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The Program: Inside the Mind of Keith Raniere and the Rise and Fall of NXIVM
by Toni Natalie Chet HardinA jaw-dropping insider look into the world of the so-called "Hollywood Sex Cult" NXIVM chronicling the rise of enigmatic cult leader, Keith Raniere, from its "Patient Zero," his former girlfriend and test subject for his coercive control techniques. Many have heard of NXIVM and its creator, Keith Raniere, the unassuming Albany man now prosecuted for ensnaring tens of thousands of people in the US, Mexico, Canada and elsewhere, to do his bidding and pay millions of dollars to participate in his self-improvement methodology. But where did Keith Raniere begin? Enter Toni Natalie, Keith's Patient Zero, the first one indoctrinated into Raniere's methodology and the first one to escape. THE PROGRAM begins with the origin story of NXIVM, follows its rise to international prominence, and takes the reader into the downfall of Raniere through Toni's eyes. During this time she bore witness to the evolution of his methodology, including his use of sex, blackmail, and employment of psychological tools such as neuro-linguistic programming to control and punish those who would not heed his wishes. She uniquely details the fortunes lost and the lives left in disarray that she witnessed contemporaneously, including members of DOS, a group of women coerced into sexual acts under the guise of a "women's empowerment" inner circle, whom Raniere exercised extreme control over directly and through his lieutenants.But far from being a victim's story, in the spirit of Erin Brockovich, Toni's is a nuanced narrative of a multi-dimensional woman saving herself, and then working tirelessly to help other women do the same for themselves. Today, Toni is happy, reunited with her son, and surrounded by friends and family--it is this perspective that makes her such a unique storyteller.
The Progress of a Biographer (Routledge Revivals)
by Hugh KingsmillFirst published in 1949, The Progress of a Biographer follows a general principle that there are absolute truths, which an individual can in some degree apprehend and live by, but which churches and institutions can only obscure and pervert. This principle is followed for the sketches in this book, most of which were written between the end of World War II and the spring of 1948. The subjects range from P. G. Wodehouse to Karl Marx, from W. B. Yeats to Thackeray, and from Rainer Maria Rilke to Lloyd George. Believing that to understand a man’s work, one must form a coherent impression of the man, the author has tried to suggest the leading characteristics and governing impulses of his subjects. His intention has been to clarify rather than to criticise, though doubtless the affect may sometimes be one of criticism falling short of clarification. The book will be of interest to students across disciplines but will particularly appeal to students of English literature.
The Progression of the American Presidency
by Jim TwomblyThe contemporary presidency, and the nation it governs, is more dependent on the individual in office than ever before. The Progression of the American Presidency examines in detail the institution of the American presidency from the selection process, to the president's individual responsibilities, to his interactions with other actors in the political arena. Twombly argues that regardless of how well suited a particular individual may be for a specific time in office, he or she will leave an indelible imprint on the office for those who follow. Each successful president changed the institution in which he served by expanding its scope and power and raising the bar of public (and historical) expectations. Both scholarly and conversational, The Progression of the American Presidency is essential reading for anyone interested in the evolving state of the Oval Office.
The Prom Night Murders: A Devoted American Family, Their Troubled Son, and a Ghastly Crime
by Carlton SmithIn 1989, a shocking tragedy shattered an otherwise peaceful small Indiana community. Much-admired pastor Robert L Pelley was found slain in his home. In his basement were the huddled, blood-soaked bodies of his wife and daughters, executed by shotgun at close range. The doors to the house were locked, and there were no signs of forced entry. Meanwhile, the pastor's son, Jeff, was nowhere to be found. . . Police had a hunch that Jeff was responsible for the massacre, but they didn't have enough evidence to convict. The case went cold. . . Until, more than a decade later, when law officials resolved to finally try to unravel the truth about Jeff and to establish a motive - that he was angry toward his father for grounding him on prom night. Then it would be up to prosecutors to prove that Jeff was responsible for the Prom Night Murders.
