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  The An Lushan Rebellion and Its...

  Sarah Willards

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  The An Lushan Rebellion, one of the most significant uprisings in Chinese history, did not emerge overnight. The roots of the rebellion can be traced back to the political, social, and military tensions that plagued the Tang Dynasty in the mid-8th century. The Tang Empire, once at its peak, was experiencing a slow but steady decline, marked by corruption, factionalism, and a weakening central authority. These conditions set the stage for the rise of regional military leaders like An Lushan. 
  An Lushan was a general of mixed Sogdian and Turkish descent, originally serving in the Tang military. His talents as a military strategist, combined with his ability to garner the loyalty of his troops, made him a powerful figure. He rose through the ranks of the imperial court, earning favor from Emperor Xuanzong. Initially, An Lushan was appointed to oversee the northern frontier, where he successfully defended the empire from external threats. However, his growing influence, both militarily and politically, began to stir unease at the imperial court. 
  The Tang Dynasty’s reliance on powerful military governors, known as jiedushi, to maintain order in the frontier regions allowed these individuals to amass significant power. This decentralization of authority undermined the emperor's control over the empire and contributed to widespread corruption. The power struggles within the court and the lavish spending of Emperor Xuanzong’s court, especially during his later years, further distanced the ruling elite from the needs of the common people.

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  The Conquest of the Aztecs

  Editors Charles River

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  From the moment Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés first found and confronted them, the Aztecs have fascinated the world, and they continue to hold a unique place both culturally and in pop culture. Nearly 500 years after the Spanish conquered their mighty empire, the Aztecs are often remembered today for their major capital, Tenochtitlan, as well as being fierce conquerors of the Valley of Mexico who often engaged in human sacrifice rituals.  
  	Ironically, and unlike the Mayans, the Aztecs are not widely viewed or remembered with nuance, in part because their own leader burned extant Aztec writings and rewrote a mythologized history explaining his empire’s dominance less than a century before the Spanish arrived. Naturally, Cortes and other Spaniards depicted the Aztecs as savages greatly in need of conversion to Catholicism. While the Mayans are remembered for their astronomy, numeral system, and calendar, the Aztecs have primarily been remembered in a far narrower way, despite continuing to be a source of pride to Mexicans through the centuries. 
  As a result, even though the Aztecs continue to interest people across the world centuries after their demise, it has fallen on archaeologists and historians to try to determine the actual history, culture, and lives of the Aztecs from the beginning to the end, relying on excavations, primary accounts, and more.  
  	Naturally, as the best known conquistador, Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) is also the most controversial. Like Christopher Columbus before him, Cortés was lionized for his successes for centuries without questioning his tactics or motives, while indigenous views of the man have been overwhelmingly negative for the consequences his conquests had on the Aztecs and other natives in the region. Just about the only thing everyone agrees upon is that Cortés had a profound impact on the history of North America. 

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  One Body: A Retrospective

  Catherine Simpson

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  Nominated in Scotland’s National Book Awards 
  In this searing, frank and funny memoir, Catherine Simpson describes what it’s been like to live in her woman’s body, and to reach the realisation that all that time she’d spent trying to change her body to conform - often to unattainable standards - could be seen from a completely different perspective. 
  By the time she reached her fifties, Catherine Simpson and her body had gone through a lot together—from period pain and early menopause to shaming and harassment. But there had been success, joy, love, and laughter too: far more freedoms than her mother had, a fulfilling family life and career, and even the promise of further gains for her daughters. 
  So when a cancer diagnosis upends her life, Catherine is forced to reflect on her body, then and now. From growing up on a farm where veterinarians were more common than doctors, and where illness was “a nuisance,” she finds herself faced with the nuisance of a lifetime. 
  One Body is the demystifying, relatable, often hilarious and sometimes hair-raising story of how Catherine navigates her treatment and takes stock of the emotions and reflections it provokes. And how she comes to appreciate the skin she is in—to be grateful for her body and all that it does and is.

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  The Armed Catholic - The...

  Rick Barrett

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  St. Augustine wrestled with the conflict between living as a devout Christian and surviving in a world where violence was an all-too-familiar reality. With stirring reasoning, scenarios, and facts, Rick Barrett will help you weigh the challenges and responsibilities regarding the morality of self-defense. From sixteenth-century England to present-day America, you will see what the law states regarding whether one is permitted to stand his ground or obligated to retreat. 
    
