting effect of his Christian socialism, as exemplified in the writings of F. D. Maurice and William Temple.Field has spent his adult life fighting against poverty in Britain, through parliament and through his strong personal influence. Poverty for him has injustice at its root and as he explains in this book, he has found allies on all sides of the political spectrum. He was appointed by Tony Blair to be the Secretary of State for Pensions, but the reforms he advocated were so radical and essentially just, that Tony Blair could not contemplate them and Field stood down. Previously he had been Chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee under John Major.As we read in this profound book, he has been involved in the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and worked with George Osborne to pass the legislation for the Minimum Living Wage. The range of his campaigns is astonishing. With the Rowntree Trust, he set up the Low Pay Unit (LPU), he battled with Chiswick Council to combat the corruption and injustice behind local housing lists. In politics, he spoke out in the House against the corruption of greed and power and for this he became greatly admired by Margaret Thatcher. In the end, Field's zeal for reform was too much for too many people. In 2015, Momentum (Trotskyite socialist political movement within the Labour Party) moved into his own local Labour party and managed to get him deselected.This is a political and personal memoir of quite exceptional importance and will be widely read, not least because it is an implicit indictment of modern British politics – the world of cash for questions, Partygate and all the rest – in which the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

Politics, Poverty and Belief: A Political Memoir

by Frank Field

In this touching but also profound memoir, Field explains two key factors in his upbringing – the poverty of his own childhood and the deep and lasting effect of his Christian socialism, as exemplified in the writings of F. D. Maurice and William Temple.Field has spent his adult life fighting against poverty in Britain, through parliament and through his strong personal influence. Poverty for him has injustice at its root and as he explains in this book, he has found allies on all sides of the political spectrum. He was appointed by Tony Blair to be the Secretary of State for Pensions, but the reforms he advocated were so radical and essentially just, that Tony Blair could not contemplate them and Field stood down. Previously he had been Chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee under John Major.As we read in this profound book, he has been involved in the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and worked with George Osborne to pass the legislation for the Minimum Living Wage. The range of his campaigns is astonishing. With the Rowntree Trust, he set up the Low Pay Unit (LPU), he battled with Chiswick Council to combat the corruption and injustice behind local housing lists. In politics, he spoke out in the House against the corruption of greed and power and for this he became greatly admired by Margaret Thatcher. In the end, Field's zeal for reform was too much for too many people. In 2015, Momentum (Trotskyite socialist political movement within the Labour Party) moved into his own local Labour party and managed to get him deselected.This is a political and personal memoir of quite exceptional importance and will be widely read, not least because it is an implicit indictment of modern British politics – the world of cash for questions, Partygate and all the rest – in which the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

Polly: The True Story Behind 'Whisky Galore'

by Roger Hutchinson

Early on a wartime winter's morning in 1941, the 8,000-ton cargo ship SS Politician ran aground in the beautiful but treacherous seas of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Among its cargo were 260,000 bottles of whisky destined for the American market – a godsend to the local Eriskay islanders whose home-grown supply had dried up due to wartime rationing. News quickly spread and boats came from as far as Lewis, and before local excise officer Charles McColl could intervene, more than 24,000 bottles had been 'rescued'. Villages were raided as bottles of whisky were hidden in the most ingenious ways – or simply drunk to get rid of the evidence. Meanwhile, official salvage operations foundered, and in order to pre-vent what the islanders themselves regarded as legitimate salvage, the hull of the Politician was dynamited. The story is well known through Compton Mackenzie's bestselling book Whisky Galore and the famous 1949 Ealing comedy of the same name. In this book, acclaimed journalist and Hebridean expert Roger Hutchinson tells the true story of one of the most bizarre events ever to have happened in Scottish waters.

Pollyanne: One Little Donkey's Amazing Journey from the Knacker's Yard to the West End Stage

by Sarah Oliver

John McLaren has dedicated his life to rescuing mistreated donkeys. When he finds Pollyanne at a livestock auction - unloved and horribly frail - he knows immediately that if he doesn't take her home to the sanctuary he has made his life's work, she stands little chance of surviving. John soon discovers that despite her terrible start in life, Pollyanne has the X factor: she is destined for more than the local nativity play. The bright lights of the West End beckon and before long, Pollyanne is appearing onstage with opera's biggest stars.She may have hit the animal A-list, but Pollyanne's no diva. When the curtain comes down, there's nowhere she'd rather be than at home with John and her four-legged friends. Sarah Oliver's Pollyanne is a heart-warming true story of unconditional love - and a Little Donkey with star quality.

Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music

by Colin Timms

This is the first book to consider all aspects of the life of Agostino Steffani (1654-1728), a composer, diplomat, and bishop. A remarkable figure of the late 17th and early 18th century Europe, Steffani began his career as a composer, musician, and courtier, but his accomplishments brought him high-level positions in the courts of Germany and the Catholic Church. Throughout his diplomatic and ecclesiatical career, Steffani continued to compose chamber music, vocal chamber music, operas, and sacred music--works which inspired Handel and other Baroque composers.

Pompidou Posse

by Sarah Lotz

You're seventeen. One night, more or less by accident, you set fire to a garden shed.Naturally, you pack up and run off to Paris, certain you can make enough money off your art to get by. You're young, you're pretty, you're full of life, and you have your best friend in all the world by your side.What could possibly go wrong?Sarah Lotz's hilarious, heartbreaking first novel has only ever been published in South Africa - Hodder & Stoughton are proud to be brining it to a world-wide audience, newly edited and with an all-new cover.

Pondlife: A Swimmer's Journal

by Al Alvarez

The ponds of Hampstead Heath are small oases; fragments of wild nature nestled in the heart of north-west London. For the best part of his life Al Alvarez – poet, critic, novelist, rock-climber and poker player – has swum in them almost daily. An athlete in his youth, Alvarez, now in his eighties, chronicles what it is to grow old with humour and fierce honesty – from his relentlessly nagging ankle which makes daily life a struggle, to infuriating bureaucratic battles with the council to keep his disabled person's Blue Badge, the devastating effects of a stroke, and the salvation he finds in the three Ss – Swimming, Sex and Sleep.As Alvarez swims in the ponds he considers how it feels when you begin to miss that person you used to be – to miss yourself. Swimming is his own private form of protest against the onslaught of time; proof to others, and himself, that he's not yet beaten. By turns funny, poetic and indignant, Pondlife is a meditation on love, the importance of life's small pleasures and, above all, a lesson in not going gently in to that good night.

Ponies At The Edge Of The World: On nature, belonging and finding home

by Catherine Munro

'Striking' THE TIMES'Uplifting and moving' BBC RADIO 2'A meditation on connection between humans and animals, and the homes we make in wild places. I was completely immersed' KATHERINE MAYCatherine Munro transforms her life when she moves to Shetland to study the hardy ponies who call this archipelago home. Over the course of her first year, she is welcomed into the rhythms and routines that characterise life at the edge of the world.When faced with personal loss, Catherine finds comfort and connection in the shared lives of the people, animals and wild landscapes of Shetland. Ponies at the Edge of the World is a heartfelt love letter to the beauty and resilience of these magical ponies and their native land. This is a stunning book on community, hope and finding home.

The Pontecorvo Affair: A Cold War Defection and Nuclear Physics

by Simone Turchetti

In the fall of 1950, newspapers around the world reported that the Italian-born nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo and his family had mysteriously disappeared while returning to Britain from a holiday trip. Because Pontecorvo was known to be an expert working for the UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment, this raised immediate concern for the safety of atomic secrets, especially when it became known in the following months that he had defected to the Soviet Union. Was Pontecorvo a spy? Did he know and pass sensitive information about the bomb to Soviet experts? At the time, nuclear scientists, security personnel, Western government officials, and journalists assessed the case, but their efforts were inconclusive and speculations quickly turned to silence. In the years since, some have downplayed Pontecorvo’s knowledge of atomic weaponry, while others have claimed him as part of a spy ring that infiltrated the Manhattan Project. The Pontecorvo Affair draws from newly disclosed sources to challenge previous attempts to solve the case, offering a balanced and well-documented account of Pontecorvo, his activities, and his possible motivations for defecting. Along the way, Simone Turchetti reconsiders the place of nuclear physics and nuclear physicists in the twentieth century and reveals that as the discipline’s promise of military and industrial uses came to the fore, so did the enforcement of new secrecy provisions on the few experts in the world specializing in its application.

