Böcker av Ian Bradley

Around 563AD a monk called Columba set off in a small boat with a few companions from the shores of his native Donegal, in the north-west tip of Ireland. Some time later they landed on the tiny island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. Their journey is rightly perceived as one of the most significant events in the early Christian history of the British Isles. lan Bradley examines the life, character and achievements of St Columba and attempts to strip away the layers of myth and historical distortion that have grown up around him. He also explores the distinctive nature of Columban Christianity and its message - not always a comfortable one - for us today.

This essential book published ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III explains the significance and meaning of monarchy in its all-important sacred and spiritual dimensions.

'Coffin roads' are a marked feature of the landscape of the Scottish Highlands and islands - many are now popular walking and cycling routes. This book journeys along eight coffin roads to discover and explore the distinctive traditions, beliefs and practices around dying, death and mourning in the communities which created and used them.

Paddy Maguire deliberately creates a feud between his sons, Rory and Mike, by leaving his entire fortune to the last surviving brother.When Rory is facing bankruptcy, even jail, he decides there is only one solution: his brother has to die.But Mike, having just recovered from cancer, has retired to Far North Queensland, and the Queensland border is closed because of Covid.Urged on by his grasping wife and a drug-dealing mistress, Rory smuggles himself across the border and heads north, intent on murder.But nothing can prepare him for what awaits him there.

This unique anthology of biblical and other sacred religious texts, sermons, essays, poems and hymns offers a rich collection of perspectives and beliefs on what lies beyond death, and is designed to bring encouragement, comfort and reassurance as well as prompting spiritual reflection and intellectual curiosity.

Health, Hedonism and Hypochondria looks below the surface and probes the more hidden aspects of the history of spas and their secret sides.A spa nowadays can be anything from a hot tub in the back garden to an exotic beach resort offering mindfulness and yoga. New spas are opening around the world at a rate of 8,000 a year and there are now over 150,000 ''spa locations'' and contributing $120 billion annually to the $4.2 trillion global wellness economy. This book is about the historic, traditional spas of Europe. They include such well known resorts as the original Spa in Belgium; Bath, Buxton and Harrogate in Britain; Baden-Baden, Bad Ems and Wiesbaden in Germany; Vichy and Aix-les-Bains in France and many more.Health, Hedonism and Hypochondria looks below the surface and probes the more hidden aspects of the history of spas and their secret sides. Not only were they always sanctuaries of relaxation, but also places to treat melancholia and hypochondria, entertain mistresses and ''cure'' sterility.

'We walked steadily towards the van.Self-confidence is everything.This is the ultimate face-off.Suddenly the lions back off.'Alienated from his English family by the secrecy surrounding the identity of his father, Rufus Jones escapes to Australia. He builds a new life as a professional gambler until a misunderstanding with the law finds him struggling to survive in prison.There he stumbles across the BBC Wildlife series 'The Human Planet.' Seeing parallels between mankind's fight for survival in the wild and his fight for survival in prison, he adopts the episode 'Grasslands: Roots of Power' as his life model.But his prison escapades leave him a marked man. Even on release he needs all the cunning and courage of a Kalahari Bushman and the bravado of an Ethiopian Cowboy to survive; especially when a chance meeting with his father leads him to understand who he truly is.

What does it mean to be 'British'?

The minister and broadcaster gives a history and reflection on the Fife Pilgrim Way, approaching it as a site of both religious and secular significance.

Marking the 25th anniversary of Ian Bradley's classic The Celtic Way - the scholarly and accessible popular introduction to Celtic Christianity - Following the Celtic Way is a completely new book that updates and replaces the original.

This book explores how the native Christian communities of the British Isles from the fifth to the tenth centuries have been idealised and appropriated by succeeding generations who have projected their own preconceptions and prejudices on to a perceived 'golden age' of Celtic Christianity.

Examines the nature and development of the values of Victorian Liberalism. This book traces their origins in the Romantic movement, the industrial revolution and the general European Liberal awakening of the mid-nineteenth century.

Many of the most famous composers in classical music spent considerable periods in spa towns, whether taking in the waters, or searching for patrons among the rich and influential clientele who frequented these pioneer resorts, or soaking up the relaxing and decadent ambience of these enchanted and magical places. At Baden bei Wein, Mozart wrote his Ave Verum Corpus, and Beethoven sketched out his Ninth Symphony. Johannes Brahms spent 17 summers in Baden-Baden,where he stayed in his own specially-built composing cavern and consorted with Clara Schumann. Berlioz came to conduct in Baden-Baden for nine seasons, writing his last major work, Beatrice and Benedict, for the town''s casino manager. Chopin, Liszt, and Dvorak were each regular visitors to Carlsbadand Marienbad. And it was in Carlsbad that Beethoven met Goethe. Concerts, recitals, and resident orchestras have themselves played a major role in the therapeutic regimes and the social and cultural life of European and North American watering places since the late eighteenth century. To this day, these spa towns continue to host major music festivals of the highest caliber, drawing musicians and loyal audiences on both local and international levels.This book explores the music making that went on in the spas and watering places in Europe and the United States during their heyday between the early- eighteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Music was a hugely important part of the experience of taking a spa cure. Bands played during the early morning and late afternoon while people took the waters and bathed. Spa orchestras and ensembles entertained those gathering socially or resting in assembly rooms, pump rooms and in gardens andparks. In the evenings spa guests enjoyed concerts, visits to the theatre, balls, dances and gambling sessions at the casino, at all of which music played a major role. Expert author Ian Bradley draws on original archival material and the diaries and letters of composers. His book ranges chronologically and geographically, beginning with Bath and Baden near Vienna, which both flourished in the eighteenth century, continuing through Baden-Baden, the Bohemian spas and Bad Ischl in the nineteenth century and on to Buxton and Saratoga Springs which saw their glory days in the early twentieth century. A concluding chapter brings the subject up to date with areview of the musical activities taking place in spa towns today and of the music that accompanies treatments in modern spas, now so ubiquitous and so important and growing a feature in the booming world of leisure, tourism, health and well-being.

In a way that has not been done before, Ian Bradley traces the importance of hymns in Victorian novels, explores the extraordinary political and social ramifications of Victorian hymnody, and assesses the literary and musical importance of the genre.

Offers a re-statement of Liberal Protestantism for the twenty first century, especially alive to the imperative of inter faith dialogue and understanding. This title presents fundamentalism, born in the United States of America, as the great twentieth century heresy and aberration.

This book explores the changing ways in which water's health-giving and restorative powers have been conceived, packaged and marketed in an essentially spiritual way.

Contains texts of 150 of the best-loved hymns in the English language, from the time of the Early Church to the late 20th century. Each text in this work is accompanied by a commentary, giving biographical details of the author; notes on the circumstances in which the hymn was written and how it has been used; and variant versions.

The "Heinemann Science Scheme" offers an approach to the QCA's Scheme of Work. Teacher's resource packs provide support with lesson planning, with each chapter matching the Scheme of Work, and in-built assessment.