One of FX's most successful original productions, Sons of Anarchy roared onto the screen in 2008 and dominated the cable network's programming for seven seasons. Following an outlaw motorcycle club on its Shakespearean journey, the series took audiences on a wild ride powered by a high-octane brand of masculinity. This collection of new essays explores the show's complicated presentation of masculinity and its cultural implications. Series creator and writer Kurt Sutter depicts male characters who act from a highly traditional sense of what it means to be a man. SOA both vaunts and challenges that sense of manhood as the characters face the consequences of their ride-or-die lifestyle.

This “stupendous ethnography of female Freemasonry in Italy” reveals the fascinating paradox of elitism and exclusion experienced by “female brothers” (Michael Herzfeld, author of Evicted from Eternity). From its cryptic images on the dollar bill to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, the Freemasons have long been one of the most romanticized secret societies in the world. But a simple fact escapes most depictions of this elite brotherhood: there are also female members. In this groundbreaking ethnography, Lilith Mahmud takes readers inside Masonic lodges of contemporary Italy, where she observes the ritualistic and fraternal bonds forged among Freemason women. Offering a tantalizing look behind lodge doors, The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters unveils a complex culture of discretion in which Freemasons reveal some truths and hide others. Female initiates—one of Freemasonry’s best-kept secrets—are often upper class and highly educated, yet avowedly antifeminist. Their self-cultivation through the Masonic path is an effort to embrace the deeply gendered ideals of fraternity. In this lively investigation, Mahmud unravels the contradictions at the heart of Freemasonry: an organization responsible for many of the egalitarian concepts of the Enlightenment and yet one that has always been, and in Italy still remains, extremely exclusive. The result is not only a thrilling look at a surprisingly influential world, but a reevaluation of the modern values we now take for granted

Written over three decades ago, Cardinal Ratzinger's profound treatise on the true meaning of Christian brotherhood is perhaps even more timely and important now as a clear statement on the biblical grounds for cooperation among believing Christians. In treating Christian brotherhood from the perspective of salvation history, Ratzinger opens up the meaning of both the Old and New Testament in this most essential area. After establishing the distinctively Christian sense of brotherhood (vis-À-vis Judaism, Hellenism, Stoicism, the Enlightenment, and Marxism), he shows how fraternal charity can only be perfected through God's fatherhood, Christ's divine sonship, and our brotherhood in Christ.

If you are a man who feels that spiritual growth is at times frustrating--you are not alone! Most men find spiritual growth overcomplicated and the needed discipline beyond their reach. But it doesn't need to be that way. In Called to Act: 5 Uncomplicated Disciplines for Men, author Vince Miller provides a simple understanding of five core spiritual disciplines that will ignite a lifelong journey of spiritual development. Leave the ranks of the hesitant and stuck, and join a movement of men.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker must stem the tide of the raging Clone Wars and forge a new bond as Jedi Knights in a high-stakes adventure set just after the events of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: USA Today The Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is slipping through their fingers. After an explosion devastates Cato Neimoidia, the jewel of the Trade Federation, the Republic is blamed and the fragile neutrality of the planet is threatened. The Jedi dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Order’s most gifted diplomatic minds, to investigate the crime and maintain the balance that has begun to dangerously shift. As Obi-Wan investigates with the help of a heroic Neimoidian guard, he finds himself working against the Separatists who hope to draw the planet into their conspiracy—and senses the sinister hand of Asajj Ventress in the mists that cloak the planet. Amid the brewing chaos, Anakin Skywalker rises to the rank of Jedi Knight. Despite the mandate that Obi-Wan travel alone—and his former master’s insistence that he listen this time—Anakin’s headstrong determination means nothing can stop him from crashing the party, and bringing along a promising but conflicted youngling. Once a Padawan to Obi-Wan, Anakin now finds himself on equal—but uncertain—footing with the man who raised him. The lingering friction between them increases the danger for everyone around them. The two knights must learn a new way to work together—and they must learn quickly, to save Cato Neimoidia and its people from the fires of war. To overcome the threat they face they must grow beyond master and apprentice. They must stand together as brothers.