Books with author Christopher Isherwood

My Guru and His Disciple is a sweetly modest and honest portrait of Isherwood's spiritual instructor, Swami Prabhavananda, the Hindu priest who guided Isherwood for some thirty years. It is also a book about the often amusing and sometimes painful counterpoint between worldliness and holiness in Isherwood's own life. Sexual sprees, all-night drinking bouts, a fast car ride with Greta Garbo, scriptwriting conferences at M-G-M, intellectual sparring sessions with Berthold Brecht alternated with nights of fasting at the Vedanta Center, a six-month period of celibacy and sobriety, and the pious drudgery of translating (in collaboration with the Swami) the Bhagavad-Gita. Seldom has a single man been owed with such strong drives toward both sensuality and spirituality, abandon and discipline; out of the passionate dialectic between these drives, My Guru and His Disciple has been written.

"My Guru and His Disciple is a sweetly modest and honest portrait of Isherwood's spiritual instructor, Swami Prabhavananda, the Hindu priest who guided Isherwood for some thirty years. It is also a book about the often amusing and sometimes painful counterpoint between worldliness and holiness in Isherwood's own life. Sexual sprees, all-night drinking bouts, a fast car ride with Greta Garbo, script-writing conferences at M-G-M, and intellectual sparring sessions with Bertolt Brecht alternated with nights of fasting at the Vedanta Center and a six-month period of celibacy and sobriety. Seldom has a single man been endowed with such strong drives toward both sensuality and spirituality, abandon and discipline. . . . In these pages, Isherwood has reinvented the spirit of devotion for the modern reader." Edmund White, New York Times Book Review "This book is a humbling tribute to someone who revealed to Isherwood inner grounds for spiritual awareness." Alan Hollinghurst, New Statesman A major figure in twentieth-century fiction and the gay rights movement, Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) is the author of Down There on a Visit, Lions and Shadows, A Meeting by the River, The Memorial, Prater Violet, A Single Man, and The World in the Evening, all available from the University of Minnesota Press.

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY SIMON CALLOWIn 1939, as Europe approaches war, Isherwood, an instinctive pacifist, travels west to California, seeking a new set of beliefs to replace the failed Leftism of the thirties. There he meets Swami Prabhavananda, a Hindu monk, who will become his spiritual guide for the next thirty-seven years. Late-night drinking sessions, free love, and the glamour of writing for the Hollywood studios alternate with meditation, abstinence and the study of religious texts in a compelling tug of war between worldliness and holiness.

"My Guru and His Disciple is a sweetly modest and honest portrait of Isherwood’s spiritual instructor, Swami Prabhavananda, the Hindu priest who guided Isherwood for some thirty years. It is also a book about the often amusing and sometimes painful counterpoint between worldliness and holiness in Isherwood’s own life. Sexual sprees, all-night drinking bouts, a fast car ride with Greta Garbo, script-writing conferences at M-G-M, and intellectual sparring sessions with Bertolt Brecht alternated with nights of fasting at the Vedanta Center and a six-month period of celibacy and sobriety. Seldom has a single man been endowed with such strong drives toward both sensuality and spirituality, abandon and discipline. . . . In these pages, Isherwood has reinvented the spirit of devotion for the modern reader." Edmund White, New York Times Book Review"This book is a humbling tribute to someone who revealed to Isherwood inner grounds for spiritual awareness." Alan Hollinghurst, New StatesmanA major figure in twentieth-century fiction and the gay rights movement, Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986) is the author of Down There on a Visit, Lions and Shadows, A Meeting by the River, The Memorial, Prater Violet, A Single Man, and The World in the Evening, all available from the University of Minnesota Press.

FIVE CENTURIES OF SPIES FROM CAMBRIDGE “Spies, as Christopher Catherwood’s book shows, are a Cambridge tradition”What do the dramatist and Shakespeare contemporary Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan courtier Sir Francis Walsingham, and Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and John Cairncross all have in common?The answer is that they were all at Cambridge University and all of them were spies... This brilliant new book is the first to unite such a fascinating group of people, and to explore this extraordinary 500-year continuity provided by their place of education. This direct continuity is something of which Cambridge and its colleges are very aware, and which makes it such a unique place in the annals of espionage, treachery and intrigue.The murder of Christopher Marlowe in a tavern brawl is still a mystery, a subject upon which many books have been written, none with conclusive results. But there is one factor upon which they all agree – that his death was directly related to his activities as a spy. Some of those involved, such as Robert Poley, were also Cambridge graduates, and with the ideological war with Spain in the 16th century having strong parallels with the similar 20th-century struggle of the Cold War (not to mention the fight against fascism in the 1930s that recruited many Cambridge students to Marxism), the level of continuity is therefore remarkable yet again.The Cuckoos’ Nest examines and illustrates the common international themes of the times alongside the domestic political and social atmospheres prevalent and elegantly and fascinatingly weaves them into a spellbinding tale of treachery and treason.Reviews“Spies, as Christopher Catherwood's entertaining book shows, are a Cambridge tradition. Graduates from most British universities have joined the British intelligence services. Twentieth-century Cambridge, however, provided some of the best recruits for the KGB as well. The Cuckoos’ Nest brings their extraordinary careers vividly to life.” – Christopher Andrew, Official Historian of the Security Service (MI5)“As Christopher Catherwood points out in The Cuckoos’ Nest, spy stories – the real ones, that is – seem to have an endless fascination for us. When these stories have a connection with an ancient university and a charming city, then the fascination is all the greater. In this extraordinarily readable book, Catherwood explores the connection between place and intrigue, between a university committed to truth and people committed to dissemblance. The result is an extraordinarily rich narrative.” – Alexander McCall SmithScroll up and grab your copy now. About the AuthorChristopher Catherwood is a writer and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and lives with his wife Paueltte just outside Cambridge. He is attached to Churchill College and St Edmund's College at Cambridge and attends the Intelligence History Seminar run by the Official Historian of MI5, Professor Christopher Andrew. He is an expert on 20th century history in Europe and the Middle East, and has written many books in that area, and on Winston Churchill in particular. He also teaches 20th century and English Reformation history for the Tulane and Wake Forest Universities’ INSTEP Study Abroad programme in Cambridge and taught for many years at the University of Richmond in Virginia. He is currently writing on special operations and espionage in World War II for a series on secret intelligence history, and on Randolph Churchill and Evelyn Waugh as SOE agents in the Balkans.

