Most Popular Books by Peter Brown

In this history of the late antique period, which appeared earlier in the five-volume series A History of Private Life, Peter Brown shows the slow shift from one form of public community to another--from the ancient city to the Christian church. In the four centuries between Marcus Aurelius (161-180) and Justinian (527-565), the Mediterranean world passed through a series of profound transmutations that affected the rhythms of life, the moral sensibilities, and the sense of the self of the inhabitants of its cities, and of the countryside around them.

Classic biography, published 30 years ago. Contains new thoughts in a 2 chapter epilogue.

From New York Times bestselling author Peter Brown comes a hilarious and heartwarming story that introduces a uniquely endearing character: a weird but loveable bulldog who learns to make friends by being true to his quirks. As hard as he tries, Chowder has never managed to fit in with the other neighborhood dogs. While the neighborhood dogs are content to fetch newspapers and take walks, Chowder spends his days on the computer, dancing with his headphones, and using his favorite toy of all, his telescope. But being different makes Chowder lonely. When a petting zoo opens, Chowder is determined to make friends with the zoo animals. And with a strong kick and a flying leap, Chowder finally finds a place where he can be comfortable being his silly, slobbery self.

A young boy named Bobby has the worst teacher. She''s loud, she yells, and if you throw paper airplanes, she won''t allow you to enjoy recess. She is a monster! Luckily, Bobby can go to his favorite spot in the park on weekends to play. Until one day... he finds his teacher there! Over the course of one day, Bobby learns that monsters are not always what they seem. Each page is filled with "monstrous" details that will have kids reading the story again and again. Peter Brown takes a universal and timeless theme, and adds his own humorous spin to create another winner of a picture book.

Now a DreamWorks movie available on Prime Video! This #1 New York Times bestselling illustrated middle grade novel from a Caldecott Honor winner tells an extraordinary story full of action and thought-provoking questions as a robot learns to survive—and live—in the wilderness. Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island''s unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot''s mysterious past comes back to haunt her. From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.

The action-packed third installment in Peter Brown''s internationally bestselling The Wild Robot series takes Roz on an under-the-ocean journey to save her beloved island! Life for Roz and the animals on their island is perfect: wild, natural, harmonious. Her son Brightbill has even found a mate! But then, one day an injured seal washes ashore and warns of dangerous, cloudy waters that are flowing toward the island—and soon the animals are forced inland to fight over dwindling resources. Roz calms and organizes the animals, but the poison tide takes a terrible toll on the island. And when the robot discovers that her new body is waterproof, she marches into the waves and sets out across the ocean, determined to stop the poison tide. During her undersea journey, Roz encounters amazing geological formations and incredible creatures, and she sees the devastation caused by the toxic waters. Creatures she meets along the way direct her to a mysterious character known as the Ancient Shark, who explains that the poison tide is caused by a huge station that floats on the waves; a station operated by humans and by robots. To stop them, the Ancient Shark is prepared to attack with an army of sea creatures. However, Roz hopes to find a peaceful solution, instead. Can the wild robot save the ocean and her island and everything she loves? This thrilling third installment of the Wild Robot series takes readers on a new adventure under the ocean and to the frigid northern waters where Roz may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

This New York Times bestselling modern classic explores the perennial topic of environmentalism in an urban world, from the creator of The Wild Robot and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild One boy''s quest for a greener world... one garden at a time. While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world. This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms. Red-headed Liam can also be spotted on every page, adding a clever seek-and-find element to this captivating picture book.

With the blend of art and learning that is the hallmark of his work, Peter Brown here examines how the sacred impinged upon the profane during the first Christian millennium.

When Lucy, a young bear, discovers a boy lost in the woods, she asks her mother if she can have him as a pet, only to find him impossible to train.

This gorgeously illustrated picture book brings to full color the adventures of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Wild Robot. Roz is not where she’s supposed to be. You see, the robot wasn’t designed to live in the wilderness. But when she washes up on an island, she must learn from the animal inhabitants and adapt to her new, natural surroundings, and before long, the island begins to feel like home. Filled with bestselling creator and award-winning artist Peter Brown’s stunning artwork, this moving picture book is the perfect gift for readers new to The Wild Robot or for longtime fans of the middle-grade book series that sparked a global phenomenon.

