Outposts of the Faith offers ten compelling portraits of country churches where the Anglo-Catholic movement flourished during the twentieth century. Rightly famed for its dedicated and heroic work in poor inner-city areas, little is recorded about the impact of Anglo-Catholicism in rural parishes, nor have the stories of some of its more colourful rural priests and people been told, nor of those forces at work in out of the way places which affected the wider church and subsequent direction of the movement. From Cornwall to the Fens, Michael Yelton has conducted visits, interviews and archival research and has created vividly detailed and inspiring accounts. Here we encounter some well known names about whom very little has been written. We also meet some individuals who made outstanding contributions to Anglo-Catholicism in their day, but whose names and accomplishments have become almost forgotten. Outposts of the Faith records devotion and eccentricity in generous measure - we meet one priest who removed parts of his clerical clothing whenever any part of the 1662 Prayer Book was recited, another who was shot by a parishioner, another who faithfully served the same Devon parish for seventy years.

Fighting between Christians and Muslims in the medieval period is often seen in the narrow context of the battle for the Holy Land. Other points of conflict tend to be ignored. But, as David Nicolle's thought-provoking survey shows, the religions clashed across the medieval world - in the Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula, in the Near East, in Central Asia, India, the Balkans, Anatolia, Russia, the Baltic and Africa. Over 500 years, the struggle in each theatre of conflict had its own character - methods of warfare differed and developed in different ways and were influenced by local traditions and circumstances. And these campaigns were not waged solely against Christian or Islamic enemies, but against pagan, non-Christian or non-Islamic peoples. As he tells the story of Crusade and Jihad, and describes the organization and tactics of the armies involved, David Nicolle opens up a new understanding of the phenomenon of holy war.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

The original recipients of the Letter of First Peter inhabited a radically different social context from our own. We do not live under Roman imperial rule. Slave labor is not the driving force of our economy. Women are not under patriarchal domination in our culture as they once were. Society has changed, but what is beyond dispute is that Western culture remains antithetical to God's will and hostile to the Jesus way. The imperial Caesar has been replaced by the imperial self. The Pax Romana has been replaced by the American Dream. Western capitalism still trades in the bodies and souls of human beings. Culture obsesses over sexual freedom and material indulgence. Idolatry is pervasive. Autonomous individualism is the ideal. First Peter is about the inevitable clash with culture that ensues because of the good news of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter's bottom-up profile of costly discipleship is far more radical than we may realize. Hostility against the church is the believer's opportunity under pressure to reveal the goodness of God. Suffering and submission are essential for Peter's Christ for culture strategy. Sacrifice is the leverage of the gospel. Cross-bearing humility is the strategy for relating to culture and Christlike humility is essential for living in the household of God.