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After an introductory, general account of the cathedral, this collection of 13 papers covers a variety of specialized subjects, among them the cult of St Kentigern at the cathedral in the 12th century, Scottish Romanesque sculpture, the stellar vaults of the inner crypt, and excavations at the cathedral in 1992–3.

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In this collection of his recent writing, Duffy engages with historians’ growing interest in the material culture and practices by which medieval Christians articulated their convictions. Shedding light on Western religion between the decline of pagan Rome and the Reformation, the 21 essays focus both on physical objects, from relics and images of saints to the mysterious Voynich manuscript, and on responses to such varied phenomena as sacred song, holy war and plague.

From the music of ancient Israel to modern country, folk and jazz, this richly illustrated history introduces the extraordinary breadth of Christian musical expression through the ages. The book traces both liturgical traditions and non-liturgical sacred music across the world, from Europe to China, and draws on the expertise of a team of scholars and musicians to discuss themes as varied as psalms, medieval chant, the 19th-century ‘hymn industry’ and the American gospel tradition.

The twelve essays in this volume are by philosophers who engage directly with the theme of wisdom in the Christian tradition. In discussions that range across themes from obedience and responsibility to ‘the wisdom of hope in a despairing world’, the contributors analyse the spiritual or cruciform wisdom that, in the words of Professor Moser, ‘inherently involves an engaged personal will and not just claims about a will’.

The 488 personal jottings that form Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations have significantly influenced Western thought but lack clear order and sequence. Stedall’s dialogues make these Stoic ideas more accessible, as the Roman Emperor converses with historical figures including the Greek doctor Galen and Egyptian priest Harnouphis. Slightly off-mint.

In December 1943 Churchill withdrew support from anti-communist partisans in Yugoslavia and threw his weight behind Tito. Using recently declassified documents, this history explains how senior figures in Whitehall and the SOE acted as the Yugoslav leader’s mouthpiece, doctoring or suppressing reports critical of him. It also reveals how Tito’s forces scarcely harassed the German occupiers, but instead used arms provided by Britain to massacre thousands of his opponents during and after the war.

In these conversations, recorded by Antonio Spadaro, Pope Francis shares his thoughts on some of the issues facing the church, his Papacy and the world. In informal dialogue with people from all walks of life, he confronts the tension between faith and fundamentalism, ecumenism, social justice, and the struggle for human rights in Myanmar and Latin America.

In 1780, the anti-Papist Gordon riots left 1,000 dead and London in flames; half a century later, Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act. This narrative history charts the struggles that brought about that conclusion. It profiles the key players, including George III, a staunch opponent of emancipation; the political rivals Wellington and Peel; and the Irish campaigner Daniel O’Connell; and examines the conflict between the right to practise one’s religion and allegiance to the state.

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Should a self-confessed murderer be allowed to become a priest? In 1984 the Church of Scotland wrestled with this question when James Nelson, who had served a prison sentence for killing his mother, applied for ordination as a minister. Kelly uses this case as the starting-point for a history of the Church in Scotland, which also combines personal memoir, true-crime narrative and an exegesis of biblical and literary accounts of sin and forgiveness.

The Archbishop of Westminster explores how Christians can listen with greater attention to the voice of God and how they can better convey its message in their words and actions. In particular, he invites the reader to respond to an altarpiece by Pietro Orioli, reflects on the place of religious literacy in education and encourages us to build a more peaceful world through inter-faith dialogue.

An Anzac veteran, Sydney Loch (1888–1955) and his wife Joyce settled in Thessalonika, in the last village where women were allowed before the wall of the male-only Athos peninsula. Drawing on 25 years of living there and exploring the Holy Mountain, this is Loch’s account of the autonomous region inhabited only by Orthodox monks, living in monasteries on the flanks of the mountain and keeping Byzantine time, in which the day begins at sunset. First published in 1957. Small print

Although Jesus’ conversation with Pilate was a moment of enormous political and theological significance, the Roman governor of Judaea is a shadowy figure in the Gospel accounts. Schiavone takes the reader on a ‘journey within early Christian memory’ to investigate what can be learned from those narratives and their intersection with Judaeo-Roman historiography: who was Pilate, what was he thinking during his questioning of Jesus and how did he become a figure of such controversy and ambiguity? American-cut pages.

Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, made his debut in April 1950, in the first issue of Eagle. A reaction to contemporary American imports, the revolutionary comic was the brainchild of the Rev Marcus Morris (1915–89). Co-written by his daughter, this is the first biography of an unconventional churchman and a visionary editor.