The Pontecorvo Affair: A Cold War Defection and Nuclear Physics

by Simone Turchetti

In the fall of 1950, newspapers around the world reported that the Italian-born nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo and his family had mysteriously disappeared while returning to Britain from a holiday trip. Because Pontecorvo was known to be an expert working for the UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment, this raised immediate concern for the safety of atomic secrets, especially when it became known in the following months that he had defected to the Soviet Union. Was Pontecorvo a spy? Did he know and pass sensitive information about the bomb to Soviet experts? At the time, nuclear scientists, security personnel, Western government officials, and journalists assessed the case, but their efforts were inconclusive and speculations quickly turned to silence. In the years since, some have downplayed Pontecorvo’s knowledge of atomic weaponry, while others have claimed him as part of a spy ring that infiltrated the Manhattan Project. The Pontecorvo Affair draws from newly disclosed sources to challenge previous attempts to solve the case, offering a balanced and well-documented account of Pontecorvo, his activities, and his possible motivations for defecting. Along the way, Simone Turchetti reconsiders the place of nuclear physics and nuclear physicists in the twentieth century and reveals that as the discipline’s promise of military and industrial uses came to the fore, so did the enforcement of new secrecy provisions on the few experts in the world specializing in its application.

The Pontecorvo Affair: A Cold War Defection and Nuclear Physics

by Simone Turchetti

In the fall of 1950, newspapers around the world reported that the Italian-born nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo and his family had mysteriously disappeared while returning to Britain from a holiday trip. Because Pontecorvo was known to be an expert working for the UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment, this raised immediate concern for the safety of atomic secrets, especially when it became known in the following months that he had defected to the Soviet Union. Was Pontecorvo a spy? Did he know and pass sensitive information about the bomb to Soviet experts? At the time, nuclear scientists, security personnel, Western government officials, and journalists assessed the case, but their efforts were inconclusive and speculations quickly turned to silence. In the years since, some have downplayed Pontecorvo’s knowledge of atomic weaponry, while others have claimed him as part of a spy ring that infiltrated the Manhattan Project. The Pontecorvo Affair draws from newly disclosed sources to challenge previous attempts to solve the case, offering a balanced and well-documented account of Pontecorvo, his activities, and his possible motivations for defecting. Along the way, Simone Turchetti reconsiders the place of nuclear physics and nuclear physicists in the twentieth century and reveals that as the discipline’s promise of military and industrial uses came to the fore, so did the enforcement of new secrecy provisions on the few experts in the world specializing in its application.

The Pontecorvo Affair: A Cold War Defection and Nuclear Physics

by Simone Turchetti

In the fall of 1950, newspapers around the world reported that the Italian-born nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo and his family had mysteriously disappeared while returning to Britain from a holiday trip. Because Pontecorvo was known to be an expert working for the UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment, this raised immediate concern for the safety of atomic secrets, especially when it became known in the following months that he had defected to the Soviet Union. Was Pontecorvo a spy? Did he know and pass sensitive information about the bomb to Soviet experts? At the time, nuclear scientists, security personnel, Western government officials, and journalists assessed the case, but their efforts were inconclusive and speculations quickly turned to silence. In the years since, some have downplayed Pontecorvo’s knowledge of atomic weaponry, while others have claimed him as part of a spy ring that infiltrated the Manhattan Project. The Pontecorvo Affair draws from newly disclosed sources to challenge previous attempts to solve the case, offering a balanced and well-documented account of Pontecorvo, his activities, and his possible motivations for defecting. Along the way, Simone Turchetti reconsiders the place of nuclear physics and nuclear physicists in the twentieth century and reveals that as the discipline’s promise of military and industrial uses came to the fore, so did the enforcement of new secrecy provisions on the few experts in the world specializing in its application.

A Pony in the Bedroom: A Journey through Asperger's, Assault, and Healing with Horses

by Susan Dunne Liane Holliday Willey

Susan Dunne's life changed forever when a chance question from a doctor led her back to horses, an unfulfilled childhood passion. Detached and isolated due to undiagnosed autism, Susan had already survived rape, battled eating disorders and self-harm, and spent time homeless, when her world was turned upside again by a vicious, life-threatening assault. Severe post-traumatic stress disorder left her feeling distrustful and more cut off than ever before from a world she saw as confusing and dangerous. But as Susan's connection with horses grew stronger, her world started to open up. Poignant and witty by turns, Susan shares her story of survival and transformation, offering a rare insight into her relationship with horses, and how they helped her to find a safe place in the world.

A Pony in the Bedroom: A Journey through Asperger's, Assault, and Healing with Horses (PDF)

by Liane Holliday Willey Susan Dunne

Susan Dunne's life changed forever when a chance question from a doctor led her back to horses, an unfulfilled childhood passion. Detached and isolated due to undiagnosed autism, Susan had already survived rape, battled eating disorders and self-harm, and spent time homeless, when her world was turned upside again by a vicious, life-threatening assault. Severe post-traumatic stress disorder left her feeling distrustful and more cut off than ever before from a world she saw as confusing and dangerous. But as Susan's connection with horses grew stronger, her world started to open up. Poignant and witty by turns, Susan shares her story of survival and transformation, offering a rare insight into her relationship with horses, and how they helped her to find a safe place in the world.