This extraordinary book, 666 The Mark of America, Seat of the Beast exposes the stunning truth about America and its connection with 666, which the reader will learn, represents nothing more than MONEY. Not only does the book give a simple explanation of every chapter and verse of Revelation, but it also discloses the truth about America, human nature, and the reality of the world in which we live. But most important, it gives the solution to bringing peace and happiness to our world. It validates what each of us knows intrinsically: that ALL of us are created equal, and that ALL of us should be loved, valued, and respected equally. Will the earth's powers reassess the path of insatiable appetite that creates slavery, or will we move towards peace through compassion and global equity for all? "When we begin to see each other as ourselves and treat the world's children as our own - this world will be a far different, happier and more peaceful place to live. This was John's intent and purpose in writing the book of Revelation." -- Christopher

"My Guru and His Disciple is a sweetly modest and honest portrait of Isherwood's spiritual instructor, Swami Prabhavananda, the Hindu priest who guided Isherwood for some thirty years. It is also a book about the often amusing and sometimes painful counterpoint between worldliness and holiness in Isherwood's own life. Sexual sprees, all-night drinking bouts, a fast car ride with Greta Garbo, script-writing conferences at M-G-M, and intellectual sparring sessions with Bertolt Brecht alternated with nights of fasting at the Vedanta Center and a six-month period of celibacy and sobriety. Seldom has a single man been endowed with such strong drives toward both sensuality and spirituality, abandon and discipline. . . . In these pages, Isherwood has reinvented the spirit of devotion for the modern reader." Edmund White, New York Times Book Review "This book is a humbling tribute to someone who revealed to Isherwood inner grounds for spiritual awareness." Alan Hollinghurst, New Statesman A major figure in twentieth-century fiction and the gay rights movement, Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) is the author of Down There on a Visit, Lions and Shadows, A Meeting by the River, The Memorial, Prater Violet, A Single Man, and The World in the Evening, all available from the University of Minnesota Press.

Martyn Lloyd Jones survived a household fire when only ten years old. His family faced financial disaster as a result and a period of separation when his father left to find work in Canada. Eventually they were reunited in London where Martyn went to school, became one of the youngest entrants to the medical school at St Bartholomew's at the age of 16 and discovered a life long passion for politics.The story covers Martyn's conversion, his calling to be a preacher and then his ministry in Wales and London. This story covers anecdotes from his Welsh childhood as well as thought provoking instances from Martyn's life as a pastor at Westminster Chapel. An excellent book to promote discussion in a youth group or even to start a youngster thinking about their faith; the bible and different issues for themselves."TRY ANOTHER TRAILBLAZER: Life is an adventure, Robert Murray McCheyne by Irene Howat. A missionary and a pastor with a difference - he travelled far but realised you don't have to do this to change your world for the better."Catherine MacKenzie ~ Author and CF4K Editor

"My Guru and His Disciple is a sweetly modest and honest portrait of Isherwood's spiritual instructor, Swami Prabhavananda, the Hindu priest who guided Isherwood for some thirty years. It is also a book about the often amusing and sometimes painful counterpoint between worldliness and holiness in Isherwood's own life. Sexual sprees, all-night drinking bouts, a fast car ride with Greta Garbo, script-writing conferences at M-G-M, and intellectual sparring sessions with Bertolt Brecht alternated with nights of fasting at the Vedanta Center and a six-month period of celibacy and sobriety. Seldom has a single man been endowed with such strong drives toward both sensuality and spirituality, abandon and discipline. . . . In these pages, Isherwood has reinvented the spirit of devotion for the modern reader." Edmund White, New York Times Book Review "This book is a humbling tribute to someone who revealed to Isherwood inner grounds for spiritual awareness." Alan Hollinghurst, New Statesman A major figure in twentieth-century fiction and the gay rights movement, Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) is the author of Down There on a Visit, Lions and Shadows, A Meeting by the River, The Memorial, Prater Violet, A Single Man, and The World in the Evening, all available from the University of Minnesota Press.