Elder Amphilochius Makris: A Contemporary Personality of Patmos (1889-1970) by Archimandrite Paul Nikitaras

About the book: We present with great pleasure the second edition - translated for the first time in English - of Archimandrite Paul Nikitaras' book about an outstanding personality not only for Patmos but also for the whole Orthodoxy: Elder Amphilochius Makris, who had served as Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Theologos at Patmos, Greece.

The personality and the work of this bright beacon is inspiring, as an example of chaste devotion to God, to all those who turn to his teachings or searching for support, relief and navigation in a world constantly riven by contentions, cruelty and chase of profit by all means. This is the reason that makes the publication of the present second edition necessary and despite the fact that it was published for the first time many years ago, remains a very interesting reading for the faithful.

As a person of prayer and hesychasm, Elder Amphilochius Makris merged education with doctrine, confession with social justice and philanthropy, correcting theological positions regarding other dogmas with patriotism and tree-planting!

The traces of his presence are still visible everywhere in modern Patmos, not only in the Holy Monastery of Theologos, the Apocalypse and the Holy Monastery of Mother of Beloved, but also in all the neighbouring islands and many other places all over Greece.

Elder Amphilochius Makris: A Contemporary Personality of Patmos (1889-1970) (2007, second edition) is presented in a modern and vivid way of a very significant personality of the 20th century, Elder Amphilochius. May the reader have his blessing! (from the Prologue to the second edition)

Copies of this book can only be purchased in Patmos, Greece. 

About the author: Archimandrite Paul Nikitaras was the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and Evangelist at Patmos, Greece. 

Archimandrite Antipas, the Abbot of Patmos, in the world Paul Nikitaras, was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1962. In 1968, his family moved back to Patmos, its place of origin. He studied at the Patmias Ecclesiastical School and subsequently at the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. In 1986, he was tonsured a monk at the celebrated Monastery of the Theologian on Patmos. In February 1988, he was ordained deacon by the Rt Revd Metropolitan of Philadelphia, the present Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and in 1991 was ordained to the priesthood by the same elder, at that time Metropolitan of Chalcedon. In September 1988, he was appointed a professor at the Patmian School. In 1993, he founded the journal Iera Apokalypsis, which he edited from the holy kathisma of St Nektarios of Loukakia and to which he frequently contributed. In 1997, after eleven years service in the Patriarchal Exarchate, he moved with his community to Mount Athos, where he devoted himself to the revival of the Kellion, or Cell, of Sts Theodore, a dependency of the Monastery of Koutloumousiou. In October 1998, he was awarded a doctorate at the University of Thessaloniki with a dissertation entitled "The Holy Monastery and Patriarchal Exarchate of Patmos". In January 2000, he was elected Abbot of the Holy Monastery of John the Theologian and Evangelist of Patmos and Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos, and restored the monastery to the coenobitic life. In November of the same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Oradea in Romania. He has written a number of books and studies.

Trust Overboard: Memoir Of Living With A Sadistic Cult In Malaysia by Liya Red

About the book: It was 2014. Third culture kid, Liya, began a spiritual journey to explore various faiths, at seventeen years old. 

Five years into her spiritual exploration, she became intrigued with the beauty of Islam. 

At twenty four years old, Liya agreed to marry Adam, a Muslim college mate who began to satisfy her spiritual needs. 

Join Liya as she discovers that there is more to the world of Islam than its beautiful verses. 

Liya divulges into the deception, abuse, and abandonment she personally experienced, and how she investigated her oppressors on the way out in her memoir, Trust Overboard: Memoir Of Living With A Sadistic Cult In Malaysia (2018).

NB: Trust Overboard is currently out of print.

About the author: Liya Red is a Malaysian Muslim who was raised in Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Psychology with Honours, and a Minor in Media Studies. Liya has been living on her own and professionally modelling since eighteen years old. Most of her free time was spent in comfort with her international school friends, until she discovered a new culture in Malaysia. A culture that inspired her to write a memoir, Trust Overboard.

