First published in 1976, Paul Johnson's exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude--"a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical" ("New York Review of Books").
In a highly readable companion to books on faith and history, the scholar and author Johnson has illuminated the Christian world and its fascinating history in a way that no other has. Johnson takes off in the year 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known 'Jesus Sect', A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity--and its trials and tribulations throughout history--has never before been contained in such a captivating work.

Kingsley Amis described Paul Johnson's "Intellectuals" as "a valuable and entertaining Rogues' Gallery of "Adventures of the Mind."" Now the celebrated journalist and historian offers "Creators," a companion volume of essays that examines a host of outstanding and prolific creative spirits. Here are Disney, Picasso, Bach, and Shakespeare; Austen, Twain, and T. S. Eliot; and Durer, Hokusai, Pugin, and Viollet-le-Duc, among many others.

Paul Johnson believes that creation cannot be satisfactorily analyzed, but it can be illustrated to bring out its salient characteristics. That is the purpose of this instructive and witty book.

This timely book provides an authoritative analysis of the pension reform process in nine countries, namely Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and USA, with Japan being covered in the introduction by the editors. The book draws on the work of experts from each of these countries to provide a picture of how the pension systems work in each country. The contributors examine the policy reform process in each country, against the background of the fiscal stresses arising from the ageing populations in OECD countries. They also analyse whether different types of pension delivery systems (e.g. the public-private mix) generate different standards of living. Each study is prepared according to a common template allowing meaningful analysis of pension delivery and outcomes across countries using similar macroeconomic statistics and microdata. Pension Systems and Retirement Incomes across OECD Countries is an extremely valuable and empirically sound book on a highly topical subject. It will appeal to scholars of economics, public policy, political science and finance as well as being of great interest to policymakers and practitioners involved in pension fund management.

A galaxy of legendary figures from the annals of Western history

In this enlightening and entertaining work, Paul Johnson, the bestselling author of "Intellectuals" and "Creators," approaches the subject of heroism with stirring examples of men and women from every age, walk of life, and corner of the planet who have inspired and transformed not only their own cultures but the entire world as well.

Heroes includes:

Samson, Judith, and Deborah - Henry V and Joan of Arc - Elizabeth I and Walter Raleigh - George Washington, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Nelson - Emily Dickinson - Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee - Mae West and Marilyn Monroe - Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II

This is a forensic examination - by the man best placed to do so - of what it costs to run the United Kingdom's economy. To follow the money. To provide an explanation, of where that money comes from and where it goes to, how that has changed and how it needs to change. We are heading off, in fact, on a journey to not just follow the money, but to track it and pin it down, to find out how much of our money government takes and spends to keep the country we recognise as the UK running. Government decisions determine the welfare of the poor and the elderly, the state of the health service, the effectiveness of our children's education, and our preparedness for the future: whether that is a pandemic or global warming. As a society, we are a reflection of what the government spends. Nearly four pounds out every ten we earn goes, one way or another, to the taxman? What are the combined effects of these decisions to take hundreds of billions from us every year and then dish it out again? Johnson looks at what happened following the financial crisis of 2008-09 and the austerity years that followed. And then at how in 2020 the government reacted to the coronavirus with by far the biggest spending splurge in peacetime history. And he peers into our economic futures as we try to reach a new 'normal' after Covid-19.

This book examines the increasing significance of DNA profiling for crime investigation in modern society. It focuses on developments in the UK as the world-leader in the development and application of forensic DNA technology, and in the construction of DNA databases as an essential element in the successful use of DNA for forensic purposes. The book uses data collected from funded research into police uses of the UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) to describe the relationship between scientific knowledge and police investigations. It refers to some of the major UK criminal cases in which DNA evidence has been presented and contested. Chapters in the book explain the scientific developments which have enabled DNA profiling to be applied to criminal investigation, the ways in which the state has directed this, and how genetic technology has risen to such preeminence; how DNA evidence moved from its use in individual prosecutions to a major role in intelligence led policing, and saw the de

