In First Among Friends, the first scholarly biography of George Fox (1624-91), H. Larry Ingle examines the fascinating life of the reformation leader and founding organizer of the Religious Society of Friends, more popularly known today as the Quakers. Ingle places Fox within the upheavals of the English Civil Wars, Revolution, and Restoration, showing him and his band of "rude" disciples challenging the status quo, particularly during the Cromwellian Interregnum. Unlike leaders of similar groups, Fox responded to the conservatism of the Stuart restoration by facing down challenges from internal dissidents, and leading his followers to persevere until the 1689 Act of Toleration. It was this same sense of perseverance that helped the Quakers to survive and remain the only religious sect of the era still existing today. This insightful study uses broad research in contemporary manuscripts and pamphlets, many never examined systematically before. Firmly grounded in primary sources and enriched with gripping detail, this well-written and original study reveals unknown sides of one who was clearly "First Among Friends."

In Among Friends M. F. K. Fisher begins her recollections in Albion, Michigan, but they soon lead her to Whittier, California, where her family moved in 1912, when she was four. The "Friends" of the title range from the hobos who could count on food at the family's back door to the businessmen who advertised in Father's paper—but above all they are the Quakers who were the prominent group in Whittier. Mary Frances Kennedy found them unusual friends indeed, in the more than forty years that she lived in Whittier she was never invited inside a Friend's house. Her portraits of her father, Rex—her mentor, himself the editor of the local newspaper—her mother, Edith, and the other members of her family are memorable and moving. Originally published in 1970, Among Friends provides a fascinating glimpse into the background and development of one of our most delightful and best–loved writers, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher.

In this fast-paced novel about the bonds of friendship, Jenny, Emily, and Hillary, known as the Awesome Threesome, thought they’d be a threesome forever. But with Jennie’s relentless ambition, Emily’s jealousy, and Hillary’s building resentment, it seems the Awesome Threesome is destined to be a thing of the past. Assigned to write in diaries for English class, the three girls, along with three other classmates, find themselves admitting things so terrible that even they are shocked. All are left wondering: What price does a person have to pay for being successful? The pursuit of the truth is compellingly chronicled and the resolution satisfies.

A priest’s inspiring story of bringing people together and bringing them closer to God—with some help from Dolly Parton, Martin Short, and others. This book is my Midrash. With these words, Father Jim Sichko draws us into a life story full of laughter, tears, and service, filled with insightful lessons gained during his many travels as a clergyman and motivational speaker. Whether recounting his sobering flying experiences, the time he met the pope, or his encounter with the “Weed Man,” Father Jim instructs through powerful storytelling. As he takes us along on his journey, from getting kicked out of seminary to hosting celebrities—including Dolly Parton, Harry Connick Jr., Martin Short, and former first lady Laura Bush—at his small Kentucky parish, Father Jim shines a light into the corners of the human heart to expose our need for God and the love He alone can give. With humor and striking honesty, Father Jim reveals what it means to worship God, have compassion for others, and live life among friends.

"From my fear of coming out to coming on strong in the struggle for human rights, this is my American journey, the story of an outsider on the inside, a gay man proudly committed to a life of standing up for freedom. "President Clinton and I were born three days apart. We had both dreamed of serving our country. There was one difference: He could pursue his dream, while I felt I could not. The President was born straight and I was born gay." In this stirring personal history, one of America's most influential gay rights advocates recounts his extraordinary career as a policy maker and adviser to the major political leaders of our time, and his own often anguishing, ultimately triumphant life as a gay man. A longtime personal friend of Bill Clinton, in Stranger Among Friends David Mixner offers an insider's look at the power struggles that occur every day in our nation's capital and candid insights on the Clinton administration's successes and failures. Spanning three decades of human rights activism--from the behind-the-scenes negotiations to the painful betrayals to the hard-won victories--his forthright story unflinchingly explores what it means to be an outsider on the inside, and sends a message of hope to all who have ever stood up for what they believe.

In First Among Friends, the first scholarly biography of George Fox (1624-91), H. Larry Ingle examines the fascinating life of the reformation leader and founding organizer of the Religious Society of Friends, more popularly known today as the Quakers. Ingle places Fox within the upheavals of the English Civil Wars, Revolution, and Restoration, showing him and his band of "rude" disciples challenging the status quo, particularly during the Cromwellian Interregnum. Unlike leaders of similar groups, Fox responded to the conservatism of the Stuart restoration by facing down challenges from internal dissidents, and leading his followers to persevere until the 1689 Act of Toleration. It was this same sense of perseverance that helped the Quakers survive--the only religious sect of the era still existing today. Firmly grounded in primary sources and enriched with gripping detail, this well-written and original study reveals hitherto unknown sides of one who was clearly "First Among Friends."

From bestselling author Ben Macintyre, the true untold story of history's most famous traitor