***A Best Book of 2022, The Times*** ***Book of the Year, Spectator*** A myth-busting biography of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, which retells the dramatic story of the civil war from her perspective Henrietta Maria, Charles I's queen, is the most reviled consort to have worn the crown of Britain's three kingdoms. Condemned as that 'Popish brat of France', a 'notorious whore' and traitor, she remains in popular memory the wife who wore the breeches and turned her husband Catholic - so causing a civil war - and a cruel and bigoted mother. Leanda de Lisle's White King was hailed as 'the definitive modern biography about Charles I' (Observer). Here she considers Henrietta Maria's point of view, unpicking the myths to reveal a very different queen. We meet a new bride who enjoyed annoying her uptight husband, a leader of fashion in clothes and cultural matters, an innovative builder and gardener and an advocate of the female voice in public affairs. No bigot, her closest friends included 'Puritans' as well as Catholics, and she led the anti-Spanish faction at court linked to the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years' War. When civil war came, the strategic planning and fundraising of his 'She Generalissimo' proved crucial to Charles's campaign. The story takes us to courts across Europe, and looks at the fate of Henrietta Maria's mother and sisters, who also faced civil wars. Her estrangement from her son Henry is explained, and the image of the Restoration queen as an irrelevant crone is replaced with Henrietta Maria as an influential 'phoenix queen', presiding over a court with 'more mirth' even than that of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. It is time to look again at this despised queen and judge if she is not in fact one of our most remarkable. 'this is revisionist history at its absolute best' ANDREW ROBERTS 'beautifully written and endlessly fascinating' ALEXANDER LARMAN 'popular history of the finest kind' RONALD HUTTON

Looking back on a happy lifetime spent as a Catholic priest, Kenneth Payne presents an inspired biographical work that discusses a fundamentally important element of human life; namely hospitality and how it has been, and continues to be, a central component of his life, work and faith. This continues as a central theme in the presentation of his travelogue, which describes, not without humour, his work with many different groups of people. Especially moving are the descriptions of his work amongst the most poverty stricken people in Jamaica, and his visit to the deprived peoples in Brazil where the open door and welcoming arms are the agents through which Christ's teachings are practised in today's world. At a time when criticism is often levelled at the institutionalised churches, this book comes as a breath of fresh air and is of interest to many who may not share the author's faith.

The Catholic Church has always recognized that philosophy is necessary both to understand the faith as well as to defend it. The need for a philosophically informed faith has become more acute with the rise of secularism. Seat of Wisdom demonstrates that the philosophical principles developed in the Catholic tradition, especially as articulated in Thomism, provide the intellectual foundation for belief in God and are also the only reliable basis for a fully coherent vision of man's place in the world. Seat of Wisdom begins with an exploration of the relationship between faith and reason. Philosophy's essential role is to discover the rational principles underlying the intelligible order of reality. These principles act as a bridge connecting science and religious faith, enabling the believer to integrate all facets of human experience. Each of those first principles, as expressed in the transcendental properties, are then analyzed as the basis of the major philosophical disciplines. Starting with metaphysics' study of being, the argument proceeds to consider the true, the good, and the beautiful in terms of epistemology, anthropology, ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. Lastly, these principles are shown to point to God as creator. The strength of the Catholic philosophical tradition is evident when contrasted with reductive theories which fail to account for the breadth of human experience. Consequently, each chapter will introduce influential philosophers whose inadequate theories inform contemporary assumptions. Against this, the Thomistic argument is elucidated as being inclusive of the insights of the reductive position. It will be seen that this "both/and" approach is the only way to do justice to the glory of God and the gift of creation. Religion is prey to skepticism when it is isolated from the rest of knowledge. This integrative argument, uniting discussions of nature, politics, and theology according to common principles, enables the reader to grasp the unity of wisdom. Moreover, by engaging alternative positions, it provides the reader with tools to defend the Catholic worldview against those reductive philosophies which only deprive life of its full meaning.

Glorious full-color illustrations by great masters of religious art enhance these well-known Bible stories. More than 100 stories are represented and are written in a simple style that will delight younger readers.