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'This is a brilliant book. Buy it, read it and weep' The Times 'The antidote to naivety that our political class needs' Sunday Times, Book of the Week 'A treasure trove of killer facts' Guardian 'Read it, absorb it, and understand how the country works' Laura Kuenssberg 'If you want to understand why crazy politics routinely trumps economic rationality in government choices, read this' Robert Peston Paul Johnson and the enormously respected Institute for Fiscal Studies aim to hold Government to account - without which politicians will get away with their half-truths, elisions and dubious claims. This is a forensic examination - by the man best placed to do so - of the way the state raises and spends £1 trillion of our money every year. To follow the money. To provide an explanation, of where that money comes from and where it goes to, how that has changed and how it needs to change. Government decisions determine the welfare of the poor and the elderly, the state of the health service, the effectiveness of our children's education, and how prepared we are for the future: whether that is a pandemic or global warming. As a society, we are a reflection of what the government spends. Johnson looks at what happened following the financial crisis of 2008-09 and the austerity years that followed. He examines the way that the government tackled the economy during Covid - when the UK budget shot up to over a trillion for the first time - and he analyses prospects for our future as we grapple with looming recession and the cost of living crisis.

First published in 1980, Ireland: Land of Troubles is a fascinating and eminently readable account of Ireland's history from the twelfth century which gives a valuable insight into her twentieth century Troubles. Ireland is a country which has produced examples of the finest flowering of Western culture but also witnessed centuries of turbulence and bloodshed. From the first establishment of an English presence around Dublin in the twelfth century, Ireland's turbulence has been responsible for wrecking the reputations and destroying the causes of Richard II, the Earl of Essex, Charles I and James II and a host of Lords Lieutenant and Ministers, but no one could get to the heart of the 'Irish problem.' And the great famine and depopulation of Ireland in the nineteenth century, when four million of her people emigrated - many to America - gave a boost to Irish nationalism and the struggle for Home Rule, culminating eventually in Partition and the continuing Troubles. The author combines his account of Ireland's history with a penetrating insight into the rise of the Anglo-Irish Establishment and the cultural and religious divides which form an integral part of his story. This book will be of interest to students of history, political science, war studies, ethno-nationalism and internal security.

A new edition of the leading textbook on the economic history of Britain since industrialisation. Combining the expertise of more than 30 leading historians and economists, the volumes examine the foundational importance of economic life in modern Britain and the close interconnections between economic, social, political and cultural change. Each chapter provides a clear guide to the major controversies in the field and students are shown how to connect historical evidence with economic theory and apply quantitative methods. Volume 1 (1700-1870), examines industrialisation's causes and consequences; issues of globalisation, convergence and divergence; and the role of institutions, the state and technology. Volume 2 tracks the development of the British economy from late nineteenth century global dominance to its early twenty-first century position as a mid-sized player in an integrated European economy. Throughout the volumes British experience is set within an international context and its performance benchmarked against its global competitors.

Law, Religion and Homosexuality is the first book-length study of how religion has shaped, and continues to shape, legislation that regulates the lives of gay men and lesbians . Through a systematic examination of how religious discourse influences the making of law - in the form of official interventions made by faith communities and organizations, as well as by expressions of faith by individual legislators - the authors argue that religion continues to be central to both enabling and restricting the development of sexual orientation equality. Whilst some claim that faith has been marginalized in the legislative processes of contemporary western societies, Johnson and Vanderbeck show the significant impact of religion in a number of substantive legal areas relating to sexual orientation including: same-sex sexual relations, family life, civil partnership and same-sex marriage, equality in employment and the provision of goods and services, hate speech regulation, and education. Law, Religion and Homosexuality demonstrates the dynamic interplay between law and religion in respect of homosexuality and will be of considerable interest to a wide audience of academics, policy makers and stakeholders.

