The charismatic movement has a high profile in contemporary Christianity. The book's contributors include insiders and outsiders, charismatics and sociologists; with Britain as their focus, they trace the movement's international connections, historical development and variety. The book provides a wealth of information and analysis which will interest both those within the movement and students of religion wanting to know more about it.

The charismatic movement has a high profile in contemporary Christianity. The book's contributors include insiders and outsiders, charismatics and sociologists; with Britain as their focus, they trace the movement's international connections, historical development and variety. The book provides a wealth of information and analysis which will interest both those within the movement and students of religion wanting to know more about it.

Dramatic social transformation in Western society over recent decades has had a profound impact on the way the life course is studied. While people continue to experience the implications of class, gender, ethnicity and, of course, age, they are more than ever able to take personal control of their own lives. The Life Course considers how, in a diverse and uncertain world, the previously predictable stages of life are no longer fixed but increasingly open to change. Focusing on continuities and change, this book looks not only at the different 'phases of life', but also at the transformation of a number of closely related social institutions such as the family, education and the workplace. Recognising that the established cradle-to-grave view is now outdated, the trajectory from infancy and youth to later and end-of-life is followed not as a stable object of study, but as a starting point for critical analysis. This second edition offers an essential overview of the sociology of the life course, incorporating both contemporary and conventional perspectives. It calls upon current theorising around the life course as well as on up-to-date empirical research data. This thought-provoking text is relevant to researchers and students of life course studies and sociology, as well as to those in nursing, social work and related caring professions.

"[To grasp this subject] one needs a multifaceted, multidisciplinary approach by a variety of expert hands such as have been brought together in this book. Here one has the whole argument, from the inter-Testamental and earliest Christian periods through medieval and early modern times up to the complex overlaps with the New Age, or Pentecostalism and Neo-Pentecostalism, or Judaising movements like the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Peruvian 'Israelites.'" --from the Foreword by David Martin

"Students with a serious interest in the manifestations of millennialism, and those concerned with the origins and motivations embraced by revolutionary ideologies will find this book an indispensable resource;... for laymen it offers a truly fascinating read." --Bryan R. Wilson

This timely book examines the impact of Christian millenarian ideas in a comparative and historical perspective with a special emphasis on contemporary religious movements inspired by such ideas. The contributors are Andrew Bradstock, Eugene Gallagher, Malcolm B. Hamilton, Massimo Introvigne, Orestis Lindermeyer, Kenneth Newport, Susan J. Palmer, Mark Patterson, Martyn Percy, Margaret Poloma, Stanley E. Porter, Ian Reader, Damian Thompson, Andrew Walker, Diane Watt, and Michael York.