Reviews Articles
‘Sweetness of Unity: Three hundred years of Quaker minuting’ by Judith Roads
In the preface to this book, the author writes that it is aimed primarily at those with some experience of Quakerism and who understand something about Quaker processes. Those interested in language or historical aspects of business English may also find nuggets of interest. Those who are, have been, or...
‘Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the road to war’, by Tim Bouverie
What is of special interest to Friends in this story, so well told by Tim Bouverie, is the strong inclination to pacifism which existed in Britain between the wars, and the huge efforts of Neville Chamberlain to preserve peace. Bouverie writes: ‘The campaign against the arms manufacturers was continued by...
‘Stop Being Reasonable: Six stories of how we really change our minds’, by Eleanor Gordon-Smith
At the end of anti-religious polemics, there is often the conclusion ‘since there is no evidence for religious belief, you shouldn’t have any – if you do, you’re irrational,’ as though that were straightforward. One is interested to find, at the end of her book about being rational, Eleanor...
‘The Educated Underclass: Students and the promise of social mobility’ by Gary Roth
Having returned to bus driving in 1998, I became a member of ‘the educated underclass’. Simply put, I was educated above my job’s needs, yet economically unable to mix easily with equivalently educated – wealthier – people. There are growing numbers like me in Britain since the backdoor privatisation of UK higher...
‘The Cambridge Companion to Quakerism’, edited by Stephen W Angell and Pink Dandelion
The big surprise in this book is that unprogrammed Friends number only about ten per cent of the world’s Friends. Kenya has the greatest number of Quakers, followed by the USA, and Bolivia. Kenya once had 1,500 Quaker schools, although some have been taken over by the government. Kenya, Bolivia,...
‘Beginner’s Luck’, by UA Fanthorpe
What constitutes a voice – that outward-and-audible sign of being who we are? Finding our voice always matters, but it has a special meaning in a poet’s case. The thing that makes the reader say ‘Ah, yes, that’s so-and-so’ in a couple of lines, that’s the writer’s ...
‘Bury the Chains: The British struggle to abolish slavery’, by Adam Hochschild
In 2014 I read Adam Hochschild’s To End All Wars, his brilliantly-written ‘story of protest and patriotism in the first world war’, which served as a useful corrective to the centenary commemorations. Bury the Chains is not a new book but it is tragic, compelling and as empowering as the...
‘Adam Smith: What he thought and why it matters’, by Jesse Norman
Jesse Norman’s new book is a bravura manifesto of how our politics and economics should be run. Many of us may have heard of The Wealth of Nations with its conceptualisation of markets and the ‘invisible hand’ that steers them. But Adam Smith also wrote its later chapters with...
‘Hester and Sophie’ by John Lampen
There is a scene about halfway through this book where one of the main characters, Hester, and her mum are talking about the Quaker view on God and spirituality. I said, “Him?” “Well, her if you like – or even it. I don’t think of God as a big Daddy...
Light in Darkness: The mystical philosophy of Jakob Böhme Coventry Cathedral (Until 5 July)
Why should anyone care about natural philosophy? This exhibition – an artistic and historical interpretation of Jakob Böhme and his work – offers an explanation. The display is superbly curated and animated by: Lucinda Martin, Universität Erfurt; Cecilia Muratori, University of Warwick; and Claudia Brink, State Art Collections, Dresden, Germany,...