The author presents new arguments which support the view that Paul, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity. He argues that Jesus and also his immediate disciples James and Peter were life-long adherents of Pharisaic Judaism. Paul, however, was not, as he claimed, a native-born Jew of Pharisee upbringing, but came in fact from a Gentile background. He maintains that it was Paul alone who created a new religion by his vision of Jesus as a Divine Saviour who died to save humanity. This concept, which went far beyond the messianic claims of Jesus, was an amalgamation of ideas derived from Hellenistic religion, especially from Gnosticism and the mystery cults. Paul played a devious and adventurous political game with Jesus' followers of the so-called Jerusalem Church, who eventually disowned him. The conclusions of this historical and psychological study will come as a shock to many readers, but it is nevertheless a book which cannot be ignored by anyone concerned with the foundations of our culture and society. -- Book jacket.

Readers who are intrigued, though often mystified, by the intellectual fantasies of Jorge Luis Borges will find this book a revelation, a skeleton key to one of the most fundamental and baffling aspects of Borges’s fictions: the pattern of symbolism with an inner meaning. Carter Wheelock’s study reduces a number of literary and intellectual abstractions to concrete terms, enabling the reader to understand Borges’s fantasies in ways that show them to be not so fantastic after all. Indeed, they are amazingly consistent and minutely accurate in their symbolic depiction of the magic universe of the mind. Wheelock also discusses the affinity between Borges’s philosophical idealism and his “esthetic of the intelligence,” the relationship between these and the esthetic ideas of French Symbolism, and the influence on his fictions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Why is it that this “writer’s writer” from the Argentine—erudite, allusive, elusive—has attracted such international attention? In Wheelock’s opinion, it is because he has symbolized in his short stories the fundamental form of the human consciousness, the functioning of the imaginative (world-creating) mechanism, and the eternal battle between form and chaos. The Mythmaker is concerned with elucidating the particulars of Borges’s fictional works, but even as it does so it also reveals their universality.

“Long before Harry Potter and J. K. Rowling, there were Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, and J. R. R. Tolkien . . . This will bring the creator to vivid life” (Booklist). A philologist of world renown, a professor at Oxford, and the author of academic treatises, J.R.R. Tolkien was far more than a fantasy book writer. His lifelong fascination with medieval texts and languages gave him a unique vision and endless inspiration for his tales. His broad interests made possible his creation of faery worlds and entire races of beings, as well as the languages, cultures, and characters that make his books as engaging today as they were fifty years ago. This clear and thoroughly researched biography of the creator of The Hobbit is accompanied by magical illustrations that recall the mystery of Tolkien’s imaginary worlds. “Give[s] some interesting insight into the power Tolkien’s work has had on people over the years.” —School Library Journal

These days it's hard to find someone who hasn't seen the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. Now the man behind those epic movies and numerous other blockbuster hits comes alive in this definitive biography that traces a shy, ambitious film student's transformation into one of the industry's most influential leaders. Acclaimed biographer John Baxter uncovers the roots of Lucas's enigmatic genius and independent spirit and shows how he joined with other idealists to found the new Hollywood, an effort that paved the way for the event picture, the phenomenon of product licensing, and ultimately the finest visual effects studio in the world. Drawing upon voluminous research and interviews with Lucas's friends and colleagues, Baxter gives us the clearest picture yet of an icon of popular culture who is recognized by many but understood by precious few.

The Mythmaker is a personal myth, a fiction based on actual events, and tells the extraordinary tale of Katie Neumann's childhood, interrupted when her mother dies in childbirth leaving seven children and their overwhelmed father to figure out what to do. What Katie faces next, most people can't imagine. The appearance of a mysterious—and unwanted—figure opens an enchanted space for all that follows.

Teenager Renee Mendez is a talented artist living in a small Illinois town. She loves drawing the strange beings that feature in her dreams, without realizing that when she depicts them on paper, they come to life in the real world. These gods begin to seek worshippers and battle for supremacy, killing humans and each other until only the two strongest remain. Sam and Dean come to town to investigate the murders and “miracles” these new gods perform, slaying some of them in the process. The last two gods standing prepare for their final conflict, which only one will survive. The brothers must find a way to stop the gods’ war before the entire town is destroyed.

Walter Noble Burns (1872–1932) served with the First Kentucky Infantry during the Spanish-American War and covered General John J. Pershing’s pursuit of Pancho Villa in Mexico as a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. However history-making these forays may seem, they were only the beginning. In the last six years of his life, Burns wrote three books that propelled New Mexico outlaw Billy the Kid, Tombstone marshal Wyatt Earp, and California bandit Joaquín Murrieta into the realm of legend.