Pool of Life: The Autobiography of a Punjabi Agony Aunt (The Sussex Library of Asian & Asian American Studies)

by Kailash Puri Eleanor Nesbitt

Eleanor Nesbitt's introduction contextualises the life of Kailash Puri, Punjabi author and agony aunt, providing the story of the book itself and connecting the narrative to the history of the Punjabi diaspora and themes in Sikh Studies. She suggests that representation of the stereotypical South Asian woman as victim needs to give way to a nuanced recognition of agency, multiple voices and a differentiated experience. The narrative presents sixty years of Kailash's life. Her memories of childhood in West Punjab evoke rural customs and religious practices consistent with recent scholarship on 'Punjabi religion' rather than with the currently dominant Sikh discourse of a religion sharply distinguished from Hindu society. Her marriage, as a shy 15-year-old, with no knowledge of English, to a scientist, Gopal Puri, brought ever-widening horizons as husband and wife moved from India to London, and later to West Africa, before returning to the UK in 1966. This life experience, and Gopal's constant encouragement, brought confidence to write and publish numerous stories and articles. Kailash writes of the contrasting experiences of life as an Indian in the UK of the 1940s and the 1960s. She points up differences between her own outlook and the life-world of the post-war community of Sikhs from East Punjab now living in the West. In their distress and dilemmas many people consulted Kailash for assistance, and the descriptive narrative of her responses and advice and increasingly public profile provides insight into Sikhs' experience in their adopted country. In later years, as grandparents and established citizens of Liverpool, Kailash and Gopal revisited their ancestral home, now in Pakistan a reflective and moving experience. An Afterword by Eleanor contextualises the current UK Sikh scene. The book includes a glossary of Punjabi words and suggestions for further reading.

Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief

by Katriona O'Sullivan

The No. 1 BestsellerBiography of the Year, Irish Book Awards 2023The Last Word Listeners' Choice Award, Irish Book Awards 2023'One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet' GuardianLike young girls everywhere Katriona O’Sullivan grew up bright, enthusiastic, curious. But she was also surrounded by abject poverty and chaos, and after she became pregnant and homeless at 15, what followed was five years of barely surviving. Yet today Katriona is an award-winning academic whose work explores barriers to education for girls like her.What set Katriona on this unexpected path were the mentors and supporters who truly saw her. The teachers who showed her how to wash in the school toilets or turned up at her door to convince her to sit at least one GCSE. The community worker who encouraged her to apply for training schemes. The friend who introduced Katriona to Trinity College’s access program while she was a cleaner. Simple acts that would help her turn her life around.Told with warmth, clarity and compassion – compassion for her parents, for her younger self, for others – Poor is both an astonishing personal testimony and an impassioned plea for the future of our children. ‘Powerful – Katriona is a legend’ Barry Keoghan‘Raw, passionate and resolutely honest – I’ll never forget it’ Annie Mac'Full of insight . . . so important' Fi Glover, Times Radio 'I read poor in one sitting I found it so compelling . . . moving, uplifting, brave, heroic' Nuala McGovern, Woman's Hour, BBC Radio Four'Moving, funny, brave and original - just like the author . . . absolutely incredible' Roísín Ingle, Irish Times Women's Podcast‘One of the books of the year’ Patrick Kielty, Late Late Show, RTÉ One'One of the most important books I have ever read … a beautiful telling of determination despite the odds' Lynn Ruane, Irish Times 'Fearless, funny and searingly honest' Adil Ray OBE'Raw and remarkable' Irish Independent 'A book of empowerment and hope' Patricia Scanlan ‘Remarkable . . . a vivid retelling of Katriona flourishing, despite her beginnings’ BBC News West Midlands

