Books

Clandestine priests smuggled into England hunted by spies from the royal court and martyred are prominent within English Catholic memory of the 16th and early 17th century. Priest-holes, the pejorative term 'Jesuitical', and the exclusion of Catholics from succession to the throne, remain a minor remnant of that time. In the 20th century, Nazi Rule, Communism, and the military dictatorships of Lat... Read More

Pope Francis' widely-anticipated autobiography 'Hope' has been released today, in more than 80 countries, in several languages, in print and audiobook format. This first memoir published by a sitting pontiff, written by the Pope in collaboration with Italian writer Carlo Musso, took six years to complete. Originally it was intended to be published after the Pope's passing, but the announcement of... Read More

Alexei Navalny, who campaigned against corruption in Russia, was murdered a year ago in an Arctic prison camp. In all that has been written about his bravery, little is said about his Christian faith. Yet, as his posthumously published book makes clear, he was profoundly inspired by Christ's sacrifice, and he found great comfort in Christ's example as his prison conditions became more and more int... Read More

Bridging ancient wisdom and modern thought, Wild Goose Publications proudly announces the release of What Remains to Be Said - Aphorisms: New & Selected, by Yahia Lababidi, the internationally acclaimed poet, philosopher and aphorist Arab-American of Palestinian background. ( ISBN: 9781804323649 ) This collection showcases Lababidi's deep, reflective insights on life, love, art and spiritua... Read More

Father Terry Martin, parish priest at St Mary of the Angels RC church in Worthing, will be holding a book launch next month, to mark the publication of his new book 'Animals in Heaven?' The launch and signing ceremony will take place at the church on Saturday 16th November at 10.45am, and will include a short musical recital, and a brief introduction to the book, followed by vegan refreshments, ch... Read More

The Racket by Matt Kennard, published by Bloomsbury Press. Leila Sansour is a Catholic Palestinian-British filmmaker and TV producer. She is the founder and Chief Executive of Open Bethlehem, an initiative dedicated to promoting and preserving the life and heritage of Bethlehem. Additionally, she works as a regular freelance producer for ITN News. She writes in Middle East Eye: Matt Kennard's The... Read More

In the late 1980s, whilst completing a post-grad journalism course in London, I came across a remarkable reference set published by the venerable Zed Books, publisher of independent academic analyses of global human rights and political issues. The two-volume publication was an effective guide to apartheid, the world's most minutely legislated racist oligarchy. The publishers had taken the aparthe... Read More

The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence, by John Pring. Published by Pluto Press. Disabled people consider this book so important that they crowdfunded the money to pre-order 650 copies and have them delivered to every MP in Parliament. It is a vital record of disturbing events, and an example of outstanding investigative journalism. The author ha... Read More

Sufferance, by Charles Palliser. Publisher: Guernica Editions From the author of the best-selling The Quincunx, comes this novel about an unnamed country occupied by an unnamed foreign power. An unnamed middle class family take in a vivacious girl from an opulent background, separated from her parents by the war. The father of the host family is a none-too-bright accountant, and the story is his a... Read More

St Mary's Church, Hampstead, north London, will host 'Finding Margaret: An afternoon with Andrew Pierce and Paddy O'Connell' next Sunday, 15 September from 4-5pm, in-person and online. This will be unique opportunity to hear the courageous and heartrending journey of a son's search for his birth mother. In his new book, Finding Margaret: Solving the Mystery of My Birth Mother, the journalist and b... Read More

On Tuesday, 3 September, the book The Reality of Assisted Dying: Understanding the Issues will be published by Open University Press. The book, which is edited by Professor Julian Hughes and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, appears at a critical moment in the UK debate. It provides up-to-date reflections from a broad variety of international experts on the profoundly important issues that surround cha... Read More

Would you like to turn the story of your life, or of someone in your family, into a book? Greg Watts has over 30 years' experience as a journalist and author, and he has ghost written numerous memoirs and autobiographies. His books include From Gangland to Promised Land, with former gangster John Pridmore, Don't Drop the Coffin, with undertaker Barry Albin-Dyer, and Meeting the Guv'nor, with box... Read More

No Guilty Bystander. The Extraordinary Life of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, by Frank Fromherz and Suzanne Sattler IHM. Orbis, Maryknoll (NY), 2023 270 pages plus notes. On April 4, 2024 Bishop Thomas Gumbleton died in Detroit, the city where he had served as an auxiliary bishop from 1968 until his rather brutal forced resignation in 2006. Throughout that time and right down to his death, his motto was... Read More

A slight chill in the evening air, the first few leaves falling from trees - and the arrival of Sacred Space: The Prayerbook: all annual harbingers of Autumn, some more eagerly anticipated than others. And so, the 2025 Prayerbook, published by The Irish Jesuits is out now, and will be welcomed by the many devotees of this trusted and accessible spiritual guide. Sacred Space, as a book and a webs... Read More