The earliest surviving accounts of Jesus’ life date from several decades after his death, and their reliability has been questioned. Ehrman brings a fresh approach to the study of the Gospels, drawing on research, by anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists, which examines how memory is distorted and how stories change within oral traditions. He argues that the Gospels form ‘shared memories of the past’ that reveal how the early Christians’ beliefs about Jesus were shaped by the world in which they lived. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

Joseph Hall (1574–1656), the Bishop of Norwich, was a prolific author of sermons and other religious tracts; this volume focuses on two, his The Art of Divine Meditation (1606) and Occasional Meditations (1633). Providing critical editions of both texts, with notes and a substantial introduction, Huntley argues that these works show how Hall’s writings were crucial to the development of a ‘non-Jesuitical, Protestant and English mode of meditation’. Off-mint.

How should Christian religions adapt to today’s changing culture? The author argues that this question is best answered by considering the founders of monastic traditions, from the Greek-educated Clement of Alexandria (who died c.215 CE) to 12th-century reformer St Bernard. He explains how these early Fathers skilfully selected the spiritual treasures of the ancients and adapted them for new contexts.

Pope Pius XII has been much criticized for his role during the Second World War, particularly his alleged appeasement of the Nazis and failure to intervene on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust. This reappraisal challenges that view. Drawing on letters and other documents from the Vatican archives, it reveals his work for peace, his support for prisoners of war, and his efforts to save Jewish lives in Italy. Slightly off-mint.

Described by Newman as ‘a man of elegant genius, of classical mind, of rare talent in literary composition’, Frederick Oakeley (1802–1880) was the principal figure in the second generation of the Oxford Movement, renowned for his love of well-performed liturgy and music – and his hymn, O Come all ye faithful. Among his achievements, this biography examines Oakeley’s pioneering experiment at Margaret Chapel in London, where he was the first to translate the Oxford Movement’s theology into liturgical practice.

Written by a Carmelite solitary, this introduction to the Order focuses on its early years as a small group of hermits at the time of the Crusades and its development up to the era of the great 16th-century figures, with chapters on Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.

The texts in this collection were excised from the liturgy in the 16th century, but have been newly arranged for use in modern worship. Mostly translated for the first time, they comprise sequences originally sung before the Gospel, prayers from the ancient Gallican rite and a variety of poems. The items are organized according to the seasons of the church’s year; each is accompanied by a short commentary.

The Jesuit Father Martin D'Arcy (1888–1976) was eminent both as a theologian and an aesthete. As Master of Campion Hall, Oxford, he rebuilt the house to a design by Lutyens, while his converts included Evelyn Waugh, Lord Longford and Edith Sitwell. This biography investigates his career and beliefs; his tragic friendship with Henry John, son of the painter Augustus; and his abrupt dismissal as Superior of the English Jesuit Province.

Presenting a range of clerical botanists, zoologists, geologists and conservationists, Patrick Armstrong explores the social milieu in which they worked and the powerful networks of colleagues they created.

Nearly 800 years after St Cuthbert founded a monastic cell on one of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, an anonymous monk there composed these six meditations on the Crucified Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Angels, Abraham and David, John the Evangelist, and Cuthbert himself, and they remain a source of spiritual guidance to Christians today. Slightly off-mint.

In a series of dialogues, Cardinal Bergoglio – the future Pope Francis – and the rabbi and biophysicist Abraham Skorka discuss the big issues facing humanity today, and their implications for the faithful. The two proponents of inter-faith dialogue engage with theological topics including guilt and prayer; church debates over same-sex marriage, abortion and divorce; and political concerns such as communism and capitalism, fundamentalism, and the challenge of globalization.

‘Words,’ writes the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew in the foreword to this book, ‘are much more than conventional utterances.’ They are ‘our most intimate reflection of divinity.’ In this collection of more than 50 essays, writers from around the world examine the meaning of words that feature prominently in the utterances of Pope Francis – capitalism, conscience, family, immigrant, money, reform, women – and discuss what they reveal about him and his ministry.

The niece of Henry VIII and half-sister of James V of Scotland, Lady Margaret Douglas (1515–1578) held a uniquely influential position in the Tudor Court. As the Protestant Reformation gathered momentum and the royal line of succession remained in doubt, her main objective was to see her descendants rule a united, Catholic Britain. This biography draws on previously unexamined archival sources to tell her complex story.

The Catholic priest Father Allan MacDonald (1859–1905) was not only a much-loved champion of his Hebridean parishioners on Eriskay, but also an accomplished Gaelic poet and one of Scotland's greatest collectors of folklore. Hutchinson's beautifully written book recounts the life and work of this remarkable man against the richly evoked backdrop of an island landscape where myth and spirituality entwine.

