The late Les Murray described Jamie Grant's work as "poems of scrupulous craftsmanship and unlinking intelligence, poems which pay acute attention to the contours of experience." This new collection, which is divided into five discrete sections, focuses that attention on the twenty-first century world, its office buildings and hospitals, motorways and wind farms, while also looking back to characters and events from earlier times. There are also observations of Australia's natural environment, its forests, farms, birds and animals. The last of the five sections is a series of versified thumbnail sketches of historical figures whose achievements helped to shape the present age. And there is even an elegy for Les Murray among the other verses.

The English language is rich in poetry; yet how many people are aware that many of our stock phrases and familiar sayings have their origins as lines of poetry? Ink-stained poet Jamie Grant set out to uncover a selection of these enduring lines in the works of English-language poets all the way from Chaucer and Shakespeare up to the present day. Some of the lines are well known; others should be; and others again might be enjoyable surprises. These lines, and the quirky biographical and critical comments that accompany them, are an invitation to readers, from the well versed to the merely curious, to rediscover the pleasure of reading poetry, and to look at 100 of the world's best poets from a unique perspective.

Evangelical Christianity has long been plagued by a dichotomy between evangelism and social action. The debate about whether evangelicals should attempt to make this world a better place in tune with God's will as well as prepare people for life in a better world is the background to this stimulating volume, which seeks to demonstrate that there is no tension between the task of evangelism and the Christian's obligation to care for those in need. The issue should never have been one of 'either/or' but rather should always have been voiced in terms of 'both/and'. The Bible's teaching makes it plain that God's salvific work is both spiritual and physical. The first seven chapters survey relevant material in the Old and New Testaments; the second seven explore the theme of world transformation from the perspective of social ethics, systematic theology and church history. The clear message is that the proclamation of God's salvation must address both the desperate spiritual need of a sinful humanity and the desperate physical need that is all too apparent in our troubled world - and that there is theoretical and practical work yet to be done as we think and work under the dominion of Jesus, who as a result of his death and resurrection has been given all authority in heaven and earth. The contributors are David L. Baker, Tim Chester, M. Daniel Carroll R., Jamie A. Grant, Peter S. Heslam, Jason Hood, Dewi A. Hughes, I. Howard Marshall, Rene Padilla, Anna Robbins, David W. Smith, Melvin Tinker, Alistair I. Wilson and Christopher J. H. Wright.

The theme of covenant is foundational to the Bible's story. From the beginning of the biblical narrative, God is revealed as the one who enters into covenant relationship with his people, and this theme threads its way through the unfolding account of God s involvement in his creation and its redemption. The essence of covenant is simple; the divine promise that 'I will be your God and you will be my people', but the implications are immense, and breath-taking. This volume explores the concept of covenant from a variety of perspectives. It examines relevant texts in both Old and New Testaments, discusses the development of the theme within the canon of Scripture, and also draws out some of its theological, ethical and contemporary implications. As befits such a magisterial topic, the discussion is wide-ranging and fascinating. The contributors are David L. Baker, Christopher J. H. Wright, David Firth, James Hely Hutchinson, Tan Kim Huat, Alistair Wilson, Andrew T. B. McGowan, Harry Bunting and Colin Chapman.