Homosexuality and the European Court of Human Rights is the first book-length study of the Court's jurisprudence in respect of sexual orientation. It provides a socio-legal analysis of the substantial number of decisions and judgments of the Strasbourg organs on the wide range of complaints brought by gay men and lesbians under the European Convention on Human Rights. Providing a systematic analysis of Strasbourg case law since 1955 and examining decades of decisions that have hitherto remained obscure, the book considers the evolution of the Court's interpretation of the Convention and how this has fashioned lesbian and gay rights in Europe. Going beyond doctrinal analysis by employing a nuanced sociological consideration of Strasbourg jurisprudence, Paul Johnson shows how the Court is a site at which homosexuality is both socially constructed and regulated. He argues that although the Convention is conceived as a 'living instrument' to be interpreted 'in the light of present-day conditions' the Court's judgments have frequently forged and advanced new social conditions in respect of homosexuality. Johnson argues that the Court's jurisprudence has an extra-legal importance because it provides an authoritative and powerful discursive resource that can be mobilized by lesbians and gay men to challenge homophobic and heteronormative social relations in contemporary societies. As such, the book considers how the Court's interpretation of the Convention might be evolved in the future to better protect lesbian and gay rights and lives.

By far the most important figure in the history of the United States, George Washington liberated the thirteen colonies from the superior forces of the British Empire against all military odds, and presided over the production and ratification of a constitution that (suitably amended) has lasted for more than two hundred years. Yet today Washington remains a distant figure to many Americans--a failing that acclaimed author Paul Johnson sets out to rectify with this brilliantly vivid, sharply etched portrait of the great hero as a young warrior, masterly commander in chief, patient lawmaker, and exceptionally wise president.

Heterosexuality is a largely 'silent' set of practices and identities - it is assumed to be everywhere and yet often remains unnamed and unexplored. Despite recent changes in the theoretical understanding and representation of sexuality, heterosexuality continues to be socially normative. Forging a new agenda for the study of heterosexuality, this in-depth volume, the first research monograph to focus on heterosexuality and society, presents an empirical study of the construction, negotiation and enactment of heterosexual sexuality. Using detailed interview data, it investigates how heterosexuality, as both an identity and a set of practices, is accomplished through love relationships. Rather than assuming that romantic love is an outcome or expression of a pre-defined sexuality, Johnson explores how sexuality is brought to life through love. Situated in the ongoing theoretical debates concerning the relationship between gender and sexuality, Paul Johnson's book shows how ways of loving are interwoven with the construction, practice, regulation and government of heterosexuality. Excellently written, this important book also looks at gender in society, and explores such areas as heterosexual subjectivities and the borders of desire. As such, the research it contains will be valuable for all students of sociology and gender studies.

Homosexuality and the European Court of Human Rights is the first book-length study of the Court's jurisprudence in respect of sexual orientation. It offers a socio-legal analysis of the substantial number of decisions and judgments of the Strasbourg organs on the wide range of complaints brought by gay men and lesbians under the European Convention on Human Rights. Providing a systematic analysis of Strasbourg case law since 1955 and examining decades of decisions that have hitherto remained obscure, the book considers the evolution of the Court's interpretation of the Convention and how this has fashioned lesbian and gay rights in Europe. Going beyond doctrinal analysis by employing a nuanced sociological consideration of Strasbourg jurisprudence, Paul Johnson shows how the Court is a site at which homosexuality is both socially constructed and regulated. He argues that although the Convention is conceived as a 'living instrument' to be interpreted 'in the light of present-day conditions' the Court's judgments have frequently forged and advanced new social conditions in respect of homosexuality. Johnson argues that the Court's jurisprudence has an extra-legal importance because it provides an authoritative and powerful discursive resource that can be mobilized by lesbians and gay men to challenge homophobic and heteronormative social relations in contemporary societies. As such, the book considers how the Court's interpretation of the Convention might be evolved in the future to better protect lesbian and gay rights and lives.

This collection focuses attention on an important but academically neglected area of contemporary operational policing: the regulation of consensual sexual practices. Despite the high-level public visibility of, and debate about, policing in relation to violent and abusive sexual crimes (from child sexual abuse to adult rape) very little public or scholarly attention is paid to the policing of consensual sexual practices in contemporary societies. Whilst sexual life is commonly understood to be a matter of private life that is beyond formal social control, this book shows that policing is implicated in the regulation of a wide range of consensual sexual practices. This book brings together a well known and respected group of academics, from a range of disciplines, to explore the role of the police in shaping the boundaries of that aspect of our lives that we imagine to be most intimate and most our own. The volume presents a snap shot of policing in respect of a number of diverse areas such as public sex, pornography, and sex work and considers how sexual orientation structures police responses to them. The authors critically examine how policing is implicated in the social, moral and political landscape of sex and, contrary to the established rhetoric of politicians and criminal justice practitioners, continues to intervene in the private lives of citizens.

