Blake Books

This book, like every other of Roald Dahl's writings, is a work of art. Dahl writes in a way that reaches into the very soul of whoever opens the pages and awakens the imagination to unlimited possibilities. He gives his work such an imaginative, joyful effect that I have only seen his wonderful writing. Roald spent his last days discovering and bonding with nature. This is a book about the last year in his amazing life.

Donald Ault is an inspiring and unique mind. No boundaries, for they are always re-examined, as he does here with a response and re-thinking of his own arguments towards William Blake and his responses to the Newtonian Universe. Donald Ault is a mind stretched as it should be--lobes in literature, lobes in Disney, lobes in Coca-Cola. His books do not yet show his utter vastness, but I hope one day his thoughts on Donald Duck will come to the bibliography.

The Nero Agenda isn't an educational book by any means. It's fiction grounded in fact (there are some excellent factual footnotes to explain the celtic folklore).
The novel is taking place in AD 59 and Britain is occupied by the legions of Rome. Boadicea, the young celtic queen, is widowed at a crisis point in the fortunes of her people. All around her, neighbouring tribes are being systematically 'ethnically cleansed' by Roman troops. Young adults are enslaved and the rest are 'removed' from their land. Then something unspeakably tragic happens in Boadicea's own life (you won't read Chapter 15 without shedding a tear). She calls her people to arms with fire in her belly. The line has been drawn in the sand.
In this David and Goliath struggle, she leads her army to victory after victory against all odds. She pushes back the frontiers of Rome with sheer grit and determination. But can she triumph completely?
There are some very visual scenes. The Roman General, Suetonius, goes to Mona (Anglesey) to take on the druids. The author carries the dark, supernatural nature of the encounter well - it's not corny, it's just downright eerie! Then, of course, there is the jaw-gripping cruelty of Chapter 15. The celtic festival of Samhain is really brought to life. There's a moving eulogy and funeral scene that just glows in my imagination. Lucius, the psychopathic Roman soldier with impeccable connections, is unstintingly evil and fascinating. I loved the way he dealt with his hauntings! There's Gaius, the Roman General double-agent with the smouldering vendetta. I could go on!
The Nero Agenda gathers momentum as you read it. It would make a damn good film. But, for now, read the book.

A brief, but very useful, summary of the six main Biblical Covenants from a New Covenant perspective:

1. Covenant with Creation (Genesis 1-3);
2. Noahic Covenant (Genesis 6-9);
3. Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12, 15, 17);
4. Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19:3b-8, 20-24);
5. Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89);
6. New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 33:29-39-29).

Concerning the first of these, the author shows that, although the word "covenant" is first used in the Torah in relation to Noah (Genesis 6:18), the arrangement with creation (under Adam) was covenant-like, being renewed with Noah immediately after the Flood.
Regarding the Mosaic Covenant, he shows that God intended it to be no more than an interim administration.

But the main focus of the book is the author's stress on the very newness of the New Covenant, something that is often lost sight of. In other words, the New Covenant is "qualitatively superior" to all previous covenants. For instance, under the New Covenant the Holy Spirit would be distributed to all members of the New Covenant community, including both Jews and Gentiles. Additionally, the New
Covenant is superior to the Mosaic Covenant in that it is unbreakable.

The New Testament presents Messiah Jesus as fulfilling all God's promises (2 Corinthians 1:20; John 5:39; Luke 24:27). All earlier covenants anticipated and foreshadowed His incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, and permanent Kingship. This means that those who are united to Messiah Jesus by faith no longer look to Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, but to their rightful Lord, Messiah Jesus, the Mediator of a new and better covenant. Christians, no longer subject to the temporary Mosaic law-covenant, are now subject to the jurisdiction of Jesus, Mediator of the New Covenant. In the New Testament, God's Law is viewed as the Law of Christ, this consisting of God's commandments (1 Corinthians 7:19), which are not identical to, yet are stricter than the Law of Moses. The clearest book on this is the *Letter to the Hebrews*, which could be summarized as "Jesus is better". However, we still await the final reality that the New Covenant points to: eternal life in the presence of God on a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21-22).

The author argues from the Biblical text that the New Covenant is radically and eschatologically new. He demonstrates that Biblically-informed exegesis makes it impossible to view the New Covenant as nothing more than a "renewed" Old Covenant. This leads the author to contradict Covenant Theology, with its theory of a single, overall Covenant of Grace, which has the effect of flattening out the covenants. He also rejects Dispensationalism, which views God as presenting "different gospels" for distinct ages of human history. The only defect of this book is that the author does not adequately explain the endtime role of Israel, but instead appears to assume that all the blessings promised to Israel have been transferred to the Church.

