Reviews Articles
‘Dublin Quakers (1650-1900)’, by Richard S Harrison
T his book on the growth of Quakerism in Ireland, specifically Dublin, offers a most interesting account of the spiritual, industrial and enterprising life of Friends there. It is the first study of Dublin Quakers, covering their contacts, growth, business, social, spiritual and philanthropic life. Richard S Harrison is a...
‘Postscript’, by Patricia Gosling
Postscript is a fascinating, far-ranging survey of contemporary issues by a retired psychotherapist. Finding release from the constraints of her profession, Patricia Gosling discovered a freedom of expression she has brought to bear over a range of thought-provoking and emotionally-felt observations.
‘Lock Down’: a play by Journeymen Theatre
‘That’s the system – no system!’ This is the repeated cry of Ron, serving a life sentence, during Lynn and Dave Morris’ new drama, premiered to a full audience in Stourbridge Meeting House on 26 February. The play is packed with stories and incidents that make his case for him. They...
‘The Future of Capitalism’ by Paul Collier
Publications on how to set the world to rights abound. Many focus on single issues but even the most committed Friends will look at the ills explored in this book and agree that climate change isn’t the only game in town. It hits many targets, combined as a coherent...
‘The Time for Peace is Now: Gospel music about us’ – Various Artists
When Pops Staples first got his family together to sing it was at his brother’s church. It was 1948, with all that meant for a black musical group in the USA, even one touring churches: segregation, harrassment and worse. But one of those churches was Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in...
‘Peace Camping: A history’ by Michael Waugh
In his many years of campaigning against nuclear weapons, Michael Waugh has taken part in a large number of Peace Camps, some well known and some barely known beyond the activist community. He has established a reputation for encyclopaedic knowledge of the peace movement, which has led him to put...
Understanding, Nurturing and Working Effectively with Vulnerable Children in Schools by Angela Green
As a tutor on our Area Meeting’s ‘Peaceful Schools’ project I found a lot of parallels with the work of Quaker Angela Greenwood. We Friends have been talking a lot about the need to really hear what others are saying, rather than just reacting to attitudes and behaviour we...
‘The Woman Who Cracked the Anxiety Code’ by Judith Hoare
This is the story of the Australian doctor Claire Weekes (1903-1990). It is fascinating. Weekes was first a zoologist, specialising in the development of the placenta in mammals, for which she received a doctorate in science. She found a species of lizard which sometimes laid eggs and sometimes gave birth...
‘The Offbeat Bible: The old stories retold’, by Paul Hunt
Modernisations of Bible stories go back, in English, at least to the eighth-century Dream of the Rood, in which the Crucifixion is narrated by the cross itself. Before the Reformation, such rewritings, supplementing the sketchy narratives of the Bible, generally aimed to increase the readers’/hearers’ devotion. Now the picture...
‘Berlin to London: An emotional history of two refugees’ by Esther Saraga
One might think the market is flooded with books about and by refugees, but this one is an exceptional treat. It is a combination of a couple’s personal story (Wolja and Lotte) and a context reseached meticulously by their daughter, Esther Saraga.