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos Spiritual Counsels IV - Family Life

About the book: With this present volume, we continue the publication of the counsels of the Blessed Elder Paisios with themes on the family and the ordeals people undergo caused by the crisis the institution of family faces in our times. The Elder used to say that the majority of the letters he received were from people who had family problems. He attributed these problems to people having withdrawn from God and to their self-centredness. 

“In the old days,” he would say, “life was more peaceful and serene; people had patience. Nowadays, everyone has got a short fuse - people flare up right away; no one can tell them anything. And then, automatically, they go straight for divorce.” 

From early on, the Elder took an active role within the great family of the Church, as he felt that he no longer belonged to his own small family. He acquired divine love and became a child of God. This is why he felt all people to be his brothers, and loved each and every one “with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:8). He used to say to us, “When I see an old man, I say that he is my father. When I see an old woman, I say that she is my mother. When I see a young child, I see that child as my brother’s child. I love everyone. For some I feel glad and for others I feel pain. Do you know what this is?” So, according to each one’s circumstances, he would become their child, brother, father, grandfather. As a member of the Body of Christ, he not only prayed with pain for those who faced problems in their families, but he also helped with his advice, when it was asked for, for even the most private aspects of family life, even though he himself lived as an ascetic. 

He also cited examples of men who were the head of their household and of mothers who may not have had the spiritual opportunities of a monastic individual, yet lived holy lives. And this was how he motivated us to continue our struggle with greater philotimo. Some of these themes were supplemented with excerpts from the letters of the Elder, which were given to us by priests and devout lay people. 

This volume - published with the blessing of our Archshepherd, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicodemos of Kassandreia - comprises an introductory chapter and six parts. Many of its themes emanate from conversations held between the Elder and the Abbess, and with some of the Sisters. 

The introductory chapter entitled “The Young Facing the Two Paths of Life” emphasizes that both these paths of life - married and monastic- as curved by the Church, are blessed. 

The second part focuses on the parents’ obligations and responsibilities for their children’s proper nurturing, placing special emphasis on the importance of the good example, the parents’ “silent exhortation” toward the children and the mother’s role. 

The third part discusses childhood, the joys and difficulties from infancy to adulthood, as well as the children’s obligation toward their parents. The children’s lifelong respect and love for their parents ensure the blessing of God. 

The fourth part of the book provides simple and practical advice on how to live a spiritual life within the family. In this way, children and parents are guided in living their life day by day according to the Gospel, whether they are at home or at work, which should contribute - as much as possible - to their godly perfection and not suffocate them with constant anxiety. 

In the fifth part, which relates the various trials and hardships people face in their life, the emphasis is on how much consolation and power are given by God to those who confront these difficulties not only with patience, but also with doxology. Illness, disability, slander can be a blessing for those who have grasped the more profound meaning of life. By undergoing hardships, one can settle sins or save up for a heavenly reward. 

Finally, the sixth part contains themes on how to properly confront death and prepare for it. 

We would like to thank those who read the manuscript of this volume, and quite respectfully contributed to its completion. We pray that these spiritual counsels of the Elder will help the family, which, especially today, is undergoing a crisis due to the fact that the commandments of God are being scorned and obliterated. We pray that the family will find its true destiny within the bosom of the Church, so that parents and children can have a foretaste of Paradise even in this life.

Family Life is translated from the Greek by Reverend Fr Peter Chamberas and edited by Anna Famellos Eleftheria Kaimakliotis in cooperation with the Holy Hesychasterion "Evangelist John the Theologian" in Thessaloniki, Greece. 

About the author: About the author: The Blessed Elder Paisios was born on 25 July 1924. From the time that he was a child, Elder Paisios lived an ascetic life, and was nourished by the lives of the Saints, whose feats he sought to imitate with great zeal and admirable precision. He practised unceasing prayer, cultivating all along the virtues of humility and love. 

He led an ascetic life on Mount Athos, in the Holy Monastery of Stomion in Konitsa, and on Mount Sinai in Egypt. He lived in obscurity, giving himself completely to God, and God in turn revealed him and gave him to the whole world. He guided, consoled, healed and granted peace to multitudes of people who sought him. His sanctified soul overflowed with divine love and his saintly face radiated the divine Grace. All day long, he tirelessly gathered the human pain and imparted divine consolation. 

