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The Architect Who Changed Our World
From ancient ruins he carved a staircase to his dreams and a style that continues to instill beauty and harmony across the world. In a time when birth and class determined one’s destiny, Andrea Palladio’s father recognized there was nothing common about his son and vowed to nurture his gifts. Impressed by the boy’s sketches, quick mind, and ease with numbers, influential mentors took an interest in young Palladio and he didn’t disappoint. Palladio’s life experiences, talents, and apprenticeships with stone carvers led him to an unexpected career—architecture. Commissioned by nobles who had no design experience, but plenty of opinions, each new project came with a unique set of pr...
Marconi and His Muses
Born with an inquisitive imagination… Brilliant inventor, electrical engineer, and wise entrepreneur, Guglielmo Marconi was best known for inventing long-distance radio transmissions and the telegraph system. But his success wasn’t solely a product of his curious mind. Marconi attributed his prosperity to the people in his life who encouraged him to achieve his goals. Fostering his relationships with his mother, his wives, and other female friends allowed Marconi to grow and explore as an inventor without the fear of isolation, political disassociation, and covert racism hindering his dreams. Although he spent most of his time spanning the globe and using the entire planet as his creative palette, the people he chose to associate himself with were critical to his well-being, his inventive nature, and his general physical and mental health. Without his close-knit relationships, long-distance transmission may have never come to fruition.
Character Is What Counts
Faith. Fairness. Fortitude. And Football. Every time he confessed his sins, young seminarian Vince Lombardi sought forgiveness for the one he just couldn’t stop committing—playing football. Football was more than a game to Lombardi. It was life. And the values it took to succeed—“perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority”—were ones he lived by and inspired in others. Considered one of the best coaches of all time, whatever the sport, Lombardi was uncompromising in his expectations of himself and his players, both on the field and off. Sidelined and underestimated throughout his life because of his Italian heritage, Vince Lombardi took a brave stance against homophobia and racism. In a country and a sport divided by race the oft-quoted “Pope of Green Bay” had zero tolerance for bigotry and showed his players, fans, and other teams and coaches that character is what counts.
A Man of Action Saving Liberty
For the love of country. For the love of freedom. For the love of a woman. He fought. Giuseppe Garibaldi yearned for a world of equality, liberty, and freedom for all nations, races, and genders. America had long claimed her independence from England, yet his beloved Italian peninsula was in a never-ending state of instability and war as the Austrian Empire, French, Church, and regional kingdoms wrestled for power. Forced into exile, Garibaldi’s resolve to unify his homeland into the sovereign nation of Italy led him on adventures that spanned the continents. On sea, horseback, and foot, he confronted pirates, clashed with South American gauchos, and commanded his loyal volunteer army of thousands—the “Redshirts”—with dignity, clarity, and courage. But one of the most revered generals in history was as vulnerable to loss, failure, and heartache as any man. Perhaps Garibaldi’s greatest battle was the one in his heart as he struggled to hold onto the love of his life—the revolutionary Anita Garibaldi who was always by his side, both on and off the battlefield.
Music's Guiding Hand
It was too big a secret to keep and too great a price to pay. Though few details are known of 11th-century Benedictine monk Guido d'Arezzo, he is widely recognized for inventing the language of music. The Hand of Music offers a fictional account as to how an unlikely friendship between two medieval monks might have inspired one of the most important and enduring innovations of the Western world. When a fellow monk continually struggles to learn the sacred songs by rote, Brother Guido devises the musical staff as a way of precisely notating pitch. But in an institution that thrives on tradition and routine, his challenge to the status quo is met with skepticism, resistance, and even punishment. Torn between obedience and his convictions, Brother Guido must decide to submit or rebel—with immediate and enduring consequences.
The Feminine Musique
"The Feminine Musique: Multimedia and Women Today" traces the intersection of experimental music and new media through the works of composers and artists at the turn of twentieth century America. An invaluable addition to any music, visual arts, or historical library collection, "The Feminine Musique: Multimedia and Women Today" gives a voice to the sights and sounds of innovative women such as Laurie Anderson, Alison Knowles, Brenda Hutchinson, Pauline Oliveros, Pamela Z, Yoko Ono, Meredith Monk, Maggie Payne, Sylvia Pengilly, Madonna, Lydia Lunch, and countless others, who embraced social change, technology, and the arts to create compelling and sometimes controversial works.
Humble Servant of Truth
Entering the world with a burning desire for knowledge, Thomas Aquinas set out on a quest for truth that forced him into captivity. His thirst for truth never wavered. Known today among many as the most brilliant light of the Church, Aquinas was a Catholic priest and a Doctor of the Church. His synthesis of Aristotle’s philosophy with Christianity significantly influenced Western thought and solidified his legacy as one of the greatest philosophers of the Western world. Over his lifetime, Aquinas wrote many Eucharistic hymns, some of which are to this day included in the Church’s liturgy. His theological insight and natural reason make him an ideal model teacher for those pursuing Catholic priesthood. Today, Saint Thomas is often depicted with a writing quill or an open book, proving that the search for knowledge and truth forever lives within his name.
What a Woman Can Do
Weary of hearing what a woman couldn’t do, she had no choice but to show them what she could. Four centuries later, the world finally noticed. Though she was “just a girl,” Artemisia Gentileschi’s father recognized and nurtured his daughter’s raw talent and escorted her into the male-dominated elite circle of seventeenth-century fine artists. Later dishonored in the most humiliating way and betrayed by her father for the sake of his own reputation and fortune, the Caravaggio-inspired teenager summoned the fortitude to confront the monster who had stolen her virtue in a very public months-long trial. At a time when a woman’s reputation meant everything, Artemisia was considered damaged goods. Undeterred, she forged a daring path, earning a living through commissions from popes and cardinals, dukes and duchesses, kings and queens. Though traditionally objectified in art, Artemisia’s brushstrokes celebrated women’s strength and defiance. For centuries, her father got credit for many of her paintings, but today they stand on their own merit, their creator’s dishonor and personal tragedies lost to time. Until now.
The Witch of Agnesi: A Novel Based on the Life of Maria Agnesi
Almost broken from the relentless pressure to perform, an anxious child prodigy struggles to break free and find her true calling. All Maria Agnesi wants to do is stay in her room and read books. But her father has other plans for his “little genius.” Thrust into Milan’s elite academic and social circles, the shy introvert performs dutifully for astonished audiences—at the expense of her own physical and emotional health. Having easily mastered multiple languages and advanced calculus as a child, there is one problem Maria can’t crack. No doubt her talents are God-given, but could God also be calling her to abandon her gifts for a humble, but perhaps more noble, cause? Raised to be an obedient 18th-century woman—albeit the first woman to write a mathematics textbook—Maria questions her responsibility to her ever-growing family versus her need to follow her own passion and inner voice.
Sinner, Servant, Saint
His neighbors thought he was spoiled and lazy. His teachers found him incorrigible. His own father believed he was crazy. His mother never doubted that he was a true son of God. Arrogant and grandiose, young Francis di Bernardone was an embarrassment to his family and a source of amusement to his community. He led a lavish, undisciplined life, squandering his father’s fortune on the finest food, wine, and late-night parties with his coterie of friends. Convinced that he was destined for greatness, Francis joined the fight for Assisi’s independence, fully expecting to find glory in battle. Those dreams were crushed when he was captured by the enemy and held in a medieval dungeon for a yea...
