As demonstrated by the contents of this book, Rudolf Steiner was able to speak to the British in a very direct and lively way. He did not need to give a long introductory build-up to his main theme, as was expected of him in Germany for instance, but could refer immediately to esoteric ideas. The intention of this volume is to give a fuller picture of Rudolf Steiner's work in Britain, and his approach to esoteric ideas while on British soil. Although the major lecture series he gave in Britain have been previously published, this book gathers together various lectures, addresses, question-and-answer sessions, minutes of important meetings and articles - a good deal of which has been unavailable in English until now. It also features a complete list of all the lectures and addresses Steiner gave in Britain, making it a valuable reference book for students of Rudolf Steiner's work.

Rudolf Steiner spent some five months of his life in Britain, visiting there ten times between 1902 and 1924. With the exception of German-speaking countries, the longest time Steiner spent abroad was in Britain, a place he clearly considered central to his work.In this extraordinary, thorough study of more than 1,200 pages and dozens of illustrations, Crispian Villeneuve documents those important visits, reproducing letters, articles, records and other archival material, much of it published for the first time. He also studies the interconnected theme of the life and work of D.N. Dunlop, Rudolf Steiner's closest British colleague.

How might we improve the way we organize society, so that human beings can live in greater peace, dignity and justice? Against a background of chronic discontent and social conflict around the globe, Richard Masters presents a comprehensive survey of Rudolf Steiner’s work on societal reform, sifting through and summarizing the content of dozens of books, lectures and discussions. Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) is not known today for his social thinking, but he wrote and spoke at length on such issues during and after WWI, engaging with audiences ranging from royalty, politicians and business owners to illiterate, dispossessed factory workers. Central to his ideas was his ‘threefold’ approach to politics, economics and culture, arguing that their roles should be clarified and the three spheres allowed to thrive independently. Drawing on the full range of source material – including much not yet available in English – the author reveals the continuing relevance of Steiner’s work to our contemporary situation. With an emphasis on accessibility, he builds up the subject methodically, studying the main ideas from differing perspectives. He also provides candid reflections on the degree to which Steiner’s proposals are still applicable to current policy and practice. Authoritative and yet jargon-free, Rudolf Steiner and Social Reform offers innovative and stimulating ideas for anyone concerned with the state of our world.

3 lectures, Dornach, May 1920 (CW 74) Steiner begins these three lectures by depicting the background of early Christian thought, from which scholastic philosophers arose. He focuses on the "unanswered question" of the scholastic movement: How can human thinking be made Christlike and develop toward a vision of the spiritual world? A study of subsequent European thought, especially that of Kant, leads to the possibility of deepening into spiritual perception the scientific thinking that arose from scholasticism. Steiner explains that, since the beginning of the twentieth century, this is true Christianity. This volume is a translation of Die Philosophie Des Thomas von Aquino (GA 74).

Following his major work on Rudolf Steiner's ten visits to Britain, Crispian Villeneuve studies Steiner's relationship to the British Isles during the approximately forty years before those visits. The theme of Steiner's early connection to British culture leads inevitably to the broader topic of his relationship to modern science. This in turn highlights the polarity and tension between the Goethean philosophic view that arises from Central Europe, and the "Baconian" perspective emanating from Western Europe. Interweaving these contrasting Baconian and Goethean worldviews, Villeneuve presents numerous primary texts--often culled from obscure sources and many previously unavailable in English--with commentary on Rudolf Steiner and the nineteenth century. We learn about Steiner's teachers, Karl Julius Schröer and Edmund Reitlinger, as well as English polymath William Whewell, perhaps the greatest admirer of Francis Bacon in recorded history, though he maintained numerous connections to Central Europe. Crispian Villeneuve offers genuinely new and valuable research into the early life and thought of one of the greatest cultural innovators of our time.

‘He [Harwood] is the sole Horatio known to me in this age of Hamlets…’ – C. S. Lewis, from Surprised by Joy Cecil Harwood (1898-1975) – lecturer, Waldorf teacher, writer, editor and anthroposophist – pioneered and developed the first Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) school in the United Kingdom (the New School in London, now Michael Hall School in Sussex). He also led the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain for some 37 years. In 1922, at the age of 24, Harwood attended a festival of English folk song and dance in Cornwall, alongside his life-long friend Owen Barfield. It was here – and not in the academic citadel of Oxford University, where they were both part of the literary circle known as the Inklings – that Harwood and Barfield were to encounter the work of Rudolf Steiner through meeting Daphne Olivier. Sun King’s Counsellor provides an intricate picture of the human connections, cultural movements and spiritual background that contributed to what came together in Cornwall in 1922, leading to Harwood’s life’s work. Featuring a colour plate section and full index, it documents Harwood’s early years and antecedents, marriages to Daphne Olivier and Margaret Lundgren, friendships with Barfield and C.S. Lewis, his life-changing meeting with anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner, teaching and educational work, and Harwood’s critical role in healing divisions within the Anthroposophical Society. Based on extensive research of primary sources, Blaxland-de Lange’s biography reveals the multi-faceted, flexible and sacrificial nature of this unique personality. Alfred Cecil Harwood – he preferred ‘Cecil’ instead of Alfred, with its meaning of ‘wise counsellor’ – began his career with the hope of becoming a writer, and had neither the intention nor ambition to become a teacher or the head of a national organization. Yet he became both an exemplary teacher and leader, as well as a celebrated author, editor, translator and lecturer.

Religious ritual is often seen as a way of bringing divine influences down into the material world. In this profound and stimulating work, Rudolf Steiner and Friedrich Benesch introduce the idea of "reverse ritual"--a way that each of us can raise our souls to the spiritual realm. In this process, the everyday world becomes a portal through which we can enter the dimension of the sacred. Here, each of us can be a "priest," and each of our actions can be a cosmic, ritual act. This stimulating collection of writings on spiritual communion of humanity includes two further lectures by Steiner that show how this process can engage our social lives. Also included are two additional essays as appendices: "Sacramental and Spiritual Communion" by Dietrich Asten and "Human Encounters and Karma" by Athys Floride. The introduction by Christopher Schaefer brings these ideas into focus for modern seekers. Contents: Part One: "The Spiritual Communion of Humanity" (5 lectures from GA 219) Part Two: "Preparing for the Sixth Epoch" Part Three: Commentaries by Friedrich Benesch Appendices: Selections from Dietrich Asten: "Spiritual and Sacramental Communion" & Athys Floride: "Human Encounters and Karma."