He is the founder of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti of Thessalonik, Greece, which he also guided spiritually for twenty-eight years (1967-1994). After suffering excruciating pains, which, as he used to say, benefited him more than the ascetic struggles of his entire life, he fell asleep in the Lord on 12 July 1994.

The Book of Revelation by Archimandrite Antipas

About the book: The Relevation of Saint John the Evangelist forms a worthy conclusion to the whole of sacred Scripture, presenting a wonderful counterpart to the first book, the Book of Genesis. It is a sacred text which has resounded through the centuries and has exercised an enormous influence.

Within the pages of this book, we find the Church herself presented as she has always lived her life and always will live it until the end of the world. Moreover, this book was written exclusively for her, for her fulfilment, for her final destiny. That is why however many times we read the pages of the Apocalypse we hear the voice of the Ancient of Days reaching us, the voice of the Church's Bridegroom, like the sound of many waters: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches".

For centuries now, people have pored over the Book of Revelation and have been curious about the Sacred Cave of the Theophany seeking to penetrate its meaning and venerate with devotion the traces of the disciple of Love. 

This book (2009, 2018, Athos Publications) aspires to prepare the reader for such holy and mystical veneration, setting out appropriately what relates to the theological significance of the Apocalypse.

The Book of Revelation (2018) is translated from the Greek by Normal Russell. 

About the author: Archimandrite Antipas, the Abbot of Patmos, in the world Paul Nikitaras, was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1962. In 1968, his family moved back to Patmos, its place of origin. He studied at the Patmias Ecclesiastical School and subsequently at the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. In 1986, he was tonsured a monk at the celebrated Monastery of the Theologian on Patmos. In February 1988, he was ordained deacon by the Rt Revd Metropolitan of Philadelphia, the present Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and in 1991, was ordained to the priesthood by the same elder, at that time Metropolitan of Chalcedon. In September 1988, he was appointed a professor at the Patmian School. In 1993, he founded the journal Iera Apokalypsis, which he edited from the holy kathisma of St Nektarios of Loukakia and to which he frequently contributed. 

In 1997, after eleven years service in the Patriarchal Exarchate, he moved with his community to Mount Athos, where he devoted himself to the revival of the Kellion, or Cell, of Sts Theodore, a dependency of the Monastery of Koutloumousiou. In October 1998, he was awarded a doctorate at the University of Thessaloniki with a dissertation entitled "The Holy Monastery and Patriarchal Exarchate of Patmos". 

In January 2000, he was elected Abbot of the Holy Monastery of John the Theologian and Evangelist of Patmos and Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos, and restored the monastery to the coenobitic life. In November of the same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Oradea in Romania. He has written a number of books and studies.

About the translator: Norman Russell, an Orthodox translator and patristic scholar of partial Greek descent, is an Honorary Research Fellow at St Stephen's House, University of Oxford and Professor of Patristics and Byzantine Theology at the Istituto Teologico di Santa Eufemia di Calcedonia, of the Orthodox Exarchate of Italy. He is the author of acclaimed The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (2004), Metaphysics as a Personal Adventure: Christos Yannaras in Conversation with Norman Russell (2017), and Gregory Palamas and the Making of Palamism in the Modern Age (2019).

Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994): Testimony of the Great Church of Christ hieromonk Athanasios of Simonopetra

About the book: Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994) is the testimony of the Great Church of Christ hieromonk Athanasios of Simonopetraas which reveals a saint Elder's soul, who lived in modern times. Blind ones have seen, paralytics have walked, cancer patients have been healed. Hence, we can evoke him as a succourer to our problems. The testimony, the images, the visual and audio documents presented in the DVD (included) reveal the Divine Grace's power and astonish the spectator. 

In the DVD (total duration 64 minutes):  

- The documentary with the testimony of hieromonk Athanasios of Simonopetra as well as video scenes presenting Mount Athos' monasteries and landscapes. Byzantine and modern music dress the film. Filming's periods: summer - winter (Duration: 40 minutes). 

- A rare video document of Elder Paisios outside "Panagouda", his hermitage in Mount Athos, a while before his assumption. 

