Even 80 years later, Belloc's words still ring true...
597905
Hilaire Belloc was an Anglo-French Catholic writer and historian. In the early 20th century, he wrote works of many different natures including poetry, satire, and politics. It was his Catholic faith that formed his views and were reflected in his works. Recently, Ignatius Press has been re-printing some of his works including Characters of the Reformation and The Great Heresies. Today, I would like to tell you about the latter.

The Great Heresies was published in 1938. In the introduction, Belloc discusses what heresy is and how most people equate it with something from ancient Christian times. He goes on to explain that it is of high importance for anyone looking to understand European history and Christian orthodoxy. He then gives us a formal definition of the term to be a denial of an accepted Christian doctrine and something which affects not only the individual but all of society. It is heresy which shaped Europe and would have made Europe a completely different world had it succeeded. The book is divided into the following chapters:

1. The Arian Heresy
2. The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed
3. The Albigensian Attack
4. What Was the Reformation?
5. The Modern Phase

"The Arian heresy proposed to go to the very root of the Church's authority by attacking the full Divinity of her Founder." In layman's terms, it questioned the divinity of Jesus. "The Mohammedan attack threatened to kill the Christian Church by invasion rather than to undermine it from within." Belloc saw this as a heresy and not just a new religion attacking an old one. Belloc viewed the Albigensian heresy as the one that was nearly successful. This was a precursor to Protestantism and dealt with a duality of the universe, good and evil in an equal and constant battle with each other. The Protestant attacked authority and unity within the Church. Lastly, the modern phase has seen attacks of rationalism and positivism. Belloc chose these specific five, because they showed all the different directions from which the Church can be attacked. What I love best about reading Belloc's words are the truth they still hold today. It is nearly 80 years after this was first published, and his words still ring true.

This book was provided to me for free by Ignatius Press in exchange for an honest review.
3836163
After all these years, this movie still stands up as one of the best movies ever made.
2094295
It was interesting how Barclay can still be relevant so long after his death.  He still has a lot to say.
899716
This is a very good book, especially because there are still so many similarities today; race still matters one hundred years later.
2893268
On the fourth re -read of this book, there are still things to learn and marvel at.
Few books anywhere, written at any time, have withstood the scrutiny and examination in as fine a form as this book has.
It is a standard for any literate Texas person or any person who has interest in the world outside our dry-walled existence.
Of piquancy is that in one passage, John Graves speaks of sleeping uncomfortably (sic) on a ninety year old hip.
He was near forty years old when he wrote this and next year turns ninety.
I hope that he lives long enough to discover what a ninety year old hip actually feels like.
I also hope deeply he keeps writing.
I further hope younger men like Mark Sundeen take their own hope from superbly written books like Good Bye To A River ,books about disappearing rivers. May he get to speak his piece.
Grave's book changed policy, changed the course of a river.