Most important of all, however, the author seeks to do justice to the progressive nature of God's revelation by letting Biblical theology inform systematic theology. After all, a systematic theology which drifts from the Biblical revelation is, in the end, of little value.

This book is the best thing for kids since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were invented. It is illustrated, amusing, and fun to read even for adults. It's a complete short course in how to think, and how not to be fooled. Its advice applies to evaluating advertising, pseudoscientic claims, and what your teachers tell you. Hey, kids! Grownups can be wrong! Kids are encouraged not to accept everything they hear at face value; it is empowering to kids to know that they can use their own "baloney detectors." BUY IT! For your children, your grandchildren, to donate to the nearest school or library, or to read for yourself.

The poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904 -72) gained fame under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake for his stories involving Nigel Strangeways, a fictional poet with a penchant for solving murder mysteries. These well-constructed mysteries are noted as much for their witty dialogue, character development, and psychological complexity as for the puzzle itself. One reviewer observed: Blake will always be a writer for the connoisseur of detective fiction.

This four volume, hard cover edition, The Nicholas Blake Treasury, includes twelve of the sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries. Only The Dreadful Hollow (1953), The Whisper in the Gloom (1954), The Sad Variety (1964), and The Morning After Death (1966) are missing.

The first two volumes (burgundy and green covers, respectively) were published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc and the third and fourth editions (orange and blue covers) by the Mystery Guild.

Volume 1: Thou Shell of Death (1936), The Beast Must Die (1938), and The Corpse in the Snowman (1941). These three stories are among the best.

Volume 2: A Question of Proof (1935), There's Trouble Brewing (1937), and The Smiler with the Knife (1939)

Volume 3: Murder with Malice (1940), Minute for Murder (1947), and Head of a Traveler (1949)

Volume 4: End of Chapter (1957), The Widow's Cruise (1959), and The Worm of Death (1961).

Cecil Day-Lewis was professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951-56, and a lecturer in the 1960s at several universities. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.

Unable to find these book club editions? Try looking for the Nigel Strangeways mysteries reissued as Perennial Library paperbacks by Harper and Row Publishers in the late 1970s.

The poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972) gained fame under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake for his stories involving Nigel Strangeways, a fictional poet with a penchant for solving murder mysteries. These well-constructed mysteries are noted as much for their witty dialogue, character development, and psychological complexity as for the puzzle itself. One reviewer observed: Blake will always be a writer for the connoisseur of detective fiction.

The four volume, hard cover edition, The Nicholas Blake Treasury, includes twelve of the sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries. Only The Dreadful Hollow (1953), The Whisper in the Gloom (1954), The Sad Variety (1964), and The Morning After Death (1966) are missing.

The first two volumes (red and green covers, respectively) were published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc and the third and fourth editions (orange and blue covers) by the Mystery Guild.

Volume 1: Thou Shell of Death (1936), The Beast Must Die (1938), and The Corpse in the Snowman (1941). These three stories are among the best.

Volume 2, recognizable by its vivid green cover, contains three stories: A Question of Proof (1935), There's Trouble Brewing (1937), and The Smiler with the Knife (1939).

Volume 3: Murder with Malice (1940), Minute for Murder (1947), and Head of a Traveler (1949).

Volume 4: End of Chapter (1957), The Widow's Cruise (1959), and The Worm of Death (1961).

Cecil Day-Lewis was professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951-56, and a lecturer in the 1960s at several universities. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.

Unable to find these book club editions? Try looking for the Nigel Strangeways mysteries reissued as Perennial Library paperbacks by Harper and Row Publishers in the late 1970s.

The four volume, hard cover edition, The Nicholas Blake Treasury, includes twelve of the sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries. The Dreadful Hollow (1953), The Whisper in the Gloom (1954), The Sad Variety (1964), and The Morning After Death (1966) are missing.

The first two volumes (burgundy and green covers, respectively) were published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc and the third and fourth editions (orange and blue covers) by the Mystery Guild.

Volume 3 contains the following three stories:

Murder with Malice (1940): The plot centers on identifying the Mad Hatter, a prankster that repeatedly disrupts activities at Wonderland, a popular summer vacation camp. No one has been injured, but Nigel Strangeways is commissioned to catch the Mad Hatter before something more serious occurs.

Minute for Murder (1947): War in Europe is over but continues in the Pacific. Nigel Strangeways is still working at the Ministry of Morale, a bureaucratic wartime agency in London. When a colleague is poisoned, Strangeways is again paired with his good friend Superintendent Blount of Scotland Yard. The abundant red herrings in Minute for Murder is likely to mislead even the astute reader of mystery stories.

Head of a Traveler (1949): This mystery offers a traditional manor house setting, erudite suspects, poetic allusions, and a satisfying, layered solution. Poetry and murder become intertwined as the poet Nigel Strangeways investigates a rural murder that involves the family of Robert Seaton, one of the most distinguished poets in England.

The other volumes are as follows:

Volume 1: Thou Shell of Death (1936), The Beast Must Die (1938), and The Corpse in the Snowman (1941). These three stories are among the best.

Volume 2: A Question of Proof (1935), There's Trouble Brewing (1937), and The Smiler with the Knife (1939)

Volume 4: End of Chapter (1957), The Widow's Cruise (1959), and The Worm of Death (1961).

The poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972) gained fame under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake for his stories involving Nigel Strangeways, a fictional poet with a penchant for solving murder mysteries. These well-constructed mysteries are noted as much for their witty dialogue, character development, and psychological complexity as for the puzzle itself.

Cecil Day-Lewis was professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951-56, and a lecturer in the 1960s at several universities. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.

Unable to find these book club editions? Look for Nigel Strangeways mysteries reissued as Perennial Library paperbacks by Harper and Row Publishers in the 1970s.

The Nicholas Blake Treasury, includes twelve of the sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries. Only The Dreadful Hollow (1953), The Whisper in the Gloom (1954), The Sad Variety (1964), and The Morning After Death (1966) are missing.

The first two volumes (burgundy and green covers, respectively) were published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc and the third and fourth editions (orange and blue covers) by the Mystery Guild.

Volume 1: Thou Shell of Death (1936), The Beast Must Die (1938), and The Corpse in the Snowman (1941)

Volume 2: A Question of Proof (1935), There's Trouble Brewing (1937), and The Smiler with the Knife (1939)

Volume 3: Murder with Malice (1940), Minute for Murder (1947), and Head of a Traveler (1949)

Volume 4: End of Chapter (1957), The Widow's Cruise (1959), and The Worm of Death (1961).

End of Chapter (1957): Nigel Strangeways is investigating who might have altered a proof copy of General Thoresby's memoirs, resulting in a libel case against the prestigious publishing firm, Wenham and Geraldine. Matters worsen when the flamboyant romance novelist, Millicent Miles, is murdered one evening in the publisher's office.

The Widow's Cruise (1959): The poet Nigel Strangeways and the well-respected sculptress Claire Massinger are vacationing on a Greek cruise ship. As so often is the case, Strangeways becomes entangled in affairs that lead to murder. Seemingly every passenger has some secret, and much of the fun is sorting out which secrets are red herrings and which are indeed relevant to the mystery itself.

The Worm of Death (1961): Now living with the sculptress Clare Massinger in the small community of Greenwich along the Thames River, Strangeways is asked to investigate the disappearance of a neighbor, the prestigious doctor, Piers Loudron. Not long afterwards Dr. Loudron's body surfaces on the Thames and the case is declared a homicide.

The poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-72) gained fame under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake for his stories involving Nigel Strangeways, a fictional poet with a penchant for solving murder mysteries. These well-constructed mysteries are noted as much for their witty dialogue, character development, and psychological complexity as for the puzzle itself. One reviewer observed: Blake will always be a writer for the connoisseur of detective fiction. Cecil Day-Lewis was professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951-56, and a lecturer in the 1960s at several universities. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.

Unable to find these book club editions? Try looking for the Nigel Strangeways mysteries reissued as Perennial Library paperbacks by Harper and Row Publishers in the late 1970s.

Until recently I had never read any of, C. DAy Lewis's books.
Vol. 2 are the best Nigel Strangeways mysteries. Strangeways reminds
me very much of, P. D. James' Adam Dalgliesh. In fact I would love to
see Nigel Strangeways mysteries on TV and DVD. Hopefully, the number one experts on doing this, the British will pick up on this.