The Prometheans: John Martin and the generation that stole the future
by Max AdamsThe richly varied lives of the Martin brothers reflected the many upheavals of Britain in the age of Industrial Revolution. Low-born and largely unschooled, they were part of a new generation of artists, scientists and inventors who witnessed the creation of the modern world. William, the eldest, was a cussedly eccentric inventor who couldn't look at a piece of machinery without thinking about how to improve it; Richard, a courageous soldier, fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo; Jonathan, a hellfire preacher tormented by madness and touched with a visionary genius reminiscent of William Blake, almost burned down York Minster in 1829; while John, the youngest Martin, single-handedly invented, mastered and exhausted an entire genre of painting, the apocalyptic sublime, while playing host to the foremost writers, scientists and thinkers of his day. In The Prometheans Max Adams interweaves the fascinating story of these maverick siblings with a magisterial and multi-faceted account of the industrial, political and artistic ferment of early 19th-century Britain. His narrative centres on a generation of inventors, artists and radical intellectuals (including the chemist Humphry Davy, the engineer George Stephenson, the social reformer Robert Owen and the poet Shelley) who were seeking to liberate humanity from the tyranny of material discomfort and political oppression. For Adams, the shared inspiration that binds this generation together is the cult of Prometheus, the titan of ancient Greek mythology who stole fire from Zeus to give to mortal man, and who became a potent symbol of political and personal liberation from the mid-18th century onwards. Whether writing about Davy's invention of the miner's safety lamp, the scandalous private life of the Prince Regent, the death of Shelley or J.M.W. Turner's use of colour, Adams's narrative is pacy, characterful, and rich in anecdote, quotation and memorable character sketch. Like John Martin himself, he has created a sprawling and brightly coloured canvas on an epic scale.
The Promise
by Caille Millner Oral Lee BrownIn the bestselling tradition ofThe PactandThe Freedom Writers Diary—the inspiring story of one woman’s extraordinary promise and steely determination to make a difference in the world. One morning in 1987 Oral Lee Brown walked into a corner store in East Oakland, California, to buy snacks for work. A little girl asked her for a quarter, and Brown assumed that she wanted to buy candy, but surprisingly she bought bread and bologna—staples for her family. Later that day Brown couldn’t get the little girl out of her mind. Why wasn’t she in school? Why was she out begging for money to buy food for her family? After several weeks of not being able to sleep, Brown went to look for the girl at the local elementary school and soon found herself in a first-grade classroom. She didn’t find the little girl, but before she left she found herself promising the kids that if they finished high school, she would pay for their college education. At the time, Oral Lee Brown made only $45,000 a year. But years later, after annually saving and investing $10,000 of her own money and establishing the Oral Lee Brown Foundation, this remarkable woman made good on her promise: after nineteen of the original twenty-three students graduated from high school, she sent them all to college. And in May of 2003, LaTosha Hunter was the first of Brown’s “babies,” as well as the first person in her family, to graduate from college. This marvelous and inspiring book is the amazing story of one woman's unending desire to make a difference. And if once was not enough, in 2001 Brown made the same promise to three new classrooms of first-, fifth-, and ninth-graders. Brown and her foundation are now committed to adopting a new crop of kids to send to college every four years. Brown’s pledge to the students was not without great personal and public sacrifice. Her promise turned her life upside-down—it strained her relationships, and at times required her to work several different jobs. Brown also developed a strong emotional attachment to the children—for many of these students Brown was the one consistent adult in their lives. In a world short on heroes, altruism, and dedication, THE PROMISE shows that it is still possible to change lives for the better. This book will encourage, uplift, and inspire every reader. A portion of the proceeds from the book will go to the Oral Lee Brown Foundation. To learn more about the Oral Lee Brown Foundation please visit www. oralleebrownfoundation. com .