- A rare audio document of Elder Paisios talking and photos of him. 

- Two hundred photos from the monk Christodoulos' archive, taken on Mount Athos. 

- A menu permitting easy navigation in the movie, the seven chapters and the extras.

The DVD requires a Universal DVD player in order to play in countries outside of Europe.

Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994) is translated from the Greek edition in 2010 by The Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Saviour Milesi in Athens, Greece. 

Just Announced: The National Year Of Reading 2026

The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Volume One) compiled by St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of Corinth

About the book: 'Philokalia' itself means love of the beautiful, the exalted, the excellent, understood as the transcendent source of life and the revelation of Truth. It is through such love that 'the intellect is purified, illumined and made perfect'. 

The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Volume One) is a collection of texts written between the fourth and fifth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. It was compiled in the eighteenth century by two Greek monks, St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain of Athos (1749-1809) and St Makarios of Corinth (1731-1805), and was first published at Venice in 1782. A second edition was published at Athens in 1893, and this included certain additional texts on prayer by Patriarch Kallistos not found in the 1782 edition. A third edition, in five volumes, was also published in Athens during the years 1957-1963 by the Astir Publishing Company. It is on the Astir edition that our English translation is based. 

First published in Greek in 1782, translated into Slavonic and later into Russian, The Philokalia (1979) has exercised an influence far greater than that of any book other than the Bible in the recent history of the Orthodox Church.

The complete Philokalia (five volumes) covers the period from the fourth to the fifteenth century. Volume One takes us up to the eighth century and is thus the common heritage of Orthodox and Catholics. 

The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Volume One) is translated from the Greek and edited by G E H Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Kallistos Ware.

About the translators and editors: Gerald Eustace Howell Palmer (1904-84) studied at Oxford and was the Member of Parliament for Winchester from 1935 until 1945. He collaborated in many translations, including The Philokalia.

The Most Reverend Kallistos (Ware), Metropolitan of Diokleia was born in England in 1934 and studied at Oxford. He embraced the Orthodox faith in 1954 and was ordained in 1966, in the same year he became a lecturer at Oxford. He was appointed to a Fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1979 and was consecrated as auxiliary bishop in 1982. He retired in 2001 and was elevated to Metropolitan in 2007. He is the author of The Orthodox Church and The Orthodox Way.

Philip Sherrard (1922-1995) was educated at Cambridge and lectured at Kings College, London and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies from 1970 to 1977. He translated the works of George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis, making their work available to the English-speaking world. He was baptised into the Orthodox Church in 1956.

Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels by St Thomas Aquinas

About the set (four volumes): St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea (1841) is the masterpiece anthology of Patristic commentary on the Gospels and includes the work of over eighty Church Fathers. 

Imagine a round-table discussion of the Gospels among the supreme theologians of the Church. The Catena Aurea is very close! 

St Thomas Aquinas compiled this opus from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels written by the early Church Fathers, arranging their thoughts in such a way that they form a continuous commentary on each Gospel. 

For each of the four Gospel writers (Volume I: St Matthew; Volume II: St Mark; Volume III: St Luke; Volume IV: St John), the Catena Aurea starts by indicating the verses to be analyzed, then taking each verse phrase-by-phrase, provides the early Fathers' insights into the passage. 

In the modern world, the Catena Aurea is of immense use to priests writing homilies, in the private study of the Gospels, family reading, and is full of thought for those who are engaged in religious instruction. It is the perfect companion to study the Scriptures in detail and receive the wisdom of our Church Fathers. 

The Catena Aurea is the only work that St Thomas Aquinas was known to carry around with him. This edition was published in 2022 by Baronius Press. 

About the author: Italian Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was one of the most influential medieval thinkers of Scholasticism and the father of the Thomistic school of theology. Born of a wealthy family at Rocca Secca, near Naples, in Italy, he disappointed his family by joining a poor order of preachers (1244) that followed the Rule of Dominic and were therefore known as Dominicans. In 1245, he began to study in Paris, France with Albertus Magnus whose favourite pupil he became.

