This important new single-volume study of W. E. Gladstone offers a readily accessible account of one of the most important and consequential political careers in modern British and Irish history. It is a story of how a statesman of almost superhuman energy and forcefulness of character strove to realise God's purposes, as he saw them, in the twisting and slippery paths of public service. Striving to realise God's purposes is the theme at the centre of this reading of Gladstone's life and career. For too long, his intense religious faith has been exiled to the margins of the story, denied crucial explanatory power. Richard Shannon puts this right.

Good Friday 1612. High on a hill in the wild and lawless area of Pendle, a secret meeting is held at Malkin Tower. By the end of the year, most of those present have been sentenced to death at Lancaster Castle - hanged for the crime of witchcraft. This powerful play attempts to unravel the mysteries behind one of England's most famous trials, that of the notorious Pendle Witches. Did Alice Nutter and the others really take part in a witches' Sabbat? Or were these Pendle folk innocent victims at a time of persecution, paranoia and superstition? Sabbat imagines the events leading up to the trial and execution of The Lancashire Witches and asks: who held the real power behind the tightly closed doors of Pendle? How many lives were destroyed by laws born out of fear?

This important new single-volume study of W. E. Gladstone offers a readily accessible account of one of the most important and consequential political careers in modern British and Irish history. It is a story of how a statesman of almost superhuman energy and forcefulness of character strove to realise God's purposes, as he saw them, in the twisting and slippery paths of public service. Striving to realise God's purposes is the theme at the centre of this reading of Gladstone's life and career. For too long, his intense religious faith has been exiled to the margins of the story, denied crucial explanatory power. Richard Shannon puts this right.

Two army buddies (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) team up after the war and become a successful song-and-dance act. While on a skiing holiday the pair stage a benefit to save an inn run by their old commander, who is beset by financial difficulties resulting from a lack of snow. The title song, `White Christmas', was actually written 12 years earlier for the film `Holiday Inn' and was already a Christmas standard in 1954.