Reviews Articles
Is He Out There? Debating The God Delusion, by Paul Laffan
This book is essential reading, but what an awful title! Is He Out There? We Quakers, connoisseurs of interiority (and somewhat scientifically minded too, on a good day), know the answer to that question. But this book is not an exercise in sifting false from true religion. Here, Paul Laffan...
The Good Prison Officer: Inside perspectives, edited by Andi Brierley
This book is written by past prisoners, all of whom are now professional practitioners and educators in the criminal justice field. They draw on lived experience, as well as diverse literature on penal policy, to explore examples of professional practice.
75 Years of Stories: Caux 1946-2021, by Initiatives of Change Switzerland
This is a remarkable book of personal stories, all of which took place at the Caux Palace Hotel in Switzerland. In 1946 this 500-bed hotel was about to be pulled down. It had been a refugee centre through much of world war two, and was in disrepair. But 100 Swiss who were...
Time For Socialism: Dispatches from a world on Fire, 2016-2021, by Thomas Piketty
This book is a call for more socialism. It also presents a case for the redesign of the European Union. Thomas Piketty envisages a large-scale re-distribution of income, using progressive taxation on super-rich corporations and individuals, whose wealth has increased by an astonishing amount since the low tax regimes inaugurated...
Style or Not to Style, That is the Question: A story of the book, by Gaia Vince
This short (ninety-page) book is imaginatively and clearly presented. It tells the story of the printed word, from the earliest of times until the present day. In particular, it tells the story of the printed word in York – and who better to tell the story than Michael Sessions, a director...
Nomad Century: How to survive the climate upheaval, by Gaia Vince
This book is subtitled ‘How to survive the climate upheaval’. Given the state of the world my grandson will inherit, I decided to buy it for him as an antidote to the economics he will soon begin studying. I ended up borrowing it myself.
Inner Healing, Inner Peace: A Quaker perspective, by John Lampen and Diana Lampen
This is a book full of good things to marvel at, understand and apply. So much of it rings bells after the trauma of the pandemic, and its impact on families and loved ones. The issues of tension and conflict are a focus, but there is also a remarkable section...
The Varieties of Spiritual Experience: 21st century research and perspectives, by David B Yaden and
Have you ever had a spiritual experience? If so, you are among the thirty-five per cent of people who have, according to this fascinating book.
A Friendly Word, by Stephen Sayers
This book is relatively short, only about twenty pages, but it covers a huge amount of ground – Quaker ground. It aims to explain what it means to be a Quaker to young people over the age of about seven years.
You Matter: The human solution, by Delia Smith
Yes, this book is by that Delia – the one who taught us to cook, the part owner of Norwich City Football Club. The years have passed and she has turned from food and football to philosophy. Much influenced by the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the (almost heretical) French...