In 1248, he accompanied Albert to Cologne, Germany. From there, Thomas returned to Paris (1252) where he became known as a great teacher and theologian. He spent some time in Rome as a papal advisor, returned to Paris to teach for a period and then returned to Naples to found a house of studies (1272). In 1274, on the way to a church council at Lyons, France, he took sick and died at the age of 49.

His works show him to be a brilliant lecturer, a clear thinker and an Aristotelian. In an age which was uncomfortable with the notion that the universe could be known apart from revelation, he pioneered the use of the Greek philosophy that featured the power of reason to demonstrate that God and his universe could be understood by reason guided by faith. His large girth and slow, deliberate style earned him the nickname "The Dumb Ox!"

He was the composer of several memorable religious hymns - O Salutaris Hostia and Pange Lingua being the most familiar to modern worshippers. His extensive writings explored the relationship between the mind of man and the mind of God and his synthesis of knowledge relating to this joining of intellect and religious belief, entitled The Summa Theologica (1267-1273), earned him a lasting reputation among scholars and religious alike. An earlier work, Summa Contra Gentiles (1258 - 1260), is written in a style that attempts to establish the truth of Christian religious belief in arguments addressed to an intelligent, but non-Christian reader. (Source: Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, MI)

A shorter biography: Thomas Aquinas was born in 1225 in Sicily. He joined the Abbey of Montecassino at the age of five to begin his studies. As a renowed theologian, he travelled all over Europe. In addition to lecturing, Thomas Aquinas participated in public life and was an advisor to both kings and popes. Fifty years after his death, Pope John Paul XXII proclaimed Thomas Aquinas a saint. In 1879, Pope Leo XII made St Thomas Aquinas the patron saint of education. 

The Glories of Częstochowa and Jasna Góra

About the book: Five miners are buried in a cave-in for five days. All five are rescued and found in perfect health. They attribute their deliverance to Our Lady of Częstochowa's intercession.

A man sentenced to be executed is given a small picture of the Madonna of Częstochowa. With tears in her eyes, he promises to serve Our Lady if his life is spared. All ten bullets shot by the firing squad strike his chest and fall harmlessly to the ground.

In The Glories of Częstochowa and Jasna Góra (1995, 2004), read about these and many more miracles attributed to the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Częstochowa.

Also, read the fascinating story behind Our Lady's miraculous image that has been preserved for centuries at Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, Poland.

Discover for yourself why Our Lady of Częstochowa is for the Poles what Our Lady of Lourdes is for the French, and Our Lady of Fátima is for the Portuguese. 

The Glories of Częstochowa and Jasna Góra is translated from the original Polish, which was approved and then published by ecclesiastical authorities in Poland.

Front Cover: The miraculous image of Our Lady of Częstochowa at Jasna Góra in Poland.

The Great Betrayal: Thoughts On The Destruction Of The Mass by Hugh Ross Williamson

About the book: British writer Hugh Ross Williamson (1901-1978), an Anglo-Catholic priest who converted to Catholicism in 1955 and a prolific writer of drama and history, wrote two pamphlets, in 1969 and 1970, expressing his conviction that the Novus Ordo Missae represented not a reform of the Roman Rite of Mass but a devastating corruption of it. 

His background equipped him well to discern the signs of Protestantism and of Modernism as they appeared in the replacement liturgical books, and his conscience bid him speak up against what he called 'the great betrayal' (an ironic echo of his 1955 book on the Roman Canon, The Great Prayer). 

While many traditionalists would not concur with certain of his conclusions, his intelligent work - The Great Betrayal (2021), motivated by an obvious love for the Faith, helps us to remember today the anguish of spirit through which our forebears had to pass as they saw the heritage for which they converted being dismantled rite by rite.

About the author: Hugh Ross Williamson (1901–1978) was a prolific British popular historian, and a dramatist. Starting from a career in the literary world, and having a Nonconformist background, he became an Anglican priest in 1943. In 1955, he converted to Roman Catholicism and wrote many historical works in a Catholic apologist tone. In 1956, he published his autobiography, The Walled Garden. Ross Williamson was critical of the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council. (Source: Wikipedia)

Our Lady's Psalter: Reflections On The Mysteries Of The Traditional Rosary by Fr Robert I Bradley SJ

About the book: One day in the early 1990s, while praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary on his knees in front of the Tabernacle, Father Bradley heard the Holy Spirit telling him: “Write this down!” 