The Promise
by Jonathan AlterBarack Obama's inauguration as president on January 20, 2009, inspired the world. But the great promise of "Change We Can Believe In" was immediately tested by the threat of another Great Depression, a worsening war in Afghanistan, and an entrenched and deeply partisan system of business as usual in Washington. Despite all the coverage, the backstory of Obama's historic first year in office has until now remained a mystery. In The Promise: President Obama, Year One, Jonathan Alter, one of the country's most respected journalists and historians, uses his unique access to the White House to produce the first inside look at Obama's difficult debut. What happened in 2009 inside the Oval Office? What worked and what failed? What is the president really like on the job and off-hours, using what his best friend called "a Rubik's Cube in his brain"? These questions are answered here for the first time. We see how a surprisingly cunning Obama took effective charge in Washington several weeks before his election, made trillion-dollar decisions on the stimulus and budget before he was inaugurated, engineered colossally unpopular bailouts of the banking and auto sectors, and escalated a treacherous war not long after settling into office. The Promise is a fast-paced and incisive narrative of a young risk-taking president carving his own path amid sky-high expectations and surging joblessness. Alter reveals that it was Obama alone--"feeling lucky"--who insisted on pushing major health care reform over the objections of his vice president and top advisors, including his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who admitted that "I begged him not to do this." Alter takes the reader inside the room as Obama prevents a fistfight involving a congressman, coldly reprimands the military brass for insubordination, crashes the key meeting at the Copenhagen Climate Change conference, and realizes that a Senate candidate's gaffe about baseball in a Massachusetts special election will dash the big dream of his first year.In Alter's telling, the real Obama is an authentic, demanding, unsentimental, and sometimes overconfident leader. He adapted to the presidency with ease and put more "points on the board" than he is given credit for, but neglected to use his leverage over the banks and failed to connect well with an angry public. We see the famously calm president cursing leaks, playfully trash-talking his advisors, and joking about even the most taboo subjects, still intent on redeeming more of his promise as the problems mount. This brilliant blend of journalism and history offers the freshest reporting and most acute perspective on the biggest story of our time. It will shape impressions of the Obama presidency and of the man himself for years to come.
The Promise and the Dream: The Untold Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy
by David Margolick&“A fascinating, elegiac account&” of the bond between two of the Civil Rights Era&’s most important leaders—from the journalist and author of Strange Fruit (Chicago Tribune). With vision and political savvy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy set the United States on a path toward fulfilling its promise of liberty and justice for all. In The Promise and the Dream, Margolick examines their unique bond, both in life and in their tragic assassinations, just sixty-two days apart in 1968. Through original interviews, oral histories, FBI files, and previously untapped contemporaneous accounts, Margolick offers a revealing portrait of these two men and the mutual assistance, awkwardness, antagonism, and admiration that existed between them. MLK and RFK cut distinct but converging paths toward lasting change. Even when they weren&’t interacting directly, they monitored and learned from one another. Their joint story, a story each man took pains to hide during their lives, is not just gripping history but a window into the challenges we continue to face in America. Complemented by award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley&’s foreword and more than eighty revealing photos by the foremost photojournalists of the period, The Promise and the Dream offers a compelling look at one of the most consequential but misunderstood relationships in our nation&’s history.
The Promise of Canada: 150 Years--People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country
by Charlotte GrayWhat does it mean to be a Canadian? What great ideas have changed our country? An award-winning writer casts her eye over 150 years of Canadian history."Our country owes its success not to some imagined tribal singularity but to the fact that, although its thirty-five million citizens do not look, speak or pray alike, we have learned to share this land and for the most part live in neighbourly sympathy." --Charlotte Gray, from the Preface of The Promise of Canada On the eve of Canada's sesquicentennial celebrations comes a richly rewarding new book from acclaimed historian Charlotte Gray about what it means to be Canadian. Readers already know Gray as an award-winning biographer, a writer who has brilliantly captured significant individuals and dramatic moments in our history. Now, in The Promise of Canada, she weaves together masterful portraits of nine influential Canadians, creating a unique history of the country over the past 150 years. What do these people--from George-Étienne Cartier and Emily Carr to Tommy Douglas, Margaret Atwood, and Elijah Harper--have in common? Each, according to Charlotte Gray, has left an indelible mark on our country. Deliberately avoiding a "top down" approach to our history, Gray has chosen people whose ideas have caught her imagination, ideas that over time have become part of our collective conversation. She also highlights many other Canadians, past and present, who have added to the ongoing debate over how we see ourselves, arguing that Canada has constantly reimagined itself in every generation since 1867. Beautifully illustrated with evocative black and white images and colourful artistic visions of our country, The Promise of Canada is a fresh take on our history that offers fascinating insights into how we have matured and yet how--150 years after Confederation and beyond--we are still a people in progress. Charlotte Gray makes history come alive as she opens doors into our past, our present and our future, inspiring and challenging readers to envision the Canada they want to live in.
