• A complex story, well told, that describes the rise and development of one of the nation’s most important and uniquely American religious institutions • Documents a sacred place where the nation has celebrated some of its greatest triumphs and grieved some of its greatest losses • Site at the crossroads of American life and culture, where major national issues have been discussed and illuminated, including civil rights and the war in Vietnam This new book provides a history of Washington National Cathedral from its inception to the modern day, focusing finally on the episcopacy of Bishop John T. Walker, who died in the fall of 1989.
Step inside Washington's own Gothic cathedral Despite being built entirely during the 20th century (1907-1990), the techniques used to construct the Washington National Cathedral were the same as those used on the centuries-old Gothic churches in Europe. What powered the larger tools and cranes was different, but otherwise, the processes, ordering, and artistic finishing were almost entirely medieval. The last time a building of this magnitude was built using these techniques, cameras did not exist. Images of America: Building Washington National Cathedral divides the 20th century into decades to detail what must be the first published beginning-to-completion photographic record of the construction of a Gothic cathedral.
The New York State Capitol sits majestically at the head of Albany's State Street, a masterpiece of civic architecture and decorative design. Built between 1867 and 1899, it was the work of four architects—Thomas Fuller, Leopold Eidlitz, Henry Hobson Richardson, and Isaac Perry—who labored under geologically difficult, structurally challenging, and politically exasperating conditions. The building is also the product of hundreds of highly skilled masons and exceptional stone carvers. It is a feat of architectural design and engineering expertise, with superlatively executed interior features and finishes. First published in 1964 and reissued in 1982, C. R. Roseberry's Capitol Story tells the fascinating story of the Capitol's design and construction. This revised and expanded edition includes new information based on research done over the past twenty years, and brings the story up to date with a new chapter on the extensive interior and exterior restorations that were completed in 2013. The book also includes scores of new, specially commissioned, full-color photographs; notes; and an index. Capitol Story will appeal to a wide audience—young and old, New Yorkers and visitors, architecture and history buffs. More importantly, it will help build an educated constituency for the Capitol, one that will understand and be prepared to preserve the building in the years to come.
The third installment of the New Earth Trilogy finds Alex Hanken facing the ultimate threat to the planet Earth. In the terrifying conclusion of this series Alex must not only summon his courage, but the nation's as well, to face what could very well be the end of mankind. Alex reconstitutes his team of specialists from the ranks of his own family, the FBI, the U.S. Navy Seals, and the two Russian spies that came together to help in restoring democracy to the United States in the second book of the trilogy. A massive effort is put in motion to help prepare the nation for the impending disaster. The nation's economic might is unleashed against the backdrop of an unrelenting force of the universe moving toward the planet...a heartless, mindless entity that knows no geographic boundaries, speaks no language, and recognizes no God. While the world prepares for the inevitable rendezvous with fate, the story takes you around the globe so you can witness the drama that unfolds in people's lives and how they react to the reality they may perish very soon. This book is about courage, faith, human nature, and what desperate people will do when they fear for their lives. But in the end it's about an American patriot that steps forward when the nation needs him the most.
Robert Klitgaard is a world-renowned advisor to governments and international organizations as they face upheavals and make transformative decisions. Here he turns his attention to our "big choices." Moving across history, literature, philosophy, psychology, and everyday life, he shows how heroes can help us make transformative decisions about careers, romance, family, emigration, joining or leaving a religion or a political movement, and more. We see how to experiment with different callings, how to find and use big insights, and how to share and serve with compassion. We all confront upheavals and big choices, especially in these times of pandemics, economic turmoil, and dehumanization. We seek ideas and inspiration, not formulas or condescension. Prevail is full of twists and surprises and fascinating characters. In a world of skim-milk self-help, this is a book to savor and come back to, again and again.
"I have made it my concern to hunt out this technique for your study as I learned it by looking and listening." On Divers Arts, c. 1122, is the oldest extant manual on artistic crafts to be written by a practicing artist. Before Theophilus, manuscripts on the arts came from scholars and philosophers standing outside the actual profession. On Divers Arts describes actual 12th-century techniques in painting, glass, and metalwork, which the Benedictine author wished to pass on to those gifted by God with a talent for making beautiful things. Theophilus teaches, with rigorous attention to fact but also with great reverence the making of pigments for fresco painting, the manufacture of glue, the technique of gold leaf on parchment (the first recorded European reference to true paper), how to blow glass and design stained glass windows, how to fashion gold and silver chalices, and how to make a pipe organ and church bells. Precise instruction on enameling, chasing, repoussé, niello, and beaded wire work prove Theophilus's first-hand knowledge of his craft. While 90 percent of Theophilus's writing is sound technical knowledge, medieval folk lore occasionally spices his text: "Tools are also made harder by hardening them in the urine of a small red-headed boy than by doing so in plain water." But the magnificent fact of On Divers Art remains its status as the first technical treatise on painting, glass, and metalwork, for which actual specimens still survive. The editors have taken care to ensure both philological and technological accuracy for this authoritative edition of a medieval classic, a manual of great importance to craftsmen, historians of art and science, and all who delight in the making of the beautiful.
Robert Forester is the grandson and son of the pastors of Billingham Bible Church. When the founder retires and the son is unable to continue as pastor, the grandson is expected to keep the line going and move into the pulpit of the church. Only the grandson isn't so sure. His study of religion in college and then at seminary, as well as conversations with a varied group of spiritual leaders, leads to questions and doubts that threaten his call to ministry. He’s not even sure he believes in God. Throughout the story, the youngest Forester wonders about his place in ministry and really questions just what it is he believes. During his struggles, his long-time girlfriend falls in love with someone else, and simultaneously, he falls in love with the granddaughter of one of his grandfather’s best friends, a prominent scholar, and professor at Union Theological Seminary, in New York. Through interactions with people as varied as his favorite professor in college, a restaurant owner in New York, a Buddhist nun, an Anglican priest, and several characters who enter the story and then mysteriously disappear from the story, the younger Forester discerns what he will do with his life and what he believes. In the end, after a series of strange appearances, he confronts his doubts and makes a decision that will alter the course of his life forever.