He was given a meditation about the Annunciation. 

Thus was born a 10-year journey of inspired meditations on every bead of the Traditional Rosary. From then on, not knowing when the Holy Spirit would give him another meditation, Father brought a yellow legal pad with him for his Rosaries by the Tabernacle. He said the Holy Spirit slowly gave the meditations to him, one at a time, during prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, becoming what he called “my love letter to the Blessed Mother.” 

Of the many books written about the Traditional Holy Rosary, these meditations are the first to focus on all 150 beads. They are presented in Our Lady's Psalter (2025) to help lead souls to a greater love for Immaculate Mary and her Son Jesus as we journey to our eternal life in Heaven.

About the author: Fr Robert Ignatius Bradley, SJ (1924–2013) was ordained to the priesthood on 15 August 1955, in Louvain, Belgium. He earned a PhD in English history from Columbia University and a Sacred Theology Doctorate from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. As a priest and professor, he devoted his life to teaching, spiritual direction, and conducting retreats, as well as chaplaincies for Catholics United for the Faith, the Poor Clares in Arlington, VA, and the Traditional Latin Mass in Austin, Texas. He is the author of two books on the Roman Catechism and many articles for Catholic publications. Although he was a scholar, he was most at home serving Jesus at the altar and praying three Rosaries daily to Our Mother Mary, who guided him throughout his life.

Heatwave by John L Williams

About the book: With temperatures soaring to 35ºC, severe water shortages and a sunburned population queuing at the standpipes, the summer of 1976 was always remembered as Britain’s hottest.

But the wave that hit the UK that year was also cultural and political, with upheaval on the streets, in parliament, on the cricket pitch and on the radios and TV sets of a nation at a crossroads.

Before this blistering summer, Britain seemed stuck in the post-war era, a country where people were all in it together – as long as you were white, male and straight. In July, Tom Robinson writes a song called Glad to be Gay, and by August bank holiday, Black youth are making the police run for their lives in the almighty riot at the Notting Hill Carnival. But with the Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson suddenly quitting, the pound sinking and the economy tanking, a restless immigrant population and increasing dissatisfaction in the old world order, the weather seemed to boil up the country to the point where the lid blows off.

Weaving a rich tapestry of the news stories of the year, with social commentary and dozens of first-person interviews with those that were there at the time, Williams’s reappraisal of the summer of ’76 is an evocative, sometimes nostalgic but always an unflinching read. 

Heatwave (2025) takes us back to relive the events of that summer and asks – have we really moved on as much as we would have liked? Heatwave is now available to order.

About the author: John L Williams is a historian, novelist, and biographer from Cardiff. His latest book, Heatwave, is a history of the unforgettable British summer of 1976. His other non-fiction includes his much-acclaimed biography of the Trinidadian polymath CLR James, and his account of the Cardiff Three miscarriage of justice case, Bloody Valentine (‘A bloody good book’ - Benjamin Zephaniah), as well as his enduringly popular portrait of urban America as seen through the prism of crime fiction, Into The Badlands. His biography of his fellow Cardiffian Shirley Bassey was proclaimed the music book of the year by The Times. He is the crime fiction reviewer for The Mail on Sunday. He is the co-founder and literary director of the Laugharne Weekend Festival in west Wales.

The Final Conclave by Malachi Martin

About the book: The shroud of secrecy that has surrounded the Church of Rome has mystified and troubled millions of Catholics as well as Protestants and Jews. This book reveals how influential members of that Church are now ready to make their accommodation with a future under communism. The price of the Church's survival, they believe, must be a radical departure from Western institutions and the way of life we have all known. Opposed to them are other important officials who plead for a restoration of the Church to its proper role. The final decision taken by all these men who speak for one quarter of the world's population is made in the course of Conclave 82, a special meeting after the death of Paul VI at which the next Pope is elected. From the beginning of the Seventies, many of the Cardinals have been electioneering. Very quickly, in The Final Conclave (1978), Malachi Martin takes us behind the scenes to witness the forbidden manoeuvring for Peter's crown and its worldly power. We learn why the sweeping changes of Paul VI, made - he was convinced - to assure the very survival of the Church, have pushed the Cardinals to one of the most critical decisions in our history.