The Promise of Francis
by David WilleyWith more than four decades of firsthand experience reporting from Vatican City, David Willey explores the religious and personal background of Pope Francis and his ability to fulfill the promises of reform made during the first two years of his papacy.Sex crimes and cover-ups, financial scandal, declining membership, and the unprecedented resignation of its chief executive, Pope Benedict XVI. These were the ingredients of a twenty-first century crisis in the Vatican--a crisis that might have anticipated the election of a steadily conservative pope, a career bureaucrat, and an insider. An operator. Instead they chose Francis. Using his unparalleled access and knowledge of the inner workings of the Vatican, BBC correspondent David Willey chronicles Francis's first two years as pope and analyzes what could happen in the years to come. He tells the inside story of how this most unlikely man came from "the end of the world" to lead the world's largest corporation into the future, stirring millions to interest and faith again through his frank speeches and benevolent beliefs. In putting this all into context, Willey seeks to further unravel the mysteries and conspiracies that continue to surround the worldwide headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. The world has never seen the Church in a greater state of flux, as Francis's words and deeds have enchanted, entertained, and sometimes enraged the public. In this comprehensive biography complete with full-color photography, David Willey explores the religious and personal background of the inspirational Pope Francis, his stunning impact on the Catholic Church, the hopes he has raised, and the legacy he will leave behind.
The Promise of Francis: The Man, the Pope, and the Challenge of Change
by David WilleyWith more than four decades of firsthand experience reporting from Vatican City, David Willey explores the religious and personal background of Pope Francis and his ability to fulfill the promises of reform made during the first two years of his papacy.Sex crimes and cover-ups, financial scandal, declining membership, and the unprecedented resignation of its chief executive, Pope Benedict XVI. These were the ingredients of a twenty-first century crisis in the Vatican--a crisis that might have anticipated the election of a steadily conservative pope, a career bureaucrat, and an insider. An operator. Instead they chose Francis. Using his unparalleled access and knowledge of the inner workings of the Vatican, BBC correspondent David Willey chronicles Francis's first two years as pope and analyzes what could happen in the years to come. He tells the inside story of how this most unlikely man came from "the end of the world" to lead the world's largest corporation into the future, stirring millions to interest and faith again through his frank speeches and benevolent beliefs. In putting this all into context, Willey seeks to further unravel the mysteries and conspiracies that continue to surround the worldwide headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. The world has never seen the Church in a greater state of flux, as Francis's words and deeds have enchanted, entertained, and sometimes enraged the public. In this comprehensive biography complete with full-color photography, David Willey explores the religious and personal background of the inspirational Pope Francis, his stunning impact on the Catholic Church, the hopes he has raised, and the legacy he will leave behind.
The Promise of Language: A Memoir (African American Life)
by Keith GilyardRecounting a life—and language—by an esteemed scholar of African American rhetoric. In this powerful coming-of-age memoir, author, scholar, and linguist Keith Gilyard presents a testament to the transformative power of language. From his earliest days in the segregated New York City public schools of the 1950s and '60s through his ascent in academia, the rhythm of Black America's vernacular and music provides the backdrop to Gilyard's intellectual awakening. He absorbed language through music, television, and radio, recognizing early on that his mother was a "language chameleon," a woman from Georgia who never sounded Black southern. His journey intertwines personal growth with the multiplicity of language and the sociopolitical upheavals of the Cold War era and the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Arts movements. Through vibrant anecdotes and introspection, Gilyard brings his experiences and realizations to life from memories of barbershops, churches, and schools, to lessons from mentors and influencers like Ed Bullins, Sonia Sanchez, Don L. Lee (later Haki Madhubuti), Toni Morrison, and Paule Marshall. Each encounter brings clarity and a new lens through which to understand the world, revealing how language shapes our lives and how our lives are shaped by language.