It is essential supplementary reading for courses in criminology, law, policing, sociology of deviance, gender and sexuality, and cultural studies.

This collection focuses attention on an important but academically neglected area of contemporary operational policing: the regulation of consensual sexual practices. Despite the high-level public visibility of, and debate about, policing in relation to violent and abusive sexual crimes (from child sexual abuse to adult rape) very little public or scholarly attention is paid to the policing of consensual sexual practices in contemporary societies. Whilst sexual life is commonly understood to be a matter of private life that is beyond formal social control, this book shows that policing is implicated in the regulation of a wide range of consensual sexual practices. This book brings together a well known and respected group of academics, from a range of disciplines, to explore the role of the police in shaping the boundaries of that aspect of our lives that we imagine to be most intimate and most our own. The volume presents a snap shot of policing in respect of a number of diverse areas such as public sex, pornography, and sex work and considers how sexual orientation structures police responses to them. The authors critically examine how policing is implicated in the social, moral and political landscape of sex and, contrary to the established rhetoric of politicians and criminal justice practitioners, continues to intervene in the private lives of citizens.

It is essential supplementary reading for courses in criminology, law, policing, sociology of deviance, gender and sexuality, and cultural studies.

Each of the 48 novels of Anthony Trollope making up the edition will include a specially commissioned introduction by an internationally known figure from the academic, literary and political worlds, including David Skilton, Dr. John Rae, Alice Thomas Ellis and Enoch Powell. The texts have been carefully chosen and prepared by David Skilton. The original illustrations, by the most loved illustrators of the time, including "Phiz" and Millais, are reproduced.

Heterosexuality is a largely 'silent' set of practices and identities - it is assumed to be everywhere and yet often remains unnamed and unexplored. Despite recent changes in the theoretical understanding and representation of sexuality, heterosexuality continues to be socially normative. Forging a new agenda for the study of heterosexuality, this in-depth volume, the first research monograph to focus on heterosexuality and society, presents an empirical study of the construction, negotiation and enactment of heterosexual sexuality. Using detailed interview data, it investigates how heterosexuality, as both an identity and a set of practices, is accomplished through love relationships. Rather than assuming that romantic love is an outcome or expression of a pre-defined sexuality, Johnson explores how sexuality is brought to life through love. Situated in the ongoing theoretical debates concerning the relationship between gender and sexuality, Paul Johnson's book shows how ways of loving are interwoven with the construction, practice, regulation and government of heterosexuality. Excellently written, this important book also looks at gender in society, and explores such areas as heterosexual subjectivities and the borders of desire. As such, the research it contains will be valuable for all students of sociology and gender studies.

Based upon interdisciplinary themes such as status and welfare, Old Age contains a collection of pieces examining old age in the study of history and places the problem of a rapidly ageing population in its historical context.
Covering from Ancient Greece to modern Germany and America, Old Age features both methodological and empirical studies. It represents a substantial contribution to the historical understanding of old age in past societies as well as to the discussion about the contribution of post-modernism to historical scholarship.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203021029

New Pop-Up Paper Projects is an inspirational book for everyone who wants to learn and share the magic of pop-up paper engineering. Illustrated throughout with colour diagrams and photographs, this book guides you through basic techniques and foundation skills, offers advice on classroom planning and health and safety and shows you how to ensure that learners of all ages can develop and progress their skills. Guiding you through 90-, 180- and 360-degree engineering, this book presents step-by-step instructions and ideas for over 200 cross-curricular themes, from cityscapes to magical creatures. Aiming to challenge and inspire, Paul Johnson uses over 150 paper-engineering techniques, including: storybooks pop-ups without folds zigzag pop-ups pulleys, wheels and levers asymmetrical pop-ups intricate toy theatres diagonal pop-ups with movables. This book, brimming with pop-up techniques and how to teach them, is for everyone from the self-styled visually illiterate to the art graduate, from parents keeping creativity alive at home to classroom teachers planning an engaging curriculum for their class of 30 plus pupils.

