Earthly Powers

At the book's center are two twentieth-century men who represent different kinds of power: Kenneth Toomey, eminent novelist, a man who has outlived his contemporaries to survive into, bitter, luxurious old age as a celebrity of dubious notoriety, and Don Carlo Campanati, a man of God, eventually beloved Pope, who rises through the Vatican as a shrewd manipulator to become the architect of church revolution and a candidate for sainthood.

In this prophetic call to the evangelical church, Wells stresses that Christians need to confess Christ as the center in a society lacking a center, as the sovereign in a world seemingly ruled by chance, and as the one who can give meaning in a nihilistic culture.

This ground-breaking study sets out a new understanding of transformations in the interaction between religion and political authority throughout history.

In this masterful, stylish, and authoritative book, Michael Burleigh gives us an epic history of the battles over religion in modern Europe, examining the complex and often lethal ways in which politics and religion have interacted and influenced each other over the last two centuries. From the French Revolution to the totalitarian movements of the twentieth century, Earthly Powers is a uniquely powerful portrait of one of the great tensions of modern history—one that continues to be played out on the world stage today.

OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE A heartrending new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Overstory. Named one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021 by New York, Chicago Tribune, BookPage, Literary Hub, The Millions, New Statesmen and Times of London The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while singlehandedly raising his unusual nine-year-old son, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is funny, loving, and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures of the endangered animals he loves. He is also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. What can a father do, when the only solution offered to his troubled son is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his boy comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing visions of life beyond and its account of a father and son's ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers's most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperilled planet?

A dark secret from the dying days of war-ravaged Nazi Germany re-emerges half-way around the world on a West Coast island and exerts a malevolent influence on its present day occupants. Thirty-something Terri Stark is living on isolated Arcadia Island while recovering from a failed marriage. But one day trouble comes to paradise. Someone is spying on her, and soon her beloved dog Ned goes missing. After a break-in, a mysterious person appears at her door and makes none too subtle threats. Terri has only one person to turn to: her estranged husband Jack, whose arrival escalates the situation. Soon they are separated again, Jack running for his life from relentless killers, Terri forced into a desperate treasure hunt, their survival dependent upon her success. A teenage defector from the enemy camp turns out to have vital information – and a hidden agenda of his own.

"Enderby, poet and social critic, comrade and Catholic, is endlessly hounded by women, but always emerges triumphant." --Publisher.