The Promise of Living: Loss, Life, and Living
by George A. GoensIn 2004, George Goens lost his daughter during the birth of his second grandchild. How does one respond to the simultaneous crash of life and death? In The Promise of Living: Loss, Life and Living, Goens wrestles with his conflicting emotions over the convergence of two very disparate events - one celebrating the beginning of life, one grieving the loss of another. Goens begins his story at the expected date of his daughter Betsy's birthing of her second child, Luke - his grandson. Goens' joy slowly twists into panic, then horror when phone calls from his son reveal that the process has gone awry. Stricken by a rare complication, Betsy delivers a healthy baby but dies soon after the birth. Thus begins Goens' journey of grief, anger and despair as he struggles to reconcile the paradox of his daughter's premature passing juxtaposed to the developing life of his grandchildren, their family and his own life. "Inexplicable events happen in life, many contrary to our belief in the natural order," he writes in the book's introduction. "Our rational plans and sense of equilibrium are upset. Chaos seems to reign in both our internal and external worlds. " Goens re-examines his beliefs, his relationships, his perceptions, his values, his fears and his dreams of the future. He relives his close relationship with his daughter, his mid-life crisis that included a scandalizing affair costing him his marriage and job, and another shocking loss involving the shooting murder of a school principal in a district for which he served as superintendent. He wrestles with a grief many of his friends label as "excessive" and is humbled by his inability to take their advice and "move on. " He comes to realize that, even while living in a community with family and friends, everyone must ultimately face loss alone in the quiet of their own hearts and souls. "Life's only script consists of birth and death," Goens writes. "We fill in what comes between. . . . Whimsy and mystery, serendipity and surprise fill our lives. The clichéd story of a main character succumbing to tragedy, falling into a funk, having an epiphany, and seeing the light and then proceeding back into normalcy doesn't really happen. . . . Finding peace takes time and is a creative process of small steps, plateaus, and setbacks," he adds. Woven throughout the book is Goens' poetry, in equal measures stirring, contemplative, and inspiring, as exemplified in "Love and Sorrow": Love and sorrow are two sides of the same coin One's sorrow is in direct proportion to one's love for another when they are gone. I am thinking of you in this time of unrelenting sorrow in celebration of your beautiful and endearing life. In spite of heart-wrenching circumstances, Goens and his family find a way to heal through acceptance and forgiveness, and he honors the life of his daughter by living his own to its full potential. Readers who have experienced their own devastating loss - or who are close to someone else who has - will find comfort, inspiration and wisdom in his story.
The Promise: A Tragic Accident, a Paralyzed Bride, and the Power of Love, Loyalty, and Friendship
by Rachelle FriedmanRachelle Friedman describes her life before and after her accident which leaves her paralyzed. In spite of the serious nature of her accident, she is able to form a new life. In this true story, she shows how the love of her friends, family, and inner strength helped her to recover from the emotional trauma and help others.
The Promise: A Ugandan Doctor's Mission
by Tracey WestThis is a children's book about a person from Uganda who decides to become a doctor because of her life experiences. This book also deals with AIDS.
The Promise: How an everyday hero made the impossible possible
by Arnold DixArnold Dix became an unlikely hero when he promised to save forty-one men trapped after a tunnel collapse in the Himalayas. This is his unforgettable story. In rural Victoria, Arnold Dix is known to locals as a farmer and a part-time truck driver. But his name reached global recognition when he played a pivotal role in rescuing forty-one Indian workers trapped after a deadly tunnel collapse. What many don&’t know is that Arnold is also a barrister, scientist, engineer – a &‘quirky&’ Aussie bloke who proves that extraordinary courage can come from the most unexpected places. In vivid detail, Arnold recounts the unlikely rescue that transformed him into a global hero. He reflects on the extraordinary challenges he faced, culminating in his unwavering promise: `Forty-one men are coming home alive.&’ But his incredible story goes far beyond this one remarkable event. Arnold&’s compassion also led him to assist thousands of migrant workers in Qatar, and his journey took him from surviving politically motivated assassination attempts in Albania to working in the tunnels of Ground Zero after 9/11. His story is one of steadfast courage, filled with themes of adventure, sacrifice and selflessness. It&’s a tale that explores what it truly means to defy the odds and challenge the status quo in pursuit of the impossible.
