From one of our most innovative singers, a vibrant history of song stretching from Hildegard von Bingen and Benjamin Britten to Björk“Songs can be intensely personal (whether you hear them or sing them) and none of us would choose the same twelve songs as anyone else. My choices are based on decades of performing experience in many different genres, but I hope they will reveal aspects of our common humanity as the story evolves from the Middle Ages to the present.”...

Octavius Winslow, a nineteenth-century British preacher, founded the Central Baptist Church in New York. His legacy also endures through his forty works of Christian writing. In the devotional text None Like Christ, he explains how there is no glory, no beauty, and no love like Christ’s. As Winslow delves deeper into analyzing Christ’s love for his people, Christians will fall deeper in love with their incomparable Savior.

Before 448, the Greeks saw Attila the Hun as simply a frightening, ruthless leader. When the Greek historian Priscus visited his courts that year, however, he had a far different experience to report. Priscus’ first-hand account of life at Attila’s court shows a different side to the vicious king. While his record is undoubtedly covered in bloodshed and brutality, Priscus reveals Attila as a man also capable of courtesy, generosity, and even—occasionally—mercy.

These 31 devotionals have the power to transform your prayer life in just one month. Andrew Murray, a 19th-century South African missionary, penned this collection of Christian meditations to guide believers into a closer relationship with God. How often are our prayers concerned primarily with ourselves? Murray asks. He encourages readers to shift the focus to patient meditation on God and then wait to see what this awareness will bring.

Born in Bristol, England, in April 1939, John Potter developed an interest in weightlifting as a sport at around 16 years of age. Following in his father's footsteps as a weightlifter, he had already achieved some remarkable records by the age of 19. In 1961, John moved to Rhodesia to work, and by 1966 he was Rhodesian Power Lifting Champion. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1971, he became a county power lifting champion, opening his own gym in 1991. John and his wife Louise are now in ...

Einhard served Charlemagne, king and Holy Roman Emperor, for 23 years. From that experience, combined with his in-depth research, Einhard penned this biography of Charlemagne in the style of Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars. Because he felt indebted to Charlemagne, Einhard wrote in a partial tone, exalting the man’s achievements and overlooking certain unflattering details about his life. Despite this, historians regard The Life of Charlemagne as an important historical account that, while ...

The story of the British regiment created in Northern Ireland after the Troubles erupted in 1968, and the members who were killed amid the violence.The outbreak of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland in 1968 found many of the local police and army auxiliary units outmoded or discredited. A new and unique force of part-time soldiers was created: The Ulster Defence Regiment.Drawing on roughly 125 interviews, A Testimony to Courage vividly describes th...

A contemporary of Charles Spurgeon, Octavius Winslow was one of the primary Baptist preachers of nineteenth-century England. His devotional writing has inspired Christians for generations. This beloved text focuses on the comforting presence of Christ, something Christians experience throughout temptation, tribulation, and times of rest. Winslow writes, “Never did a believer in Jesus die alone!”, and he inspires readers to live with this assurance.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a classic sermon by Jonathan Edwards, first delivered in Massachusetts in 1741. This rendition is beautifully narrated by John Potter.

We are no longer like our ancestors. We no longer depend on our skills as foragers, gatherers, scavengers, hunters and fishers for food. We are only part-time food raisers at best. . . Our biology, on the other hand, has changed far less. Now there is a mismatch between who we are and what we eat. And it is in the gap created by this mismatch that chronic diseases. . . can take root.John Potter, an award-winning public health researcher, examines the latest research on what causes cancer a...

In 1095, Pope Urban II delivered a powerful call-to-arms to begin the First Crusade. Robert the Monk, likely an eyewitness, recorded this speech years later, after the crusade had ended. In his account, Urban described horrific crimes committed against Christians living in the east, and Robert noted the emotional response of the gathered crowd. His account diverges widely from another eyewitness documentation of the same speech, written by Fulcher of Chartres, so most historians treat Robe...

The notable German historian and monk Ekkehard of Aurach was also a crusader. He wrote a comprehensive world history text, but upon returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1101, he rewrote his portion on the First Crusade. “On the Opening of the First Crusade” is an excerpt from his larger work on the war, titled Hierosolymita. Modern scholars of history hold his contributions in high respect for hismeticulous attention to detail and broad scope.