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One of America's most prominent public intellectuals brings thirty-five years of experience in Washington and Rome to bear in analyzing the turbulence that characterizes world politics, American public life, and the Catholic Church in the early twenty-first century. In these bracing essays, George Weigel reads such events as the First World War, the collapse of Communism, and the Obama and Trump presidencies through a distinctive cultural and moral lens, even as he offers new insights into Pope Francis and his challenging pontificate. Throughout, two of Weigel's key convictions—that ideas have consequences for good and ill, and that the deepest currents of history flow through culture—illuminate political and economic life, and the life of the Church, in ways not often appreciated or understood. Many of the chapters in this book originated in George Weigel's annual William E. Simon Lecture, which since 2001 has become a major event in Washington, D.C. They are unique in their application of philosophical and theological perspectives to the issues of history and politics, enabling the reader to see current events in a deeper way.
The defection of Igor Gouzenko in September 1945, more so than any other single event, alerted the West to the nature and scale of the Soviet espionage offensive being waged by the Kremlin. Apart from the dozen or so defendants convicted of spying, Gouzenko wrecked an organization that had taken years to develop, exposed the penetration of the Manhattan atomic weapons project, and demonstrated the very close relationship between the Canadian Communist Party and Moscow. Many credit this event as sparking the bitter but secretive struggle fought between the intelligence agencies of the East and West for nearly half a century. The Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence tells the story of both sides' fierce efforts to penetrate and subvert the opponent while desperately trying to avoid a similar fate. Through a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the organizations, operations, events, and personalities that influenced counterintelligence during the Cold War, the world of double agents, spies, and moles is explained in the most comprehensive reference currently available.
W dążeniu do wolności jest coś świętego. Ale kiedy znajdziemy się już w ustroju wolności, wkraczamy w obszar polityki, całkowicie świecki. Pogodny, choć zmęczony Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a tuż za nim Henryk Woźniakowski. To zdjęcie wykonane podczas pamiętnej kampanii prezydenckiej z 1990 roku nadal wisi nad biurkiem autora. Gdyby wówczas wygrali, być może Polska wyglądałaby dziś inaczej. Po tym doświadczeniu Woźniakowski wraca do Krakowa i – nie rezygnując z zaangażowania społecznego – na trwałe wiąże się z działalnością wydawniczą. Okazuje się, że jest mu to zdecydowanie bliższe niż agresywny niekiedy świat polityki. W rozmowie z Dominiką Kozłowską Henryk Woźniakowski, prezes jednego z największych polskich wydawnictw, opowiada o zawodzie wydawcy i swoim spojrzeniu na sprawy publiczne. Wspomina bliskich, którzy nauczyli go przywiązania do wolności, pokazuje, skąd biorą się współczesne polskie podziały, a jednocześnie nie stroni od anegdot. Znaleźć tu można ciekawe relacje ze spotkań z Jerzym Giedroyciem, Józefem Czapskim, Michelem Foucault czy Henrym Kissingerem. Powyższy opis pochodzi od wydawcy.
During the 20th century, medico-technical advances such as the invention of the latex condom (1930), the arrival of the contraceptive pill on the free market (1960/61) and the birth of the first child conceived by in vitro fertilization (1978) contributed to the fact that in Europe and the USA, the planning, conceiving and making of children was increasingly perceived as a matter of individual and collective decision-making. Especially since mid-century, these societies underwent profound political, economic and cultural evolutions. In the realm of human reproduction the relationship between the possible, the desirable, and the permitted had to be continually renegotiated. This volume examines in nine chapters how thinking, speaking and acting changed with regards to reproduction and family planning throughout the modern and post-modern period. Applying an international comparative perspective, the study specifically focuses on the role of value changes underlying these transformation processes.
This work tells the story of the Catholic Church's confrontation with communism, from the French Revolution onwards, but with particular emphasis on the post-War period. It sets out new evidence of how successive Popes unwittingly helped communism expand. Interwoven with this narrative is the life-story of Karol Woytyla, who as Pope John Paul II is the first Eastern European Pope to sit on the throne of Peter.
“As March gave way to April in the spring of 2005 and the world kept vigil outside the apostolic palace in Rome, the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, then drawing to a poignant end, was already being described as one of the most consequential in two millennia of Christian history.” With these words, world-renowned author and NBC Vatican analyst George Weigel begins his long-awaited sequel to the international bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. More than ten years in the making, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy tells the dramatic story of the Pope’s battle with communism in light of new and re...
This definitive biography of Pope John Paul II explores his historic influence on the world stage: “Magnificent. A tremendous achievement” (Washington Post). As head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005, John Paul II was one of the world’s most transformational figures. With unprecedented cooperation from the Pope, as well as the people who knew and worked with him throughout his life, George Weigel offers a groundbreaking portrait of him as a man, a thinker, and a leader whose religious convictions defined a new approach to world politics—and changed the course of history. The Pope played a crucial yet underexplored role in some of the most momentous events of his time, including the collapse of European communism, the quest for peace in the Middle East, and the democratic transformation of Latin America. With an updated preface, this edition of Witness to Hope explains how this “man from a far country” did all of that, and much more—and what both his accomplishments and the unfinished business of his pontificate mean for the future of the Church and the world.
Pope John Paul II was one of the pivotal figures of the last century, the spiritual head of more than one billion believers and a world statesman of immense stature and influence. Yet he remains a mystery - theologically, politically, and personally. Through unprecedented access to both the Pope himself and those close to him, veteran New York Times correspondent and award-winning author Tad Szulc delivers the definitive biography of John Paul II. This strikingly intimate portrait highlights the Polishness that shaped the Pope's mysticism and pragmatism, while providing a behind-the-scenes look at the significant events of his public and private life, including: the inside story of the negot...