Between 1529 and 1558, hundreds of the ‘heretics’ who were sentenced to death by burning were burnt at Smithfield, in London, near the Priory of St Bartholomew. This study of the Smithfield martyrs, particularly those who were condemned during the reign of Mary Tudor, also looks at the careers of two men who witnessed the burnings: Richard Rich, the courtier who sent many to their deaths; and John Deane, the priest of St Bartholomew’s chapel, who helped some to survive.

Because it formed the core of medieval devotional practice, the Book of Psalms was frequently copied as a separate volume for private reading. This study focuses on 13 examples, now in the collections of two Dublin libraries but with origins across Europe, which illustrate the diversity of such psalters’ design. Ranging from the lavishly decorated to the more austerely utilitarian, the manuscripts offer clues to the ways in which medieval readers scrutinized and engaged with the text.

This celebrated spiritual handbook by Thomas à Kempis (1380–1471) is divided into four sections: ‘Admonitions Useful for a Spiritual Life’, ‘Admonitions Tending to Things Eternal’, ‘Of Internal Consolation’, and ‘Concerning the Sacrament’. Slightly off-mint.

Rich in character and incident, Bunyan’s greatest work after Pilgrim’s Progress is a dramatic account of the battle waged by Shaddai (God) and Emanuel (Jesus) against the Devil for possession of the city of Mansoul. Off-mint.

In vivid and powerful language, Bunyan’s spiritual autobiography charts his sinful youth, his painful religious revelation, and his trial and imprisonment in Bedford jail. An afterword by the publisher describes his last years and death. Off-mint.

Annotated with dates and scriptural references, the 24 maps in this visual guide track the journeys of Biblical characters and indicate the locations of key events, from the time of Noah’s flood to the death of St Paul.

In 1780 the anti-Papist Gordon riots left 1,000 dead and London in flames; half a century later, Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act. This narrative history charts the struggles that brought about that conclusion. It profiles the key players, including George III (a staunch opponent of emancipation), the political rivals Wellington and Peel, and the Irish campaigner Daniel O’Connell, and examines the conflict between the right to practise one’s religion and allegiance to the state.

One of the less well-known works by Gregory, Bishop of Tours (575 to 594), this text is a series of anecdotes about ‘confessors’, whose faith was manifest in their exemplary lives, and their miracles. Translated, with introduction and notes for the Translated Texts for Historians series

In the period between the early 14th and mid 16th century, prelates – cardinals, bishops and monastic superiors – had considerable power, wealth and cultural influence. This study, comprising twelve essays, examines their exercise of power, their patronage of books and libraries, and their material wealth.

Timothy Briden’s new edition of Garth Moore’s classic introduction to canon law preserves the original, lucid analysis while updating the text in line with modern legislation and new measures such as clergy discipline and terms of service.

Dante, with Virgil as his guide, descends through the circles of Hell, from the limbo of the unbaptized to Lucifer and Judas Iscariot in the deepest chasm. This is the first part of The Divine Comedy, translated by Longfellow in 1867, and now presented in Canterbury Classics’ Word Cloud series. Flexibound in mock leather with foil embossed quotations. Off-mint.

In 2013 Benedict XVI became the only Pope to resign from office in modern times. In these conversations with the religious journalist Peter Seewald, he discusses the reasons for his resignation and his admiration for his successor, speaking frankly about the controversies that have dogged the Church, including ‘Vatileaks’ and the child abuse scandal, and revealing his thoughts about his life, his philosophy, his mistakes, and the future of Christianity.

An historian and parish priest, Dr Robert Beaken gives a detailed account of the impact of the First World War on life in the ancient garrison town of Colchester, focusing on the parish churches and their response to the challenges of wartime.

Against the familiar view of puritans as killjoys, this study reveals a neglected strand of puritan theology in the writings and pastoral work of Ralph Venning, an Independent divine who emphasized the importance of inner happiness and personal piety.

Who were the Apostles and what was their relationship to Jesus? Was James the Less really his brother? This synthesis of travelogue and biblical history ranges from Rome and Jerusalem, Turkey and Russia to India and Kyrgyzstan to seek answers to these ancient enigmas. Exploring the way the identities of the Apostles have evolved over two millennia, Tom Bissell charts the growth of Christianity from an obscure sect to the global faith we know today.