The Promise: President Obama, Year One
by Jonathan AlterIn The Reality of Hope Alter takes the reader into the inner circles of Obama's intimates, those who were there from the start, and the gradually expanding circles, to show for the first time the emotions, rivalries, alliances of the extremely tight-lipped and disciplined administration: Biden, whom he chose because he had the experience even though he was not an early supporter, Hillary, whom he had long wanted for Secretary of State. There are stunning portraits of Obama's oldest friends, including Valerie Jarrett, and his early supporters; the Kennedys, Daschle, and of the more volatile newcomers, Rahm of course, and Larry Summers, and Geitner. Watch the president dominate his Cabinet with silences and stares (instead of shouting like Clinton or LBJ). Add to that the knowledge that leaking can lose you your job. (One advisor called Obama, 'The most unsentimental man I have ever known. ') Obama is, in this portrait, self-aware and shrewd, well organized and confident, a natural leader who doesn't need or crave praise and is not given to spreading it around. (One intimate notes his praise is more likely to be 'What's next?' than 'Good job. ') Nevertheless he is equable and attentive, and he listens. (It's one of his techniques. ) In fact, if one doesn't have anything to say at his meetings, you may not be invited back. Alter characterizes Obama as a deductive thinker, and a fast one -- eager for action. It is said that Clinton's meetings always ran on too long and that Obama's may be too short.
The Promise: The Moving Story of a Family in the Holocaust
by Barbara PowersA Holocaust survivor's own story, told specially for young readers.This is the remarkable true story of a young Jewish girl and her brother caught in a world turned upside down by the Nazis during the Second World War. Eva Schloss describes her happy early childhood in Vienna with her kind and loving parents and her older brother Heinz, whom she adored. But when the Nazis marched into Austria everything changed.Eva's family fled to Belgium, then to Amsterdam where, with the help of the Dutch Resistance, they spent the next two years in hiding - Eva and her mother in one house, and her father and brother in another. But in the end they were all betrayed and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Despite the horrors of the camp, Eva's positive attitude and stubborn personality (which had often got her into trouble) saw her through one of the most tragic events in history but sadly her father and brother perished just weeks before the liberation. Eva and her mother travelled back to the house in Amsterdam where Heinz and his father had hidden and discovered over thirty beautiful paintings by her brother. Heinz hadn't wasted any of his talents during his captivity. For Eva, here was a tangible, everlasting memory of her beloved older brother, and a reminder of her father's promise that all the good things you accomplish will make a difference.Heinz's paintings have been on display in exhibitions in the USA and are now a part of a permanent exhibition in Amsterdam's war museum.Eva Schloss is the posthumous step-sister of Anne Frank, after mother, Fritzi, was remarried to Otto Frank, the only surviving member of his immediate family.
The Promised Land
by Mary Antin"A unique contribution to our modern literature and to our modern history." — The New York TimesThis classic of the Jewish-American immigrant experience was an instant critical and popular success upon its 1912 publication. Author Mary Antin arrived in the United States from Russia in the 1890s at the age of 12. Her memoir vividly recaptures scenes from both Old and New World cultures, chronicling the poverty and oppression of Czarist Russia as well as the excitement and challenges of her assimilation into American life at the turn of the twentieth century.Although she arrived without knowing a word of English, Antin wholeheartedly embraced her new home. "A kingdom in the slums," her Boston neighborhood afforded freedom and intellectual riches in the forms of a secular education, public library, and cultural activities at the local settlement house. This moving narrative articulates Antin's dreams as well as her stark realities, offering modern readers authentic and enduring perspectives of immigrant life.
The Prophet
by Isaac DeutscherFew political figures of the twentieth century have aroused such intensities of fierce admiration and reactionary fear as Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. His extraordinary life and extensive writings have left an indelible mark on the revolutionary consciousness. Yet there was once a danger that his life and influence would be relegated to the footnotes of history. Published over the course of ten years, beginning in 1954, Deutscher's magisterial three-volume biography turned back the tide of Stalin's propaganda, and has since been praised by everyone from Tony Blair to Graham Greene. In this definitive work, now reissued in a single volume, Trotsky's true stature emerges as the most heroic, and ultimately tragic, character of the Russian Revolution.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography
by Barnaby RogersonThe Prophet Muhammad is a hero for all mankind. In his lifetime he established a new religion, Islam; a new state, the first united Arabia; and a new literary language, the classical Arabic of the Qur'an, for the Qur'an is believed to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. A generation after his death he would be acknowledged as the founder of a world empire and a new civilisation. Any one of these achievements would have been more than enough to permanently establish his genius. To our early twenty-first century minds, what is all the more astonishing is that he also managed to stay true to himself and retained to his last days the humility, courtesy and humanity that he had learned as an orphan shepherd boy in central Arabia. If one looks for a parallel example from Christendom, you would have to combine the Emperor Constantine with St Francis and St Paul, an awesome prospect. Barnaby Rogerson's elegant biography not only looks directly at the life of the Prophet Muhammad, but beautifully evokes for western readers the Arabian world into which he was born in 570 AD.