Poor Little Sick Girls: A love letter to unacceptable women

by Ione Gamble

'Incredible insight with a transgressive, witty, spirit.' COURTNEY LOVE'The most sensational read of 2022!' GEMMA COLLINS'A breath of fresh air... I want so many people to read this!' TRAVIS ALABANZA'Visionary' VIV ALBERTINEA STYLIST MUST-READ FOR 2022Wellness is oppressive, self-love is a trap, hustling is a health risk and it's all the patriarchy's fault. Poor Little Sick Girls is THE book for femmes who are online and want more from activism and life.Ione Gamble never imagined that entering adulthood would mean being diagnosed with an incurable illness. Watching identity politics become social media fodder from the confines of her sickbed Ione began to pick apart our obsession with self-care, personal branding, productivity and #LivingYourBestLife. Using her experience with disability to cast a fresh gaze on the particularly peculiar cultural moment in which young women find themselves, Poor Little Sick Girls explores the pressures faced - as well as the power of existing as - a chronically ill, overweight, and unacceptable woman in our current era of empowerment.Founder of Polyester zine and a host of The Polyester Podcast, Ione has been named one of fifteen coolest young Londoners by The Evening Standard, and a 2019 New Debutante in Tatler Magazine. If you love Trick Mirror, Feminists Don't Wear Pink and Hood Feminism,you don't want to miss this book.

Pop Babylon

by Imogen Edwards-Jones

How do you make it as a pop star? Why does one boy band make it big and another disappear off the pages of the magazines altogether? Why do girls cost more than boys? And who should you sleep with to get to number one?Packed with scandal and intrigue, Pop Babylon takes you to the dark heart of one of the world's most wicked and secretive industries. It's a world where money talks, bullshit walks and drugs are a way of life. And where talent isn't always at the top of the list of priorities...Tracking a year in the making of a brand-new boy band, Pop Babylon is pure, unadulterated reading pleasure - stuffed with stories about pop's most demanding divas, which jocks do shock and just how long you can chop a line of cocaine. Disgraceful, revelatory and great down-and-dirty fun, it's essential reading for anyone who wants to know what it really takes nowadays to be top of the pops.

Pop Culture Pioneers: The Women Who Transformed Fandom in Film, Television, Comics, and More

by Cher Martinetti

Celebrate the empowering and inspiring women who helped create, shape, and make pop culture great, from the creator of SYFY WIRE's FANGRRLS and the podcast "Forgotten Women of Genre"! In every medium in popular culture—from books, films, and video games to comics, television, and animation—women have been instrumental in creating and shaping the worlds, characters, and genres that we know and love. However, much of their hard work and innovation has gone largely unrecognized—until now. With a foreword by American Gods actress Yetide Badaki and essays exploring the history and transformation of pop culture's genres and mediums, Pop Culture Pioneers explores and pays respect to the women who played a crucial role in creating and influencing of some of the most famous worlds and characters in pop culture including:Directors & Producers like Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux, Jennifer's Body), Denise Di Novi (co-producer of Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas), and Jean MacCurdy (producer of Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs)Writers & Editors like Jeanette Khan (editor and publisher of DC Comics), Alice Bradley Sheldon (writing as James Tiptree Jr.), and Alison Bechdel (Fun Home)Animators & Artists like Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe), Noelle Stevenson (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) and Brenda Chapman (animator and director of Brave)As well as Marlene Clark (Blaxploitation actress), Roberta Williams (creator of the adventure game genre), Yvonne Blake (costume designer for Superman), Bonnie Erickson (co-creator of Miss Piggy), and many more.

Pop Stars in My Pantry: A Memoir of Pop Mags and Clubbing in the 1980s

by Paul Simper

Corrupted by Spandau. Slated by Boy George. Mothered by Sade. Evicted by Bananarama. Jilted by Madonna.Author, columnist and TV writer Paul Simper had a front-row seat at one of pop stardom’s most exciting shows: the 1980s. His memoir, Pop Stars in My Pantry, is an account of a wide-eyed, wet-behind-the-ears lad from Wiltshire landing in London just as the capital’s club scene went into orbit. As a pop writer and fellow clubber, he had unique access to the artists who would become the biggest pop acts of the decade.On any given day, he might be required to fly a reader to the other side of the world to hang out with Spandau Ballet, accompany Bananarama’s Keren and Wham!’s George Michael on a blind date, help Frankie Goes to Hollywood chuck furniture out of TV studio windows in Rome, watch Boy George styling and flirting with Paul Weller in fake furs, or walk off into the sunset with a newbie called Madonna. It is also the tale of his own attempts at pop stardom with the help of former ’Nana Miss Jacqueline O’Sullivan and an unexpected bonus career as a showbiz party DJ for the likes of Prince, Whitney, Elton and even Al Pacino.This is an endlessly entertaining, behind-the-scenes ride – the ultimate back-stage pass – for 1980s pop enthusiasts and lovers of Smash Hits… from the man who saw it all.

