Reviews Articles
‘What You Have Heard Is True: A memoir of witness and resistance’, by Carolyn Forché
In 1977, Carolyn Forché was twenty-seven, and had already packed a whole life into those years. She had won the Yale Younger Poets competition, translated poetry by Salvadoran émigré Claribel Alegría, received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and begun teaching at a Californian university.
‘When Christians Were Jews: The first generation’, by Paula Fredriksen
Quakers traditionally do not follow the Christian calendar of fasts and festivals. Nevertheless I find myself each year reflecting on how modern scholars seek to explain the events before and after the first Easter.
‘Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister,’ by Jung Chang
Insofar as this book gives a history of China – which it does as background – it reads like a tragedy. At the end of the nineteenth century Cixi, the empress dowager, took steps to modernise the country. Jung Chang describes China’s search for democracy during 1913-28. It had a parliamentary...
‘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...