Are you bored with being so proper? Do you want to have more fun? Mr. Tiger knows exactly how you feel. So he decides to go wild. But does he go too far? From Caldecott Honor artist Peter Brown comes a story that shows there''s a time and place for everything...even going wild.

A preeminent classical scholar on the emergence of one of our most familiar social divisions.

After being captured by the Recons and returned to civilization for reprogramming, Roz is sent to Hilltop Farm where she befriends her owner''s family and animals, but pines for her son, Brightbill.

A sweeping intellectual history of the role of wealth in the church in the last days of the Roman Empire Jesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. Through the Eye of a Needle is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world''s foremost scholar of late antiquity. Peter Brown examines the rise of the church through the lens of money and the challenges it posed to an institution that espoused the virtue of poverty and called avarice the root of all evil. Drawing on the writings of major Christian thinkers such as Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, Brown examines the controversies and changing attitudes toward money caused by the influx of new wealth into church coffers, and describes the spectacular acts of divestment by rich donors and their growing influence in an empire beset with crisis. He shows how the use of wealth for the care of the poor competed with older forms of philanthropy deeply rooted in the Roman world, and sheds light on the ordinary people who gave away their money in hopes of treasure in heaven. Through the Eye of a Needle challenges the widely held notion that Christianity''s growing wealth sapped Rome of its ability to resist the barbarian invasions, and offers a fresh perspective on the social history of the church in late antiquity.

More than 170 symphonies from this repertoire are described and analyzed in The First Golden Age of the Viennese Symphony, the first volume of the series to appear.

This tenth anniversary revised edition of the authoritative text on Christianity''s first thousand years of history features a new preface, additional color images, and an updated bibliography. The essential general survey of medieval European Christendom, Brown''s vivid prose charts the compelling and tumultuous rise of an institution that came to wield enormous religious and secular power. Clear and vivid history of Christianity''s rise and its pivotal role in the making of Europe Written by the celebrated Princeton scholar who originated of the field of study known as ''late antiquity'' Includes a fully updated bibliography and index

"So real it hurts."—David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland. A summer of basketball, first love, and the friends who''ve got your back when life gets crazy, set in a trailer park in small town America. Travis never gives up. Not when his mom takes off. Not when he gets suspended from basketball. Not when he cracks four ribs jumping off a bridge to impress a girl. Not when he and his best friend Creature get into trouble deeper than they know how to handle. From acclaimed author Peter Brown Hoffmeister comes a painfully-funny, sometimes-crushing story of growing up, making mistakes, and pressing on, against the odds. "In my mind the best storytellers walk that high tight wire between tragedy and comedy. This Is the Part Where You Laugh is exactly the part where you laugh. And ache. This is a really good book!"—Chris Crutcher "A courageous novel. Incandescent and unflinching." —Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King "A raw offbeat novel with an abundance of honesty and heart." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "Hoffmeister crushes it. There is blood and truth on every page." —Estelle Laure, author of This Raging Light

When Chowder goes off to the Fabu Pooch Boot Camp, as usual he just doesn''t fit in. Chowder tries his best, but his attempts to make himself more fabulous all fall flat. When the First Annual Fabu Pooch Pageant is announced, Chowder anxiously tries to think of a way to stand out. After all, the prize is a one-year supply of Snarf Snacks! Some pups practice their pearly grins, other hounds get massages to relax. One pooch even gets permed! But Chowder finds his calling when he discovers a trampoline. He leaps, he flips, he bounces, and he wows the crowd!

An exuberant picture book from NYT bestselling author Peter Brown, inspired by his own childhood. ''A glorious adventure into just being yourself'' DAVID ROBERTS Fred loves to be naked! He romps around his house naked and wild and free. Until he romps into his parents'' bedroom and is inspired, finally, to get dressed. But there''s so much in the wardrobe! What will Fred choose?