The techniques of creating pop-up forms are demonstrated in a series of practical lessons. The book also suggests ways in which pop-up forms can be used to enrich the study of English and art, and contains illustrations of childrens work.

The Oise-Aisne American Cemetery is the last resting place of 6,012 American soldiers who died fighting in a small portion of Northern France during the First World War. The impressive cemetery is divided into four plots marked A to D. However, few visitors are aware that across the road, behind the immaculate fa ade of the superintendent's office, unmarked and completely surrounded by impassable shrubbery, is Plot E, a semi-secret fifth plot that contains the bodies of ninety-four American soldiers. These were men who were executed for crimes committed in the European Theatre of Operations during and just after the Second World War. Originally, the men whose death sentences were carried out were buried near the sites of their executions in locations as far afield as England, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Algeria. A number of the men were executed in the grounds of Shepton Mallet prison in Somerset - the majority of whom were hanged in the execution block, with two being shot by a firing squad in the prison yard. The executioner at most of the hangings was Thomas William Pierrepoint, assisted mainly by his more-famous nephew Albert Pierrepoint. Then, in 1949, under a veil of secrecy, the plot of shame', as it has become known, was established in France. The site does not exist on maps of the cemetery and it is not mentioned on the American Battle Monuments Commission's website. Visits to Plot E are not encouraged. Indeed, public access is difficult because the area is concealed, surrounded by bushes, and is closed to visitors. No US flag is permitted to fly over the plot and the graves themselves have no names, just small, simple stones the size of index cards that are differentiated only by reference numbers. Even underground the dishonoured are set apart, with each body being positioned with its back to the main cemetery. In The Plot of Shame, the historian Paul Johnson uncovers the history of Plot E and the terrible stories of wartime crime linked to it.

Based on themes such as status and welfare, Old Age from Antiquity to Post-Modernity examines the role of the elderly in history. This empirical study represents a substantial contribution to both the historical understanding of old age in past societies as well as the discussion of the contribution of post-modernism to historical scholarship.

"The creation of the United States of America is the greatest of all human adventures," begins Paul Johnson's remarkable new American history. "No other national story holds such tremendous lessons, for the American people themselves and for the rest of mankind." Johnson's history is a reinterpretation of American history from the first settlements to the Clinton administration. It covers every aspect of U.S. history--politics; business and economics; art, literature and science; society and customs; complex traditions and religious beliefs. The story is told in terms of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character. Wherever possible, letters, diaries, and recorded conversations are used to ensure a sense of actuality. "The book has new and often trenchant things to say about every aspect and period of America's past," says Johnson, "and I do not seek, as some historians do, to conceal my opinions."

Johnson's history presents John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Cotton Mather, Franklin, Tom Paine, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison from a fresh perspective. It emphasizes the role of religion in American history and how early America was linked to England's history and culture and includes incisive portraits of Andrew Jackson, Chief Justice Marshall, Clay, Lincoln, and Jefferson Davis. Johnson shows how Grover Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt ushered in the age of big business and industry and how Woodrow Wilson revolutionized the government's role. He offers new views of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover and of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and his role as commander in chief during World War II. An examination of the unforeseen greatness of Harry Truman and reassessments of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush follow. "Compulsively readable," said Foreign Affairs of Johnson's unique narrative skills and sharp profiles of people.

This is an in-depth portrait of a great people, from their fragile origins through their struggles for independence and nationhood, their heroic efforts and sacrifices to deal with the `organic sin' of slavery and the preservation of the Union to its explosive economic growth and emergence as a world power and its sole superpower. Johnson discusses such contemporary topics as the politics of racism, education, Vietnam, the power of the press, political correctness, the growth of litigation, and the rising influence of women. He sees Americans as a problem-solving people and the story of America as "essentially one of difficulties being overcome by intelligence and skill, by faith and strength of purpose, by courage and persistence...Looking back on its past, and forward to its future, the auguries are that it will not disappoint humanity."

This challenging narrative and interpretation of American history by the author of many distinguished historical works is sometimes controversial and always provocative. Johnson's views of individuals, events, themes, and issues are original, critical, and admiring, for he is, above all, a strong believer in the history and the destiny of the American people.