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  The Curse of Demagogues -...

  Eli Merritt

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  The Curse of Demagogues: Lessons Learned from the Presidency of Donald J. Trump is a collection of 32 essays by 22 writers that make the case that the pathway back to a healthy American democracy is for citizens to understand demagogues and defend against them. 
  More than any other book in print, The Curse of Demagogues makes the story of Donald Trump's rise to the White House coherent and understandable. Trump, a demagogue, gained ascendancy in a laissez-faire political culture wherein neither the Republican Party nor the other gatekeepers of democracy, including the news media, effectively counteracted him. Once in the highest office in the land, Trump devolved into authoritarianism in order to retain power, as demagogues are well-known to do. 
  The book has three overarching aims. First, it constitutes a short history of Trump's years in the White House (and his first two campaigns for president) as told from the perspective of scholars, journalists, and legal experts who specifically warned the public about his dangers as a demagogue in real time. Second, the collection is a detailed primer on demagogues and the multifarious ways they poison the vital organs of constitutional democracy. Third, the book is an urgent call to restore gatekeepers to their essential role as defenders of democracy against demagogues. 
  To revivify our once great democracy, we must defend it against demagogues by strengthening gatekeeping systems within political parties, the media, and the US Congress (powers of impeachment, conviction, and disqualification from future office), and through vigorous civics, ethics, and media literacy education for grades K-12.  
  As Eli Merritt, editor and contributor, writes in the book's introduction: 
  "The enemy of democracy is not a Democrat or Republican. It is a demagogue." 
  ©2022 Eli Merritt (P)2023 Peter Lerman

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  The Last Romantic - C S Lewis...

  Jeffrey W. Barbeau

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  Credo Book Award Winner – Natural Theology
  "There are so many books on Lewis that are simply a rehash of existing knowledge; by contrast, this is a work of fresh, detailed, illuminating scholarship. ... Barbeau's use of Lewis's personal annotations in the books in the Marion E. Wade Collection is a revelation and makes this book a permanent and important contribution to the study of Lewis's thought." – Malcolm Guite, Girton College, Cambridge
  Three Essays on C. S. Lewis and Romanticism
  Many readers have heard C. S. Lewis's logical arguments for the Christian faith. Yet throughout his wide-ranging study and writing, Lewis often began with experience, intuition, and religious feeling rather than dogmatic assertions. The most profound questions of Lewis's own life, argues theologian and literary critic Jeffrey Barbeau, can be seen in his quest to understand the relationship between personal experience and the truth about the world around him.
  In a series of three essays, Barbeau explores the influence of nineteenth-century Romanticism on the writings of C. S. Lewis. Barbeau demonstrates Lewis's indebtedness to Romantic notions of imagination and subjectivity, opens new contexts for understanding ideas about memory and personal identity in his autobiographical writings, and explores beliefs about nature and Christian sacraments throughout his writings on Christian faith. This theological and literary investigation reveals Lewis as a profoundly modern thinker and illuminates his ongoing relevance to contemporary debates about theology and culture.
  Drawing on extensive reading of the marginalia in the personal library of C. S. Lewis held by the Marion E. Wade Center, Barbeau offers a fresh understanding of the influence of modern theology and Romantic poetry, especially Wordsworth and Coleridge, on many of Lewis's most beloved works. Essays and responses include:
  
  - C. S. Lewis and the "Romantic Heresy," with response from professor Sarah Borden,
  - C. S. Lewis and the Anxiety of Memory, with response from professor Matthew Lundin, and
  - C. S. Lewis and the Sacramental Imagination, with response from professor Keith L. Johnson.
  
  About the Series
  The Hansen Series celebrates the literary and spiritual contributions of seven British authors whose works have captivated readers across generations: Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. These seven authors were all deeply involved in the friendships and intellectual exchanges that shaped the Inklings, a mid-twentieth-century group of Christian writers and thinkers in Oxford, England. This series invites readers to deepen their engagement with these timeless voices and their enduring influence on literature, faith, and the life of the imagination.

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  Holding Space - Strategies to...

  Joel Hines

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  This book will benefit anyone interested in helping others cultivate connection and enable their potential. 
  Whether you are a leader, educator, coach, therapist or facilitator, this book provides a simple framework and practical tips for holding space. 
  Using practical examples and personal stories, this book captures what it means to hold space for others and assists you in creating safety and trust with the people you support so they can thrive and reach their full potential. 
  Joel Hines shares his learnings and experience from over 25 years of practice working with people of all ages as an educator, facilitator, leader and storyteller.

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  All In: How we build a country...