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year A Tablet Book of the Year Marking a departure in our understanding of Christian views of the afterlife from 250 to 650 CE, The Ransom of the Soul explores a revolutionary shift in thinking about the fate of the soul that occurred around the time of Rome’s fall. Peter Brown describes how this shift transformed the Church’s institutional relationship to money and set the stage for its domination of medieval society in the West. “[An] extraordinary new book...Prodigiously original—an astonishing performance for a historian who has already been so prolific and influential...Peter Brown’s subtle and incisive tracking of the role of money in Christian attitudes toward the afterlife not only breaks down traditional geographical and chronological boundaries across more than four centuries. It provides wholly new perspectives on Christianity itself, its evolution, and, above all, its discontinuities. It demonstrates why the Middle Ages, when they finally arrived, were so very different from late antiquity.” —G. W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books “Peter Brown’s explorations of the mindsets of late antiquity have been educating us for nearly half a century...Brown shows brilliantly in this book how the future life of Christians beyond the grave was influenced in particular by money. —A. N. Wilson, The Spectator

"A powerful and uncompromising story about survival, loss, fear, and what happens when hope is only the bleakest sliver of light. You will not soon forget Little McCardell or his unwavering spirit."--Kathleen Glasgow, "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Girl in Pieces."

When Penguin gets pooped on by a flying goose, he doesn''t just get angry--he decides to do something about it. Penguin and his flightless friends set out to build a flying machine that will give them the bird''s eye view they''ve never had in this picture book. Illustrations.

. Preface. . 1. Devotio: Autocracy and Elites. 3. 2. Paideia and Power. 35. 3. Poverty and Power. 71. 4. Towards a Christian Empire. 118. . Index. 159.

The first century AD was one of momentous events: the end of the Roman empire, the rise of Christianity across western Europe and the disappearance of Persia from the Near East; an era in which the most deep-rooted of ancient institutions disappeared for all time creating divergent legacies which are still present. Renowned historian Peter Brown examines these changes and the reactions to them, to show that the period of Late Antiquity was one of outstanding new beginnings and far-reaching impacts. The result is a lucid answer to a crucial question in world history; how the exceptionally homogenous Mediterranean world of the first century AD became divided into the three mutually estranged societies of the Middle Ages: Catholic Western Europe, Byzantium and the Islamic world. Browns remarkable study in social and cultural transformation explains how and why the Late Antique world, came to differ from the Classical civilization of the Greeks and Romans. Featuring a new preface and updated with colour illustrations throughout, The World of Late Antiquity demonstrates that we still have much to learn from this enduring and intriguing period of history.

This book explores the significant changes that took place in the classical world between the late second and early fourth centuries. A new elitism in religion had its parallel in society as a whole and a wide polarization of the wealthy and the poor developed, as unbridled ambition made the sharp distinction between the rulers and the ruled. --From publisher''s description.

Since its publication this book has become the standard for both students studying for their examinations and practitioners needing a comprehensive reference book covering rating law, valuation and, importantly, practice. This third edition brings the reader up to date with the changes for the 2010 Rating Revaluation, developments in case law, the new appeals regulations and current approaches to valuing many classes of hereditament, as well as highlighting the differences between cases in England and Wales. The book is well illustrated with example valuations showing both methods of valuation and the variety of property surveyors come across in practice. The authors have extensive experience in the subject and regularly lecture on rating, valuation and taxation matters.

A beautifully written personal account of the discovery of late antiquity by one of the world’s most influential and distinguished historians The end of the ancient world was long regarded by historians as a time of decadence, decline, and fall. In his career-long engagement with this era, the widely acclaimed and pathbreaking historian Peter Brown has shown, however, that the “neglected half-millennium” now known as late antiquity was in fact crucial to the development of modern Europe and the Middle East. In Journeys of the Mind, Brown recounts his life and work, describing his efforts to recapture the spirit of an age. As he and other scholars opened up the history of the classical world in its last centuries to the wider world of Eurasia and northern Africa, they discovered previously overlooked areas of religious and cultural creativity as well as foundational institution-building. A respect for diversity and outreach to the non-European world, relatively recent concerns in other fields, have been a matter of course for decades among the leading scholars of late antiquity. Documenting both his own intellectual development and the emergence of a new and influential field of study, Brown describes his childhood and education in Ireland, his university and academic training in England, and his extensive travels, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. He discusses fruitful interactions with the work of scholars and colleagues that include the British anthropologist Mary Douglas and the French theorist Michel Foucault, and offers fascinating snapshots of such far-flung places as colonial Sudan, midcentury Oxford, and prerevolutionary Iran. With Journeys of the Mind, Brown offers an essential account of the “grand endeavor” to reimagine a decisive historical moment.

This volume contains the symphonies of Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorák and Mahler, covering the period from roughly 1860 to 1930. Other contemporaries are discussed including Goldmark, Zemlinsky and Berg.