  Sure to spark debate, The Armed Catholic answers questions such as: Should only those with legitimate authority bear firearms, or are citizens morally permitted to as well? Did the Church ever endorse pacifism? Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church support the right to self-defense? What does the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops say about gun control? 
    
  In a post-modern Church that seems more concerned with modernity than eternity, Barrett breaks open what the Catholic Church and her popes have believed about self-defense since the 1500s and the continuity of her teaching. He further lays out St. Thomas Aquinas's thoughts on self-defense and the use of force. Moreover, he examines how these principles bear some similarities with the morality of Just War principles, according to St. Augustine, and explains the intention that should never drive an individual to either.

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  Healing of a Psychotherapist - A...

  Charles C. McCormack

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  An unhappy childhood often affects who we become in adulthood and our capacity to enjoy whatever successes we achieve. In Healing of a Psychotherapist: A Journey of Rebellion, Reflection, and Redemption, Charles McCormack, MA, MSW, LCSW-C, uses his own life in illustration. With searing honesty, McCormack lays bare his personal and professional ordeals, along with the lessons he’s drawn and continues to draw. Though his story is unique, his struggles are not; thus, McCormack’s narrative works its way into the heart of each of us. His take home, the one given to him by his mother on her deathbed, is clear. Staring into his eyes, she was emphatic: “Charlie. Have a good life. Have a good life.,” refusing to break her hold upon him until he finally committed, “I will, mom, I will, “ all the while thinking, “how the hell do I do that?” McCormack hopes that sharing his story through this book brings his readers insight and healing. 
  Mr. McCormack holds master's degrees in Psychology and Social Work. Since 1974, he has worked in in-patient psychiatric units, family violence, sexual abuse treatment, and SUDs treatment programs, and private practice. In 1988, he was named the Senior Social Worker of Adult Long-term Inpatient Services at Sheppard Pratt. His writings include “Treatment of the Borderline/Schizoid Couple,” "Treating Borderline States in Marriage," and "Essence" (memoir), awarded the Montaigne Medal for being the most thought-provoking of books. He was a long-term faculty member of the Washington School Psychiatry and Clinician of the Year (Maryland Society of Clinical Social Work). Long before social work embraced trauma-informed approaches, McCormack wrote about and trained social workers in ways of conceptualizing and humanizing work with individuals and couples impacted by major psychopathology. In 2023, McCormack was the recipient of the University of Maryland School of Social Work's Emeritus Award for contributions to the profession.

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  Holy Roman Empire’s Conflicts...

  Charles River Editors

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  It has been famously pointed out that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, but it was also not an empire in the sense people expect when hearing the term. In theory, the emperor was the highest prince in Christendom, and his dominion extended the length and breadth of Western Europe. The empire had been created by the papacy in 801 when Pope Leo the Third famously crowned the supposedly unwitting Charlemagne in Saint Peter’s Basilica, intending to recreate the Western Roman Empire. In truth, the imperial power did not extend beyond central Europe, which by the beginning of the 16th century included Germany, northern Italy, and the Netherlands. Even in these lands, however, the emperor struggled to command obedience. His dominion over northern Italy was theoretical only, the cities of the Netherlands were deeply conscious of their ancient rights and privileges, and Germany had long ceased to be compliant. The latter had become a collection of principalities, dukedoms and bishoprics which vied with each other and pursued their own agendas. They were, however, united in only one sense: denying the emperor power and resisting attempts to centralize the government.  
  	At the same time, the secular sovereigns frequently butted heads with religious authorities back in Rome, and arguably none of the conflicts were as crucial as the War of the Keys and the Investiture Controversy. The tensions between the Holy Roman Empire and Church over the power to invest bishops with authority led to decades of civil war in Germany on the way to establishing the relationship between Church and state, elevating the status of the papacy and weakening the Holy Roman Empire. What is crucial in understanding the conflicts is to not view them with the benefit of hindsight. Most importantly, no nation as people recognize it today yet existed, as England, France, Germany, and Italy were largely geographical expressions, not national identities.

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