Books published by Benediction Classics

These stories have the effect of bringing the saints to life as real people. In the course of reading these stories we happen upon many fascinating cultural and historical topics, such as the Christianization of Roman holidays, the symbolism behind the monk's tonsure, Nero's "pregnancy," and the reason why chaste but hot-blooded women can grow beards. At the same time these stories draw abundantly on Holy Scripture to shed light on the mysteries of the Christian faith. Table of Contents: Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboam. Job, Tobit, Judith, St. Andrew, St. Nicholas the Bishop, The Blessed Virgin, SS Gentian, Fulcian, Victorice, S. Nicasius, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Anastasia, S. Eugenia, S. Stephen Protomartyr, S. John the Evangelist, the History of the Innocents, S. Thomas, martyr, of Canterbury, S. Silvester, S. Paul the first Hermit, S. Remigius, S. Hilary, S. Firmin, Macarias, Life of S. Felix, S. Marcel, S. Anthony, S. Anthony, S. Fabian, S. Sebastian, S. Agnes, S. Vincent, S. Basil, S. John the Almoner, and S. Paul and of the name of conversion.

Aesop's ancient Greek fables, short tales with simple morals, often featuring talking animals, are deeply embedded in Western culture. This 1916 translation by V. S. Vernon Jones was furnished with beautiful illustrations by Arthur Rackham - reproduced fully in black and white for this new edition.

"I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined ..." (C. S. Lewis of George MacDonald)" "it is a striking indication of the trend and shallowness of the modern reading public that George MacDonald's books have been so neglected". -- Oswald ChambersIn his C.S Lewis's introduction to George MacDonald: An Anthology, he speaks highly of MacDonald's theology: "This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of Unspoken Sermons. My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help-sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith. ... I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined. ... In making this collection I was discharging a debt of justice. I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him. But it has not seemed to me that those who have received my books kindly take even now sufficient notice of the affiliation. Honesty drives me to emphasize it." This collection brings together three of George MacDonald's writings: "Unspoken Sermons by George Macdonald Series i, ii, iii in One Volume" - expositions revealing his profound theology. "A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul" - a book of poems remarkable for their stirring portrayal of human emotions. And "The Hope of the Gospel" - MacDonald writes about the gospel and about what it means to be a Christian with great wisdom and understanding.

The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant "are well observed, often humorous, invariably charming, penetrating and lucid. On every page, his narrative has the simple directness of the finest English prose." Robert McCrum, The Guardian.The Personal Memoirs, "perhaps the most widely acclaimed of all American memoirs" (The New York Times) have equal value as history and as literature and are so beautifully written that at first many believed that it was the work of Grant's friend, Mark Twain.The Personal Memoirs cover President Grant's life including his seven years of poverty as a hardscrabble farmer just before joining the Union Army. They record his recollections of the Civil War and Reconstruction, expressing his sadness at the defeat of the South: "[I felt] sad and depressed ... at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, though the cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which people have fought." As a war hero, widely credited as the General who "saved the Union." he was easily elected President in 1868 in the first Presidential election after the civil war and was re-elected in 1872. During his tenure, he oversaw the forceful prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan, the promotion of African American rights and Native American rights and safety, and the appointment of minorities to high governmental positions.In 1884 Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer, and, having been swindled out of his savings, he embarked on The Personal Memoirs to provide for his wife's financial future. Mark Twain, aware of Grant's financial straits, published the work under very generous terms. The book, completed in the month before Grant's death, was a huge financial success, with his widow receiving the largest royalty check to date.Critic Edmund Wilson, ranking Grant with Walt Whitman and Henry Thoreau, believes writing that this powerful autobiography is "a unique expression of the national character. [Grant] has conveyed the suspense which was felt by himself and his army and by all who believed in the Union cause. The reader finds himself on edge to know how the civil war is coming out."Robert McCrum concludes in The Guardian: "Throughout this very substantial autobiography, like the great man he was, Grant is supremely generous to his enemies, loyal to his friends and associates, and always devoted to another civil war hero, his president, Abraham Lincoln. The overall effect is both intimate and majestic."This Collection of General Grant's writings include his complete and unabridged Personal Memoirs, State of the Union Address and Letters of Ulysses S. Grant to His Father and His Youngest Sister, 1857-78.Read it for a gripping eyewitness account of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

The beloved author of Anne of Green Gables tells the classic tale of two remarkable families bound together by an uncommon legacy. Through the years, sixty Darks have married sixty Penhallows. Now the matriarch of the family has left a most unusual inheritance--an old brown jug. For a year the jug works its magic until the family learns of its final secret. A Bantam Starfire Book.