BOOKS


Category Spotlight Religion & spirituality


Category Spotlight


Religion & spirituality T


A preview of new titles published between August 2019–July 2020


The recent trend of group biographies celebrating the extraordinary achievements of women is rolled out into the religious sphere, and there are a couple of big- name contributors, too


Sue Baker Previewer


he trend for extolling extraordinary women now comes to religion, featuring in Michelle Sloan’s Extraordinary Women of the Bible from SPCK and Hossein Kamaly’s A History of Islam in 21 Women (Oneworld). Extraordi- nary men, too, in Priests de la Resistance! by Fergus Butler-Gallie (Oneworld), recalling the bravery of the religious figures who spoke out against fascism. Monks and a nun are having a moment: Rowan Williams, a lifelong devotee, publishes The Way of St Benedict (Bloomsbury), from Richard Frost comes Life with St Benedict (BRF), and Bruno Cadore, master of the Dominican


Order, reflects on his role in With Him (Bloomsbury). Sister Wendy’s 100 Best Loved Paintings comes from SPCK in September. An anthology of her favourite art, it was finished just before her death. Two big names with appeal to the read- ers of self-help books: Oprah Winfrey, with The Path Made Clear (Bluebird), and Will Smith, who with Mark Manson has writen Will, his inspirational autobiography (Century). Watkins has famous names, too: Jiddu Krishnamurti’s reissued Can the Mind be Quiet (Watkins) is introduced by Terence Stamp, and Annie Lennox has writen the foreword for Conversations with Buddha by Joan Duncan Oliver.


Category highlights


Christianity


Peter Heather Christendom: The


Triumph of a Religion Allen Lane, June, £20, 9780241215913


Submissions Category Spotlights preview forthcoming titles within a certain genre. For submission guidelines and publication dates, visit thebookseller.com/ publishing-calendar. The next Category Spotlight will be Craft, Home & Garden in the 26th July issue.


44 12th July 2019


Christianity, from its humble beginnings to becoming a major world religion. Peter Heather’s history explains how this was achieved, including a “spectacular legal forgery” which enabled the Papacy to dominate and become the equivalent of a vast corporation.


Reference


Jeltje Gordon-Lennox Crafting Meaningful


Funeral Rituals Jessica Kingsley, November, £12.99, 9781785923890


There’s a growing demand for ways to celebrate a lost life with meaning and ceremony. This much-needed new guide to creating secular funerals acts as an inspiration and practical guide for those left behind.


Islam


Hossein Kamaly A History of Islam


in 21 Women Oneworld, September, £14.99, 9781786076434


There have been any number of books cele- brating leading women, forgotten women and strong women—now leading, forgotten and strong Muslim women feature in this new biographical collection. Ranging across the world and the centu- ries, it celebrates the achievements of some remarkable human beings.


Christianity


John Butler The Relics of


Thomas Becket Pitkin, January, £12.99, 9781841658643


Billed as a true-life mystery, an inves- tigation into what happened to the remains of Thomas Becket after the sacking of his tomb during Henry VIII’s reign in 1538. John Butler explores the many theories surrounding these holy relics: were the bones saved and secretly reburied? Were they laid to waste? Or are some of his bones to be found in reliquaries in churches and cathe- drals across Europe?


History


Derek Wilson The Mayflower Pilgrims SPCK, September, £19.99, 9780281079124


Next year is the 400th anniversary of the land- ing of “The Mayflower” and, to tie-in, The Mayflower Pilgrims looks at this invasion of a foreign land. Derek Wilson recounts the circumstances behind the flight from England, who the Voyagers were, and how later myth and fiction has overlaid the truth of the events in 1620.


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