Slightly off-mint.

Off-mint

Slightly off-mint.

The modern separation of religion from other aspects of life is one of many unintended consequences of the Reformation that would have shocked Martin Luther. This study of the devout Augustinian friar and his influence sets Luther within his cultural and intellectual contexts to explain what he was trying to achieve. It then traces 500 years of epochal changes, from the Enlightenment to consumerism, which were caused by the resulting political and social upheavals across Europe. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

In How Do We Look, Mary Beard explores how the human body was portrayed in the earliest art, including the colossal Olmec heads of Central America, Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese warriors and Praxiteles’ Aphrodite in ancient Greece. In Part Two, The Eye of Faith she visits Buddhist temples, Christian art and architecture, and Islamic mosques and calligraphy to explore the relationship between art and religion and the endeavour to make the divine visible.

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.

In this book accompanying his BBC radio series, the former director of the British Museum explores the role of shared beliefs in the life of human communities around the globe. Rather than focusing on religious doctrine, he concentrates on practices, objects and places, tracing how societies from the Ice Age onwards have used stories and rituals to mark their identity and strengthen cohesion: ‘for in deciding how we live with our gods we also decide how to live with each other’.

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.

The minority religions of the Middle East continue to practise faiths and customs that preserve the last vestiges of great ancient empires. But today the turmoil in the region threatens the survival of their small communities. A former British diplomat here draws on his encounters with such groups as the Yazidis, Zoroastrians and Copts as he describes their history and explains why they have refused inducements to abandon their beliefs. Foreword by Rory Stewart.

‘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.)

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’.

Described by Lord Denning as ‘the greatest constitutional document of all times’, Magna Carta is widely seen as a guarantor of individual rights and freedom from tyranny. But how is a charter forced on a medieval king by his barons relevant today? This comprehensive, accessible and richly illustrated volume explains its origins, how it has been interpreted through the centuries, and the inspiration it provides to those wishing to build democratic societies across the world.

One of Methodism’s earliest traditions was the ‘band meeting’, at which a small group of people came together and confessed their sins, in order to grow in holiness and to foster community. Drawing extensively on personal accounts by those who attended them, Watson explains why Wesley considered regular band meetings so important, shows how they grew from a synthesis of Anglican and Moravian concepts of piety and suggests why they declined during the 19th century.

Amid the dangers of the modern Middle East, adherents of the obscure Mandaean religion still practise weekly river baptisms, following the example of their most important prophet, John the Baptist. Smith investigates the history of the Mandaeans, asking whether their mysterious sect could be the last survival of ancient Gnosticism, as they claim. He also considers their links to other ancient religions, their possible influence on the Knights Templar and their belief that Jesus himself was an apostate Mandaean.

The Ranters were a group of religious libertarians who flourished shortly after the execution of Charles I during the English Civil War. Expressing their spiritual liberty, and their alleged commitment to free love, Ranter writings were remarkably candid and daring. This scholarly anthology brings together some of the most visionary texts by Abiezer Coppe, Laurence Clarkson, Joseph Salmon and Jacob Bauthumley. Second edition, with a new foreword by the author.

Described by the Financial Times as ‘an excellent antidote to prejudice’, this concise account of Muslim history emphasizes the importance of rethinking the Western mistrust of Islam which dates back to the time of the Crusades. As well as challenging stereotypes and highlighting how the faith has inspired scholars, mystics and poets, it reveals how Islam’s ‘sacralization of history’ means that the religion, its past history and current events are woven together especially closely.

One of the most controversial episodes in recent Biblical archaeology has concerned a hoard of ring-bound lead books allegedly discovered in a remote Jordanian valley. Could these be the oldest Christian artefacts ever found? Are they genuine? The Elkingtons, who first saw photographs of them in 2007, recount their subsequent quest to track down and authenticate the codices and to investigate the possible meanings of their texts and symbols in the context of early Christianity and Judaism.

The architect AWN Pugin (1812-1852) was England's leading exponent of the Gothic revival. In this pioneering work, first published in 1843, he espouses Gothic of the early 14th century as the pinnacle of architectural excellence. New introduction by Michael Fisher.

The Druids have been perceived, and misunderstood, in many different ways – from the barbaric priests making human sacrifices the Romans described, to ancient exponents of 'New Age' philosophy. Peter Beresford Ellis sifts through archaeological, etymological and Greek and Roman written evidence to provide a fully researched account of the Druids, revealing them as the intellectual caste – the doctors, lawyers, ambassadors and advisors – of ancient Celtic society