Shirley Leach lived a life of comfort and privilege and her calling from God took her by surprise. Nevertheless, a few months later she became Sister Agatha, and her faith in this life-changing decision never faltered. At the age of 85, she recounts how her belief cost her her family but gave her life a deeper meaning. Slightly off-mint.

‘Christianity doesn’t abrogate the Old Testament; it completes it.’ Limbaugh presents a reading of the 39 books from Genesis to Malachi, arguing that they offer rich and plentiful insights to help us understand Jesus’ life, deeds and message. After an overview of Old Testament history and key themes such as prophecy, covenants and salvation, he unlocks each book’s mysteries through an analysis of the passages that herald the coming of the Saviour. (Previously published as The Emmaus Code.)

Described by the author as a kind of spiritual ‘speed dating’, this book comprises brief introductions to the teachings of the greatest mystics and contemplatives in the Western Christian tradition. The thinkers, who range from Origen and Julian of Norwich to CS Lewis and Simone Weil, are presented as examples of nine ‘personality types’, which include Visionaries, Poets and Heretics.

In this collection of moving personal testimonies, modern people relate their experiences to the Stations of the Cross and resurrection. Contributors include Archbishops John Sentamu and Vincent Nicholls; Sister Wendy Beckett; Peter Hitchens; Margaret Mizen, the mother of a murdered teenager; Kelly Connor, who ran over and killed an innocent victim; and Anne Maguire, of the wrongfully convicted Maguire Seven. Slightly off-mint.

Six episcopal thrones survive from 14th-century cathedral churches. In this scholarly volume, Charles Tracy presents in-depth studies of the timber thrones in Exeter, St David’s and Hereford Cathedrals and the impressive, canopied oak bishop’s chair in Lincoln; Andrew Budge contributes a chapter on the two stone episcopal thrones at Wells and Durham Cathedrals. There is much additional information in appendices, and the studies are lavishly illustrated with photographs, plans and line drawings of the thrones.

In the first anthology of its kind, Geffert and Stavrou have compiled more than 100 primary sources in translation – letters and memoirs, official documents, treatises and homilies – to illustrate how Eastern Christianity developed from its Roman origins to the Soviet era and beyond. The texts are preceded by accessible editorial introductions, which explain their cultural and historical background as well as highlighting their importance for understanding the trends, controversies and reforms that have shaped the Orthodox tradition.

By preaching in the open and visiting lay people at home, mendicant friars took religion outside church buildings. Yet, despite their dedication to apostolic poverty, the friars were criticized for their churches’ considerable size. In her study of the ‘social lives of buildings’, Bruzelius describes how friars’ activities shaped the interior and exterior spaces of medieval cities; in particular explaining how individual donors’ requests for intercessory prayers and burial rights led to the episodic expansion and decoration of the friars’ convents.

Daniel Hobbins looks beyond the ecclesiastical career of Jean Gerson (1363–1429) to present the French theologian as representative of his wider cultural era and an author active at a time when written culture was rapidly expanding.

Bamber Gascoigne tells the story of the Christian faith, from its origins in the Roman Empire, through the glories of Byzantium and the machinations of Renaissance popes, to the Soviet Union’s hostility to religion. His entertaining narrative sets Christianity in the context of other world religions and explains the forces behind its development over time. Revised edition of The Christians, originally written to accompany Gascoigne’s 1977 television series.

In 1517 Martin Luther, the ‘indispensable firestarter’, launched his 95 theses protesting the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church. From the upheaval of the Reformation that followed, Alec Ryrie’s fast-paced and engaging history traces five centuries of Protestantism, across the globe and across a vast diversity of sects and movements, to Pentecostalism in the 20th century and the situation today. ‘We cannot understand the modern age,’ writes Ryrie, ‘without understanding the dynamic history of Protestant Christianity’.

Pope Gregory X (1271–1276) died before the crusade he planned could be launched; but Baldwin uses a study of Gregory’s preparations to reveal the changing nature of crusading and particularly the passagium particulare.

Thomas C Oden summarizes Wesley’s voluminous ethical writings on such subjects as slavery, war and the danger of riches. Under the headings of social, economic, political and theological ethics, he explains Wesley’s thought in everyday language for a modern audience.

Rome, 1922: two men assume power in their respective spheres, the sacred and the secular. Superficially, Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini could not have been less alike, yet they shared a social conservatism and hatred of democracy. Combining meticulous research in the Vatican archives with narrative drive, this groundbreaking history reveals the controversial truth of their unholy alliance, and how, as Il Duce grew closer to Hitler, the ailing pontiff began to sense that something had gone terribly wrong… American-cut pages.