  Lisa Nandy

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  ‘A persuasive manifesto for a better Britain.’ Observer Book of the Day 
  Britain needs a fresh start. This timely book by one of the stars of the new government shows how to achieve it. 
  In this brilliant and accessible intervention, Lisa Nandy reveals how Britain can leave behind the mess in which we find ourselves. All In charts a course towards a fairer, more equal, more prosperous country by drawing on the greatest asset we have – each other. 
  Rapid global changes, political division and economic crisis have left Britain reeling. For decades, large swathes of the country have been shut out, condemned to low productivity, underinvestment and managed decline, and stripped of their voice. With most major cities now beset with high housing costs, air pollution and congestion, even the ‘winners’ are losing. 
  All In shows how, by handing power and resources to people with a stake in the outcome, Britain can draw on the talent, assets and potential in every part of the country and start firing on all cylinders again. Finding strength rather than fear in our differences, it reimagines the relationship between people and government so that all of us can play our part in meeting the challenges of our age and rebuilding Britain the only way that works – together. 
  Lucid, clear-eyed and hopeful, this book sets out how we restore values, energy and direction to our politics and offers a glimpse of the alternative future that remains within our grasp. 
  Nandy's autobiography is a personal exploration of the process of political change, offering a best case scenario for a united, prosperous Britain. Drawing on history and economics, she presents a compelling vision for the 21st century. 
  For fans of Wes Streeting (One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up), Gordon Brown (My Life, Our Times), Jess Phillips (Truth to Power), Chris Bryant (Code of Conduct), and Sebastian Payne (Broken Heartlands). 
  HarperCollins 2022

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  The Principal Speeches of...

  Demóstenes

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  Demosthenes (384-322 BCE) is regarded as one of the greatest orators of Classical times. This view has persisted through the centuries even though his rousing speeches warning of the dangers of Macedonian expansion - firstly guided by Philip II and then Alexander the Great - failed to stem the course of continued military success. 
   
  A contemporary of Plato and Aristotle, it is said that Demosthenes undertook arduous measures to cure himself of a stammer by speaking with pebbles in his mouth and perfecting breath control. Starting as a speech writer, he made his mark at an unusually young age (for the time), delivering his first major public speech at the age of 30, advising Athens to build its naval fleet as a defence against the Persians. In fact, it was the ambition of Philip of Macedon that would prove the principal threat. This was recognised by Demosthenes, as shown by the main speeches included in this collection. 
   
  In the 'Three Olynthiac Orations', Demosthenes outlined the tactics of Philip’s aggression towards Olynthus, an ally of Athens. He urged support for the smaller state, but his words went unheeded until it was too late. Demosthenes’s increasingly unrestrained language - at one point he calls Philip ‘a barbarian’ - did not endear him to the Macedonian regime. 
   
  The 'Olynthiac Orations' are followed by the 'Three Philippics', which chart further military activity by the aforementioned Philip. In between the second and third 'Philippics' comes ‘On the Peace’: a speech given during a short diplomatic space engineered by Philip, but which Demosthenes clearly highlighted as an armistice rather than anything permanent. This ‘Philip’ section ends with ‘The Oration on the Letter'. Philip sent a letter to Athens, which implied that war, again, was imminent. Demosthenes responded with characteristic boldness. 
   
  The final speech on this recording is ‘On the Crown’, addressing a very different matter. The Athenian statesman Ctesiphon proposed that Demosthenes should be honoured with the ‘golden crown’ for his service to the city. This was opposed by Aeschines, a long-standing enemy of Demosthenes in Athenian politics. In the court case that followed (330 BCE), Demosthenes successfully defended Ctesiphon in a speech later described as ‘the greatest speech of the greatest orator in the world'. 
   
  Each of the orations in this collection is preceded with an introduction setting the scene, and outlining the context in which they were delivered. This also gives a concise picture of Athens at this difficult point in its history. Eight years later, when in danger of being captured and imprisoned by the young Alexander who was angered by decades of eloquent and unrestrained opposition, Demosthenes committed suicide. All the speeches are prefaced by the historical setting. Translations by Arthur Wallace Pickard and Charles Rann Kennedy.

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  Eastern Han Dynasty The: A...

  Hui Wang

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  The Eastern Han Dynasty: A History of China, PART TWO takes you on a thrilling ride through one of China's most dramatic and chaotic eras. This book pulls you right into the palace, where figures like Empress Dou plot and scheme to secure power, even using poison and false charges to remove rivals. You'll watch the rise and fall of powerful families like the Dous and the Liang clan, who used their ties to the throne to control the empire — but always at a heavy cost. 
  You'll follow brave officials like Yuan An, Yue Hui, and Cai Yong, who risked everything to speak the truth and challenge corruption. These weren't dry, stiff scholars — they were real people caught in a deadly game of politics, facing off against terrifying figures like Liang Ji and the infamous Ten Regular Attendants, the emperor's most corrupt and dangerous eunuchs. 
  This book doesn't just tell you about emperors and generals; it shines a light on the students, rebels, and farmers, too. You'll see how the National Academy students stood up to the powerful, how the Yellow Turban Rebellion shook the empire, and how even everyday folk got tangled in the madness, whether they were sucked into fake "filial" shows or forced to pay crushing taxes to fund the emperor's endless luxuries. 
  You'll walk through lavish palace gardens, secret court meetings, bloody battlefields, and fake street markets set up inside the palace for the emperor's entertainment. From wild feasts to puppet rulers, from political assassinations to daring military campaigns, the Eastern Han was packed with stories that read like the best kind of historical drama — because they were real.

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