We watch the deal-makers, the holy men, the politicking, and the cynical alliances as the various factions attempt to gain control. All of the Cardinals are confronted by the accumulated corruption of more than a millenium: the Church as businessman, as a multi-national conglomerate involved in ownership and management of property, as power-broker dealing in countries, continents, and human liberty.

In the heart of this book, Malachi Martin creates what may long be thought of as one of the truly great tours de force of literature: the scenario of Conclave 82. The reader will know more about the complete process from having experienced it in this book than many a Cardinal-Elector, including how illegal secret communications with the outside world are maintained. In a dramatic crescendo, we witness a climax more moving than any play can ever be because we know it involves the future lives of nations, including our own. 

When Luther pinned his message to the door, the result was an unstoppable revolution. With this book, Dr Martin, a former Jesuit whose laicization was granted by Pope Paul, may be said to have pinned his message to the door of St Peter's. As always, there will be some who will call The Final Conclave an act of treason: if so, the Declaration of Independence was an act of treason. This is a book in a grand tradition, a speculation that fairly, realistically, and movingly introduces us to the possibility of a future most of humanity would hope to avoid.

About the author: The Christian Science Monitor has called Malachi Martin "one of the most challenging writers in English" during his time. Malachi Brendan Martin (1921-1999), also known under the pseudonym of Michael Serafian, was an Irish-born American Traditionalist Catholic priest, biblical archaeologist, exorcist, palaeographer, professor, and prolific writer on the Roman Catholic Church. He was trained in Theology at Louvain. There, he received his doctorate in Semitic Languages, Archaeology and Oriental History. He subsequently studied at Oxford and at the Hebrew University, concentrating on knowledge of Jesus as transmitted in Jewish and Islamic sources. From 1958 to 1964, he served in Rome, where he was a close associate of Cardinal Augustine Bea and of Pope John XXIII. He is the author of the national best-sellers Vatican, The Final Conclave, and Hostage to the Devil. His extraordinarily broad-based appeal offers eloquent testimony to the breadth of his abilities. 

The Prosecutor by Jack Fairweather

About the book: The Prosecutor (2025) is the new book from the bestselling, Costa prize-winner of The Volunteer. 

The Prosecutor is the true story of a Jewish lawyer who returned to Germany after WWII to prosecute war crimes, only to find himself pitted against a nation determined to bury the past.

At the end of the Nuremberg trial in 1946, some of the greatest war criminals in history were sentenced to death, but hundreds of thousands of Nazi murderers and collaborators remained at large. The Allies were ready to overlook their pasts as the Cold War began, and the horrors of the Holocaust were in danger of being forgotten.

In The Prosecutor, Jack Fairweather brings to life the remarkable story of Fritz Bauer, a gay German Jew who survived the Nazis and made it his mission to force his countrymen to confront their complicity in the genocide. In this deeply researched book, Fairweather draws on unpublished family papers, newly declassified German records, and exclusive interviews to immerse readers in the dark, unfamiliar world of postwar West Germany where those who implemented genocide run the country, the CIA is funding Hitler’s former spy-ring in the east, and Nazi-era anti-gay laws are strictly enforced. But once Bauer lands on the trail of Adolf Eichmann, he won’t be intimidated. His journey takes him deep into the rotten heart of West Germany, where his fight for justice will set him against his own government and a network of former Nazis and spies determined to silence him.

In a time when the history of the Holocaust is taken for granted, The Prosecutor reveals the courtroom battles that were fought to establish its legacy and the personal cost of speaking out. The result is a searing portrait of a nation emerging from the ruins of fascism and one man’s courage in forcing his people - and the world - to face the truth.

About the author: Jack Fairweather is an award-winning and bestselling British writer and journalist. His last book The Volunteer won the Costa Book Prize and was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller, hailed as a modern classic and compared to Schindler’s List. He splits his time between the UK and Vermont.