The Pope: The Life Of Pope Francis, The Holy Father

by Paul Harrison

In 2013, following the shock resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, a little-known cardinal from Argentina was elected Pope. Jorge Bergoglio became the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, the first Pope from the southern hemisphere and the first non-European Pope in over 1,000 years. But what is the background of this extraordinary man? And how did he go from Argentinian nightclub bouncer to Pope Francis, the leader of one of the most widely-practised religions in the world.The Pope looks at his remarkable story, and how, as Pope Francis, he has become such a popular and widely-celebrated leader. His humility, and his concern for the poor are examined, along with his views on the issues facing the Catholic Church.The Catholic faith, and the role it plays in the lives of people around the world, is explained, as is the Church's place in the 21st century.Some of the more complex terms and processes of the Church, for example the way in which a pope is elected, are explained in separate boxes on each spread.

Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)

by Joann F. Price

This comprehensive biography of Pope Benedict XVI emphasizes his theological positions and contributions as a theologian.Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography is an incisive exploration of the life and career of the current head of the Roman Catholic Church, with an emphasis on his theological positions and contributions as a theologian. Written by a Catholic priest who is an expert on Bavarian theology, the book looks at Benedict's family life, his teen years in Nazi Germany, his rise in the Church, and the beliefs that shape his Papacy.Readers of this biography will learn that, in addition to his native German, Benedict XVI speaks Italian, French, English, Spanish, and Latin fluently, has a knowledge of Portuguese, and can read ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew. They will discover that he plays the piano and is very fond of cats. Perhaps surprisingly, they will find that during the time of the Second Vatican Council, the Pope was viewed as a reformer, and that he continues to regard himself as a supporter of the Council's teaching, holding, however, that those teachings have been widely misinterpreted. All this and more make for a fascinating—and instructive—reading experience.

Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)

by Joann F. Price

This comprehensive biography of Pope Benedict XVI emphasizes his theological positions and contributions as a theologian.Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography is an incisive exploration of the life and career of the current head of the Roman Catholic Church, with an emphasis on his theological positions and contributions as a theologian. Written by a Catholic priest who is an expert on Bavarian theology, the book looks at Benedict's family life, his teen years in Nazi Germany, his rise in the Church, and the beliefs that shape his Papacy.Readers of this biography will learn that, in addition to his native German, Benedict XVI speaks Italian, French, English, Spanish, and Latin fluently, has a knowledge of Portuguese, and can read ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew. They will discover that he plays the piano and is very fond of cats. Perhaps surprisingly, they will find that during the time of the Second Vatican Council, the Pope was viewed as a reformer, and that he continues to regard himself as a supporter of the Council's teaching, holding, however, that those teachings have been widely misinterpreted. All this and more make for a fascinating—and instructive—reading experience.

Pope Francis: Builder Of Bridges

by Oliver Dominguez Emma Otheguy

Pope Francis's life and ground-breaking leadership are brought to life for young readers in this lyrical and inspirational picture book biography.Jorge Bergoglio was a typical boy growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, jumping into pick-up soccer games and listening to lively music on the city streets. His grandma Rosa taught him the importance of doing good and inspired his passion to help others. This passion and years of hard work led him to become a Jesuit priest, a bishop, and then a cardinal.And now the world knows Jorge by a different name--Pope Francis.As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has focused on another word for pope: "pontiff," a person who builds bridges to reach everyone, no matter who they are. Speaking out on the most important issues of our time, he has become an influential voice in our world--a true pontiff, a builder of bridges.This story of how an ordinary boy became a beloved world leader will inspire and inform readers of all ages.

Pope Francis: Builder Of Bridges

by Oliver Dominguez Emma Otheguy

Pope Francis's life and ground-breaking leadership are brought to life for young readers in this lyrical and inspirational picture book biography.Jorge Bergoglio was a typical boy growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, jumping into pick-up soccer games and listening to lively music on the city streets. His grandma Rosa taught him the importance of doing good and inspired his passion to help others. This passion and years of hard work led him to become a Jesuit priest, a bishop, and then a cardinal.And now the world knows Jorge by a different name--Pope Francis.As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has focused on another word for pope: "pontiff," a person who builds bridges to reach everyone, no matter who they are. Speaking out on the most important issues of our time, he has become an influential voice in our world--a true pontiff, a builder of bridges.This story of how an ordinary boy became a beloved world leader will inspire and inform readers of all ages.

Refine Search

Showing 16,976 through 17,000 of 23,781 results