The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography
by Norman Spinrad Barnaby RogersonThe Prophet Muhammad is a hero for all mankind. In his lifetime he established a new religion, Islam; a new state, the first united Arabia; and a new literary language, the classical Arabic of the Qur'an, for the Qur'an is believed to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. A generation after his death he would be acknowledged as the founder of a world empire and a new civilisation. Any one of these achievements would have been more than enough to permanently establish his genius. To our early twenty-first century minds, what is all the more astonishing is that he also managed to stay true to himself and retained to his last days the humility, courtesy and humanity that he had learned as an orphan shepherd boy in central Arabia. If one looks for a parallel example from Christendom, you would have to combine the Emperor Constantine with St Francis and St Paul, an awesome prospect. Barnaby Rogerson's elegant biography not only looks directly at the life of the Prophet Muhammad, but beautifully evokes for western readers the Arabian world into which he was born in 570 AD.
The Prophet Muhammad: A Role Model for Muslim Minorities
by Muhammad Yasin SiddiqiThis book identifies what guidance the Prophet's example offers for Muslims living as a minority. In so doing, the author examines how Islam was practised in Makkah under constant prejudice, how Muslims led their lives as migrants in Abyssinia and how Muslim minorities were treated by the Islamic state of Madinah.
The Prophet of the Andes: An Unlikely Journey to the Promised Land
by Graciela MochkofskyThe remarkable true story of how one Peruvian carpenter led hundreds of Christians to Judaism, sparking a pilgrimage from the Andes to Israel and inspiring a wave of emerging Latin American Jewish communities &“If Gabriel García Márquez had written the Old Testament, it might read like Graciela Mochkofsky's staggering true account of a humble Peruvian carpenter's spiritual odyssey from a shack in the Andes, via the Amazon, to the Promised Land of Israel with a community of devoted followers." —Judith Thurman, award-winning author of Isak DinesenSegundo Villanueva was born in 1927 in a tiny farming village perched in the Andes; when he was seventeen, his father was murdered and Segundo was left with little more than a Bible as his inheritance. This Bible launched Segundo on a lifelong obsession to find the true message of God contained in its pages. He found himself looking for answers outside the Catholic Church, whose hierarchy and colonial roots embodied the gaping social and racial inequities of Peruvian society. Over years of religious study, Segundo explored various Protestant sects and founded his own religious community in the Amazon jungle before discovering a version of Judaism he pieced together independently from his readings of the Old Testament. His makeshift synagogue began to draw in crowds of fervent believers, seeking a faith that truly served their needs. Then, in a series of extraordinary events, politically motivated Israeli rabbis converted the community to Orthodox Judaism and resettled them on the West Bank. Segundo&’s incredible journey made him an unlikely pioneer for a new kind of Jewish faith, one that is now attracting masses of impoverished people across Latin America. Through detailed reporting and a deep understanding of religious and cultural history, Graciela Mochkofsky documents this unprecedented and momentous chapter in the history of modern religion. This is a moving and fascinating story of faith and the search for dignity and meaning.
The Prophet's Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib
by Hassan AbbasThe life and legacy of one of Mohammad&’s closest confidants and Islam&’s patron saint: Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib is arguably the single most important spiritual and intellectual authority in Islam after prophet Mohammad. Through his teachings and leadership as fourth caliph, Ali nourished Islam. But Muslims are divided on whether he was supposed to be Mohammad&’s political successor—and he continues to be a polarizing figure in Islamic history. Hassan Abbas provides a nuanced, compelling portrait of this towering yet divisive figure and the origins of sectarian division within Islam. Abbas reveals how, after Mohammad, Ali assumed the spiritual mantle of Islam to spearhead the movement that the prophet had led. While Ali&’s teachings about wisdom, justice, and selflessness continue to be cherished by both Shia and Sunni Muslims, his pluralist ideas have been buried under sectarian agendas and power politics. Today, Abbas argues, Ali&’s legacy and message stands against that of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Taliban.