Contemporary readers, who wonder at the British and American knack for misguided adventure, will enjoy these three essays on Custer, the Titanic, and the onset of World War I. The American adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan have finally wound down after incurring enormous costs. One wonders if we have forgotten the lessons of history, and in particular of World War I? It is far easier to enter into armed conflict than it is to withdraw the troops and heal the wounds. The Soldier, the Builder, and the Diplomat consists of rapier-like literary thrusts into the lives of General George Armstrong Custer, Thomas Andrews (the builder of the Titanic), and Edward Grey (British Foreign Secretary before World War I. However spectacular their failures, it's generally agreed that these men (or, in the case of Edward Grey, the men around him) could have avoided disaster except for arrogance - a flaw that has long characterized the imperial ambition of leaders from both countries. One shudders to think where such a mentality will take us in a nuclear age. Steven Schlesser's readable study is more than entertainment or scholarship, it is a plea for balance, probity, and reason in an era when a single fit of arrogance by a world leader can devastate hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings and imperil the very project of civilized human existence on this planet. It's difficult to overstate the importance of The Soldier, the Builder, and the Diplomat.

Pope John XXIII prayed that the Second Vatican Council would prove to be a new Pentecost. The articles gathered here appeared originally in a series solicited by and published in Theological Studies (September 2012 to March 2014). The purpose of the series was and remains threefold: * To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council * To help readers more fully appreciate its significance not only for the Catholic Church itself but also for the entire world whom the Church encounters in proclamation and reception of ongoing revelation * In their present form, to help readers worldwide engage both the conciliar documents themselves and scholarly reflections on them, all with a view to appropriating the reform envisioned by Pope John XXIII. Contributors: Stephen B. Bevans, SVD; Mary C. Boys, SNJM; Maryanne Confoy, RSC; Massimo Faggioli; Anne Hunt; Natalia Imperatori-Lee; Edward Kessler; Gerald O'Collins, SJ; John W. O'Malley, SJ; Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ; Ladislas Orsy, SJ; Peter C. Phan; Gilles Routhier; Ormond Rush; Stephen Schloesser, SJ; Francis A. Sullivan, SJ; O. Ernesto Valiente; Jared Wicks, SJ

For 40 years a battle has been waged over Vatican II between conservatives and liberals, between those who want to go "back to the sources" and those who champion "the spirit of the council." Benedict XVI is clearly one of those who started out as a liberal only to end up in the conservative camp. "Vatican II: Did Anything Happen?" is clearly on the side of those who think something unprecedented happened, that a genie was let out of the bottle that will never be stuffed back.Comprised mainly of a collection of articles, mostly but not all from Theological Studies, that are without qualification some of the best analysis of the council ever written, this book is a long overdue look at one of the most controversial and revolutionary chapters in the history of the Catholic Church.