Barbara Newman reintroduces English-speaking readers to an extraordinary and gifted figure of the twelfth-century renaissance. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was mystic and writer, musician and preacher, abbess and scientist who used symbolic theology to explore the meaning of her gender within the divine scheme of things.

With a new preface, bibliography, and discography, Sister of Wisdom is a landmark book in women's studies, and it will also be welcomed by readers in religion and history.

A series of interviews with some of the foremost dancers in twentieth-century ballet, Never Far from Dancing reflects on the paths that their careers have taken since they retired from the stage. Barbara Newman has expertly edited each of her interviews to read as a monologue, addressing every aspect of ballet, from its styles and technical demands to its personalities, its celebrated roles and, most of all, to what happens when the dancing stops.

While ballet invites all manner of writing from critics, admirers and academics, the thoughts and experiences of the dancers...

Prior to 9/11, one terrorist group had killed more US citizens than any other - Hezbollah, the 'Party of God'. Hezbollah is an organisation of highly disciplined Muslim extremists: it was they who killed 241 US marines in Beirut in 1983, bombed the US embassy there, and kidnapped and tortured US citizens living in Lebanon. A Lebanese group of Shiite militants, Hezbollah has evolved into a major force in Lebanon's society and politics. Formed in Lebanon by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1982, it is fuelled by hatred of Israel and the United States. Hezbollah served as an inspiration to...