Most Popular Books by John Howe

In this enchanting picture book, Stella and Sam are spending the day at the beach. Stella has been there before and knows all the sea''s secrets, but Sam has many questions. "Does a catfish purr? Does a sea horse gallop?" Stella has an answer for them all. The only thing she isn’t sure of, and neither are we, is whether Sam will ever come into the water. Exquisite watercolors bring a day at the beach alive in this perfect summer story. Gently humorous, Stella, Star of the Sea also captures the special relationship between a young girl and her baby brother — a responsibility that can be both lots of fun and very trying.

The Digital Puritan is a quarterly digest of carefully selected Puritan works which provides a steady diet of sound Puritan teaching. The language has been gently modernised to render it more readable, while still retaining much of the flavour and character of the original text. Hundreds of helpful notes and Scripture references (in the English Standard Version®) are included as end-notes; no internet connection is needed. The following articles appear in this summer 2014 edition: 1. Self-Denial – in which Isaac Ambrose expounds Mark 8:34, showing that self-denial must be a cardinal feature of Christ’s true disciples. 2. The Almost Christian – George Whitefield shows from Acts 26:28 that having the trappings of religion is not the same thing as having true saving faith. 3. God’s Regard for His Own Glory, Seen in the Saving of Sinners – in which Stephen Charnock illustrates the rich glory of God as can only be seen in his redemption of sinful men. 4. Charity, in Respect of Other Men’s Sins – John Howe teaches from 1 Corinthians 13:6 that believers should never rejoice over the failings or misfortunes of others, and should be predisposed to grant them the benefit of the doubt. 5. A Word to the Aged – comforting and insightful teaching from William Bridge for those who have nearly run their course. The Puritans in Verse: A Psalm of Praise – Richard Baxter.

Written by the writer and broadcaster Brian Sibley, this slipcase features Tolkien''s maps of The Hobbit, Beleriand and Middle-earth. Each map is presented in a box-set illustrated by Tolkien artist John Howe, the conceptual artist employed by Peter Jackson to work on his Lord of The Rings film trilogy. The maps, presented with individual books and wallets show Tolkien''s mythical lands in detail - they are also bound with fewer folds, making them suitable for portfolios or framing.

Historians typically single out the hundred-year period from about 1050 to 1150 as the pivotal moment in the history of the Latin Church, for it was then that the Gregorian Reform movement established the ecclesiastical structure that would ensure Rome’s dominance throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. In Before the Gregorian Reform John Howe challenges this familiar narrative by examining earlier, "pre-Gregorian" reform efforts within the Church. He finds that they were more extensive and widespread than previously thought and that they actually established a foundation for the subsequent Gregorian Reform movement. The low point in the history of Christendom came in the late ninth and early tenth centuries—a period when much of Europe was overwhelmed by barbarian raids and widespread civil disorder, which left the Church in a state of disarray. As Howe shows, however, the destruction gave rise to creativity. Aristocrats and churchmen rebuilt churches and constructed new ones, competing against each other so that church building, like castle building, acquired its own momentum. Patrons strove to improve ecclesiastical furnishings, liturgy, and spirituality. Schools were constructed to staff the new churches. Moreover, Howe shows that these reform efforts paralleled broader economic, social, and cultural trends in Western Europe including the revival of long-distance trade, the rise of technology, and the emergence of feudal lordship. The result was that by the mid-eleventh century a wealthy, unified, better-organized, better-educated, more spiritually sensitive Latin Church was assuming a leading place in the broader Christian world. Before the Gregorian Reform challenges us to rethink the history of the Church and its place in the broader narrative of European history. Compellingly written and generously illustrated, it is a book for all medievalists as well as general readers interested in the Middle Ages and Church history.

Three-dimensional scenes with pop-ups and pull-tabs and a lively text take the reader back in time to the magical world of jousting, fighting, feasting, and courtly love.

This book analyses the use of rural road networks and the causes and effects of road programmes in the areas of personal travel, education, health and poverty alleviation. It discusses the criteria which are being used for rural road selection and their impact in Egypt, India, Botswana and Thailand.