Fleet Lentz
4354801
There is a reason he is still read thousands of years later.
3564554
Based on Belloc's lectures at Fordham University, New York, in 1937, "Crisis of Civilization" is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it is an insightful interpretation of history from an unabashedly Catholic viewpoint. On the other hand, some of Belloc's temporal notions of how to best cope with the dangers posed by this crisis seem anachronistic 65 years later.
The most compelling sections of the book may be found in the 100 or so pages. These passages alone make the book very worthwhile reading as Belloc delves into the creation and heyday of Christendom. He then tackles the negative temporal effects that the fragmentation of unified of Christendom had on Europe and the world in the wake of the Reformation. As usual, Belloc pulls no punches when it comes to ascribing many of the evils of our society (at least in 1937) to the theology that emanated from Reformation thinkers. He quite rightly considers the rise of modern capitalism as a result of Protestant theology.
However, Belloc goes off the rails, when he buys into the marxist logic that capitalism naturally devolves into monopoly and eventually communism -- the true, real, and most dangerous enemy to Catholicism. While he is certainly correct that world communism (or "green environmentalism", or "anarchism", or "progressivism", or whatever pseudonyms it's operating under these days) was and is the most vicious foe of the Catholic Church, Belloc errs in thinking that communism inevitably grows from market capitalism. Of course, it's difficult to fault him on this as he was writing in the late-1930s during the Great Depression when capitalism seemed to have failed and communism and atheistic socialism of various brands seemed on an unstoppable trajectory toward world domination
Naturally, then, some of Belloc's remedies to the capitalism were perhaps alarmist. As a supporter of American free-market capitalism, I found Belloc's proposed system of social engineering through massive taxation odious to say the least. However, his idea that the teachings of the Catholic Church can form a bulwark against the spread of communism by softening the more cut-throat aspects of capitalist society are right on the mark. It's not surprising, then, that since Belloc's time, the Church has been targeted for infiltration, corruption, and destruction by the forces of world communism and their useful idiots. And recent history has shown us that those countries where Christianity is strongest hold out the best against the easy despotism offered by socialists.
In case it's not obvious to this point, "Crisis of Civilization" provides an enormous amount of food for thought and is thus well worth reading, even if only to spur debate about where Belloc went wrong in the light of historical hindsight: the fall of Soviet and Eastern European communism; the present crumbling of European and Canadian socialism (yes, it's inevitable -- just look at the Canadian national health system); and the incredible dynamism and resilience of the American economy which has resisted many of the socialist incursions that European nations have foolishly embraced and which, contrary to Belloc's thesis, is still primarily driven by the engine of the small businessman.
2367616
Few books have stood the test of time better than David McCullough's "The Path Between the Seas." This book was written in 1978 and yet has remained relevant today despite the passage of more than 35 years. Through exhaustive research, McCullough has managed to depict the characters who made this story worth telling to new generations of readers. As someone who decided to read it while transiting the Panama Canal for the first time, I can tell you it immeasurably added to my enjoyment and appreciation of this historic endeavor. I think it would be only fitting to ask Mr. McCullough to return to Panama to write a sequel about the new canal that is nearing completion. It is my understanding it too features stories of politics, intrigue, mismanagement and ultimate victory.
2727349
I read this biik 40 years ago and  loved it to death. I returned to it over and over again until the pages were loose. Now I have a replacement copy and have returned to the volue and life affirming words of Camara Laye.
4309437
I am 75 years old. If I were to pick one book to describe to my children and grandchildren what it was like to live between 1948 and 1988, this would be the book. It is not earth shattering literature. Certainly, the story could be told in fewer words. But it is such an accurate reflection of reality and history, and I find it stunning.
3979301
I had first read this book back in the '80's and have wanted to re-read it many times over the years. The story is just as compelling now as it was decades ago, and one big improvement is the quality of this paperback over the pulp paper version I had read back then. Hoare tell his story intelligently and seems to go out of his way to avoid self-aggrandizement in this account of 5 Commando's key role in the Congo's fight against communist rebels in the '60's. While there is nothing in Hoare's writing that gives way to gratuitous detail, he starkly describes the vileness and viciousness of the rebels they were fighting. Those who like sanitized, revisionist history will likely offended.
4027303
If you are wrestling with the concepts projected by the Old-Guard in your community, this historical memoir of what was really happened in the golden age of leather is invaluable.  The picture that is painted is believable.  It also provides a credible explanation of the source of the myths that still exist today.
3957827
I read this book during my senior year in High School (43 years ago) and it was *incredibly* powerful; I was literally reduced to tears at the end.  I didn't buy many books in those days because of limited finances, but I bought this one because it had such an emotional effect on me.  Meanwhile, I wrote a heartfelt letter to the author - who was already living in Paris, where he lived for most of his adult life and until the very end - and the publisher forwarded my letter to him.  I received a response, which was certainly thrilling.  Twelve years later I was making my second visit to Paris and I decided to try contacting the author, who turned out to be living at the same address from 1970.  He agreed to meet and it was very exciting for me (of course, I brought my book for him to sign).  The years passed - and some years ago, I googled him and sadly discovered he'd died in 1988 (at the age of 57, from stomach cancer).  I realize I've digressed considerably in terms of a book review - but regardless, the book is VERY powerful and I recommend it.
2657603
It may be old, but it is still one of the best references in existence for the serious student of the French language.
3230008
I recommend this book without reservation.  The author's long life coincided almost exactly with the 20th century, and this reissue, written during and set in the England of World War II, still speaks to us today.
  A 12-year-old German boy, Max Eckermann, is taken to England against his will by patriots fleeing occupied Norway.  Before the first chapter has ended, an English airman, Dymory Ingleford, has identified Max as his brother Tony, who was kidnapped as a toddler by a childless German woman.
  Placed with Dym's family, Max's stubborn loyalty to his German citizenship pits him against his loving, but unsympathetic hosts.  While the conflict centers on Max and Dym, Savery brings us back over and over to ordinary English citizens cheerfully doing their bit during the darkest hours of the war.  Rationing, refugee housing, and wide-spread destruction, not to mention intermittant air attacks, remind us when this is taking place
  In choosing to personify the "German evil" as "blind obedience to ones nationality" rather than by, say, the horrors of the holocaust (not fully realised when Savery wrote), the book allows us to remain sympathetic with Max, while still retaining bite and relevancy.
  Be warned that Savery is a Christian writer.  Her faith is not obtrusive; nevertheless, it is there.
633430
Even though this was written long ago, the wisdom in this book applies across the times.
3601257
W. E. Biederwolf wrote this book almost 100 years ago.  Because he was closer to the time when this movement first appeared on the scene, he was able to present their beginnings in its true historical setting.  If you truly understand the false predictions this group was based on, you will never trust their doctrine today.

If keeping laws, regulations and/or "The Seventh Day" was an acceptable path to heaven, God the Father would not have allowed His only begotten Son to become a man and suffer the penalty for our sins on a cruel Roman cross.