Renaissance Books

This work is a wonderful scholarly work that is rich in theology. Most Theological Aesthetic works lean heavily on art history with very little theological content. But this book is heavy on theology and balanced with art history. It shows how theology of various periods in the church affected the creation of the crucifix. The Passion of Jesus Christ is central to the faith of Christianity. What Viladesau does is dig into how theology is reflected in the making of the crucifix during early periods of Christianity.

This book is a wonderful journey through the earliest years of Christianity and the theology that affects our understanding of the crucifixion today.

I would highly recommend this book to artists, art historians, theologians, and pastors. The wealth of material in this work makes it one that will cause me to refer back to it on my bookshelf time and time again.

Clement Stone outlines the guiding prinicples necessary for true success. Building upon Napolean Hill's wisdom, Stone provides you with the Mental Thought Paterns required to achieve Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Although he uses somewhat outdated language, I recomend this audio for anyone wanting more out of life.

I got it from the library, and loved it so much I bought it for a friend who is interested in transformation.

Win Wenger, Ph.D. provides here, in this very book, some of the most profound tools to increase your creativity and intelligence. There is no other book that I have found which covers so many profound issues and techniques than this one. The only ones which have ever come close have also been written by this author! An absolute must read for every student and teacher!

88 page thick booklet, with intro and detailed description of each piece of music on the cassettes. Lots of vintage b & w photos, too!

Includes 5 cassettes and booklet in attractive red and black case. Well done!

Dr. Norman Jones a leading intellectual in the history of early modern Britain and the author of such titles as Faith by Statute: Parliament and the Settlement of Religion, God and the
Moneylenders. Usury and Law in Early Modern England, most recently The English Reformation: Religion and Cultural Adaptation includes The Birth of the Elizabethan Age.
England in the 1560s to his growing corpus of work. In this comprehensive account of one of England's most historically fascinating decades, Jones attempts to present the reader with a vivid, down to earth account of the 1560s from the point of view of the people who lived during the time. Jones proves his scholarly versatility in this account by not limiting it to just the religious, political, cultural, or social aspects of the time but by necessity crosses each one and ties them together in order to depict this tumultuous time in England.

Jones begins in 1558 with the death of Queen Mary I and the tense but joyful celebration of a new monarch. This is the perfect place to begin not just because it gives the historical
background necessary for understanding the 1560s but Jones also importantly sets the mood and emotional tone that comprised the entire decade. The ambiguity, procrastination and the down
right refusal of Elizabeth to clearly determine religion, marry, and name a heir gave her the opportunity to "gain firm control over her realm, prevented a Catholic revolt or even her
excommunication until the end of the decade, and created the Puritan movement (19)." This political genius on the part of Elizabeth prevented war and preserved her power but left great
confusion particularly regarding religion and the social expectations of women, specifically the duties of a queen.

In his chapter on Protestant discontents with the Elizabethan settlement and its sister chapter on Catholicism, Jones paints the picture of the religious tensions and confusion of both groups with fine brush strokes. The main players in the continuing English Reformation process are introduced and given proper attention for the parts they played in either resisting or pushing for reform. Pithily he mentions and discusses the Protestant concerns with discipline and ecclesiastical government (53) and the hopes and schemes of the Catholics, essential for understanding the period.

In an inductive manner he recreates from original documents the colorful past, plentiful in intrigue in both senses of the word. In his chapter on royal marriage, the scandalous stories of Elizabeth's courtships and her love for the Earl of Leicester are featured along with Mary Queen of Scots' tragic love life and political manipulations.

By writing from the point of view of the prominent and not so prominent figures of the time, Jones clearly shows the reader all of the political, cultural, and intellectual aspects of what the poor wretches endured in Merry O' England. This book is not only a historical text about the 1560s, it reads like a soap opera giving the reader windows into the public and private lives of the people. The style of the author is similar to a novel in the sense that a particular person and string of thought is followed throughout the book. For instance, John Whythorne is mentioned early as predicting the trouble of a changed monarch, later about his religious convictions, he is a main character in Jones' chapter on marriage, and he appears in the chapters on family values, carpe diem, making a living, and the epilogue. This format is superior to a biography but with the
same emotional connection. Jones allows you to feel for the people mentioned in the stories; you can sympathize with their suffering, their confusion, and occasional rejoicing.

This book is not just for intellectuals and scholars interested in this period, but it can be of use for anyone interested in the complexities that are involved in cultural and religious adaptation. Beyond that, the way it tells the story of the English people is entertaining and as good for curling up with on a rainy day as it is an important historical interpretation by a leader in the field.

Kyle VanArsdol

From the close of the 19th century, when the first pre-Renaissance writers began to be published for the dominating white readers, to the Depression era that marked the demise of the movement, Cary D. Wintz analyzes the emergence of the Harlem Renaissance as the attempt of black writers to come to terms with the social issues of the 1920s-1930s through their writing.

Being his approach both literary and social, he does not neglect the different positions of politics and philosophers, highlighting the non-unanimity of views on the goals the participants should aim at and the ensuing strains arising from within the movement.

Wintz sublty depicts an intertwining net of relationships: black community and its literature, black artists and their target, black protégés and white patrons, black authors and white publishing houses, emphasising that it was this sheer interplay between the black intelligentsia and the white community that kept alive the vitality of the movement, despite the inevitable disagreements among the participants. Notwithstanding the fact that the Harlem Renaissance was led by a "loose coalition" of intellectuals, Wintz detects its "uniqueness" and bound in the "shared undertaking" of those same intellectuals who became aware of creating a "revolution in American literature".

Wintz's particular ability is of investigating the Harlem Renaissance in all its nuances, including in his portrayal both the remote rise of the movement, with the analysis of the impact on the white-dominated scene of major black writers such as Chestnutt and Dunbar, the reasons of its fall and its effects on the following generations of writers, besides the accurate report of the hey-day of the movement.

Special attention must be drawn on the sources consulted by the critic. As a matter of fact, most of the correspondence exchanged among the participants is scattered all over the United States, kept in several Libraries, Centers and Collections. Therefore, the consultations of such sources underline a work of precision and refinement and an attempt of restoring the live voices of the Renaissance makers.

As a student and researcher on the topic of the Harlem Renaissance, I found this book exceptionally useful, detailed and clear. The author's style is straight-to-the-point and pragmatic. He wisely avoids any overlapping digression to the main subject matter and makes the reader understand his outlooks with clear images. I warmly recommend this text to any reader who feels like enriching his / her knowledge about this enlighting phase of American literature!

I actually used this book as a source for a college paper. It is one of few resources out there if you are interested in Augusta Savage. I thought it was fun, but of course would recommend it for late Elemantary School to Junior High in normal situations.

Schoenfeldt masterfully combines a sophisticated literary analysis with the cultural prevalence of humoral medicine to provide real insight into the ways that people experienced and expressed their identities in early modern England. His book is well written, well considered, and should be well received. Hooray!

The next time I have the opportunity to teach a class on alchemy and art, I will be sure to include this book as required reading. Pamela Smith has given us a powerful argument for the place of alchemy in early modern art history. You will learn much about the subject of alchemy as matter theory from the point of view of renaissance artists, who found alchemy useful as a set of symbols and vocabulary for talking about their "subject matter." There is much of interest here about the mystical side of artists' thinking at the time--a much neglected subject full of surprises and delights. This book is a beautiful production with much lovely and strange imagery. The scholarship is solid and the references/bibliography open up a lot of doors.

Essential for any library or bookshelf dealing with the cutting edge in historical academic alchemical studies. Beyond the academic space, artists, mystics and occultists should find this book to be of great fascination, treating many practical concerns in historical snapshot.