Alumni Publications

Our alumni have been busy this year writing books.
Here is a brief selection – look out for them in your local bookshop or find them online.

The Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel and the Brown Scapular

Mark Agius (Former Research
Associate)

The Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Brown Scapular’ describes the development of the Order of Carmelite
Friars, how they promoted the Devotion to the Joys of Mary, and
how the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated today all
over the world.

Aid and Influence

Stephen Browne (1968)

This book turns the argument about aid effectiveness on its head. Since development assistance is inherently self-interested, a source of soft power, political manipulation and commercial opportunity, its real effectiveness should be judged by the strength of donor influence and not by development impact. Its subjective nature means that its impact on development is often weak, mainly short-term and confined to limited and specific contexts.

Preaching the Passion: Interpreting
the Evangelists

Gregory Dunstan (1969)

Preaching the Passion contains six series of Holy Week sermons
looking at Jesus’ death from the perspective of each of the Evangelists. The four Gospels are the authenticated “witnesses” to Jesus’ death and resurrection. The differences between them give rise to a range of legitimate interpretations of Jesus’ death. It is this richness of meaning and understanding that these sermons explore.

A Church Near you

Denis Dunstone (1956)

In the lengthening sunny days of Spring 2020 the author, Denis
Dunstone, crept out to visit churchyards and sketch in colour fifty
churches that were within half an hour’s drive from his home
near Saffron Walden in Essex. The result appeared in a little book which was presented to local churches for sale. As lockdown rules persisted, the author added further volumes county by county and reached nineteen. They ranged from Yorkshire to Somerset and Hereford to Kent. This expanded book is a comprehensive volume covering Churches in England and Wales, the proceeds of which will raise funds for church preservation.

History Keeps Me Awake At Night

Christy Edwall (2013)

Margit is at the point in life when things should have cohered. She’s married, she’s got a degree, she’s got friends who throw good parties, and yet she’s still adrift, moving from one precarious job to the next. One day, a picture of some Mexican students catches her eye in a newspaper. The group of 43 had been ambushed by police in 2014 while travelling on a bus and disappeared without a trace. And so begins Margit’s obsession with the ‘desaparecidos’. As she heads off down the rabbit holes and cul-de-sacs of Google Maps, her idiosyncratic quest to uncover the truth of what happened begins to eclipse pretty much everything else.

Inventing Value: The Social Construction of Monetary Worth

Dave Elder-Vass (1976)

Monetary value, Elder-Vass argues, depends on valuation conventions that are frequently manipulated for profit. For supporting evidence, he looks at mortgage-backed securities, ‘unicorn’ companies, and the rise of Bitcoin. The resulting theory provides a new basis for criticising the role of value in the commodity economy and the finance sector.

The Art Fair Story

Melanie Gerlis (1993)

In just half a century of growth, the art fair industry has transformed the art market. Now, for the first time, art market journalist Melanie Gerlis tells the story of art fairs’ rapid ascent and reflects on their uncertain future. From the first post-war European art fairs built on the imperial 19th-century model of the International Exhibitions, to the global art fairs of the 21st century and their new online manifestations, it’s a tale of many twists and turns.

The Plot

Jean Hanff Korelitz (1983)

When a young writer dies before completing his first novel, his teacher, Jake, (himself a failed novelist) helps himself to its plot. The resulting book is a phenomenal success. But what if somebody out there knows? Somebody does. And if Jake can’t figure out who he’s dealing with, he risks something far worse than the loss of his career.

The Thermobaric Playground

Mark Haworth-Booth (1963)

Best-known for championing the art of photography at the V&A, Mark is also an award-winning poet, focusing on his North Devon habitat, wildlife, encounters with artists and pictures, the climate/environmental crisis, tyranny and war.
‘This gorgeous collection shows Mark Haworth-Booth at his musical, affectionate, generous best’. Fiona Benson.

Medicine - A Magnificently Illustrated History

Briony Hudson (1993) & Nick Taylor

In her latest book, Briony Hudson (1993, History) and illustrator
Nick Taylor explore medical history from well-known pioneers
to quirky milestones, and from ancient civilisations to cutting
edge technology. Aimed at children aged 9 and older.

Start Painting Now

Sarah Moore (2004)

Start Painting Now is a practical, accessible guide to discovering
your creative spirit, giving you brilliant new tools for relaxation and self-care. Instagram’s favourite artist Emily Powell and her sister, doctor Sarah Moore, will guide you through the process of learning to ignore your inner critic and unwind from the stresses of daily life through painting.

At the Origins of Islam

James Moreton Wakeley (2008)

The coming of Islam is one of world history’s watersheds and a
subject of great debate. At the Origins of Islam combines insights from Late Antiquity with due regard for Islam’s Arabian origins. It argues that Muhammad’s message was both novel yet familiar, with his movement’s power resting in relations with the bedouin, whose history of service in the armies of Rome and Persia had transformed their society to such an extent that erstwhile imperial clients could become conquerers.

Very Near the Line

Donald Naismith (1957)

Donald Naismith describes how self-governing schools, a national
curriculum, standardised tests, ‘league tables’, introduced by
Margaret Thatcher’s education revolution all, paradoxically, had their roots in local government she wished to remove from the national education system and argues for the restoration of a national system, locally administered.

Politics of the Crucified

John Peet (1980)

Jesus died on a cross, the form of execution imposed on those who threatened the Roman imperial order. What difference does this make to how Christians think and act politically? This study examines insights from the radical reformation tradition and liberation theology applied to the British and American churches.

The Economics of the Stock Market

Andrew Smithers (1956)

Bad policy based on bad theory causes financial crises and stagnation. This will continue until we have a better theory. This is increasingly recognised but before the publication of The Economics of The Stock Market we had no alternative. Unlike consensus theory, it is robust when tested against economic data.

Masquerade: The Lives of Noel Coward

Oliver Soden (2008)

Oliver Soden’s sparkling and inventive biography, the first in nearly thirty years, digs beneath the legend, revealing a man both
witty and grave, passionate and disenchanted. Granted exclusive
and unrestricted access to Coward’s unpublished diaries and
correspondence, Soden has delved into private and governmental archives to narrate in more detail than ever before Coward’s
hair-raising espionage career – and his tumultuous, necessarily secret, love affairs.

Dr Magnus Jones at PAU

Alain Wolf (1996)

The novel is a humorous look at a campus University and features an embattled Dr Jones at the hands of such formidable opponents
as French Professor Lehideux and Machiavellian Dr Grieve. The sub-plot involves Magnus’s courtship of Henrietta and the Cambridge-educated gay Sicilian estate manager, Alessandro.

Wallscrawler

Stephen Wyatt (1966)

“I like to think that Stephen Wyatt wrote his scripts naked and
surrounded by candles.” – Anonymous contributor to Doctor
Who Magazine. A feast of monologues from the creator of Doctor Who’s Paradise Towers and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy!