Alan Brown

In "The Life of Wisdom", Alan Brown offers a clear and boldly revisionist exposition of the relationship between Christianity and the classical philosophy of antiquity, with a view to making some important points about the nature of the philosophical task today. Taking issue with the understanding both of philosophy and of Christianity by certain secular humanists, Brown shows - in a similar vein to Alain de Botton in his book "The Consolations of Philosophy" - that in antiquity philosophy was never an abstracted activity but was actually about determining the good and valuable in life, and was therefore at bottom pragmatic. For Brown, Christianity (which is also, and above all, concerned with value and the good life) did not graft its philosophy on to its religious beliefs as some sort of adjunct, from elsewhere, but is intrinsically philosophical in a unique sense. Contra secular philosophers like A C Grayling and Simon Blackburn, who view Christianity as philosophically impoverished, there is no meaningful distinction, then, between 'religious belief' and 'philosophical reason', since, like its classical counterparts, early Christianity was a distinct philosophy in its own right. And since Christian philosophy was apocalyptic in character, and looked to the future, it resisted the notion of absolute certainty in the present. For Brown, therefore, a true understanding of the nature of Christian philosophy has much to tell us about the fundamentally liberal and anti-authoritarian character of Christianity (an insight that has considerable present-day resonance in the light of recent fundamentalist attempts to re-position the churches according to a more conservative agenda). In arguing this fascinating case, the author provides a very clear survey of the main schools of classical philosophy and their influence on early Christianity (free from the sorts of conceptual overlays into which both are usually forced), which will be of great value to students of the philosophy of antiquity - whether from the standpoint of classics or religious studies - who want to gain an accurate and well-informed sense of the main strands of philosophical thinking in the classical and Hellenistic worlds. "The Life of Wisdom" is thus both readable introductory textbook and stimulating philosophical essay, which puts a remarkable new perspective on the origins and contemporary meanings of Christian philosophy.

Seeking a temporary escape from the city and a world gone mad, Alan Brown plots out a personal challenge: an epic coast-to-coast trip through the lonely interior of the Highlands. He traverses paths historic and new, eschewing creature comforts and high-tech gear, trusting his (mostly) serviceable bike and his own skills. Armed with the essentials and a sense of curiosity, he discovers more about nature, people, our country, risk and himself than he ever thought possible. Alan traces a route from Argyllshire’s Loch Etive across remote Rannoch moors, dramatic Grampian terrain and the beautiful glens of Strathspey to reach the Moray Firth at Findhorn. Ready for all weathers and obstacles, he succumbs to the hypnotic daily routine of ride, eat, sleep, repeat. He’s savouring the landscapes, the wildlife and the solitude, and relishing the self-reliance. He is also picking up clues to past lives and discovering how the land has been altered by industry and game sports or, sometimes, conserved for wildlife and trees.

Shows that in antiquity philosophy was never an abstracted activity, but was actually concerned with determining the good and valuable in life. This book provides a survey of the main schools of classical philosophy and their influence on the early church, and is useful to students of the philosophy of antiquity.

This book argues that the legal understanding of ‘family’ in the UK continues to be underpinned by the idealised image of the ‘nuclear family’, premised upon the traditional, gendered roles of ‘father as breadwinner’ and ‘mother as homemaker’. This examination of the law’s model of the ‘family’ has been prompted by the substantial reforms that have taken place in family law in recent decades, and the significant evolution in social attitudes and familial practices that has occurred in parallel. Throughout the book, the influence of the nuclear family is noted in several different contexts: various specific legal definitions of ‘family’, the legal regulation of adult, conjugal relationships, the attribution of legal parenthood and the construction of the role of the ‘parent’ within the law. Ultimately, this book argues that while these reforms have resulted in additional categories of relationship coming to be situated within the nuclear family model, there has not, as yet, been any fundamental alteration of the underpinning concept of the nuclear family itself. This book concludes by considering the possibilities offered beyond the ‘nuclear family’; exploring the reconceptualising of the legal understanding of ‘family’ around alternative and potentially ‘radical’ models of ‘family’.

In nature, radiata pine is very localised and an obscure tree species despite the romantic character of much of its natural habitat. That obscure status and the lack of any reputation as a virgin timber slowed its due recognition as a commercial crop. Nevertheless, it has become a major plantation forest crop internationally. It has become the pre-eminent commercial forest species in New Zealand, Chile and Australia, with important plantings in some other countries. It consequently features prominently in the international trade in forest products, in addition to its importance in domestic markets of grower countries. Very fast growth, considerable site tolerances, ease of raising in nurseries and transplanting, and ease of processing and using its wood for a range of products and purposes, have made it the utility softwood of choice almost everywhere it can be grown satisfactorily. Abundant genetic variation and its amenability to other management inputs created special opportunities for its domestication. The story of its domestication forms a classic case history in the development of modern commercial forestry, with trailblazing in both genetic improvement and plantation management; this inevitably meant a learning process that provided instructive lessons, especially for tree breeders dealing with some other species. Paradoxically, the plantation monocultures have played and can continue to play an important role in protecting natural forests and other forms of biodiversity. Given the attractions of growing radiata pine, there were inevitably cases of overreach in planting it, with lessons to be learnt. Economic globalisation has meant globalisation of pests and disease organisms, and the scale on which radiata pine is grown has meant is has been the focus of various biotic alarms, none of which have proved catastrophic. Temptations, remain, however, to pay less than due attention to some aspects of risk management. The chapter structure of the book is based on historical periods, beginning long before any important human influences, and ending with a look into what the future might hold for the species and its role in human and ecological sustainability. Almost throughout, there has been complex interplay between the technical aspects, local social and economic factors, various types of institution, the enthusiasm and drive of some very influential individuals, and tides of economic ideology, threads that needed to be woven together to do the story justice.

The Golden Triangle is an institutional hub, but restless spirits of Native Americans, Civil War soldiers and slaves also wander this region. Tales of a mysterious watchman who patrols the railroad tracks between Artesia and Mayhew haunt curious locals. Ed Kuykendall Sr. is rumored to manage Columbus s Princess Theater from beyond the grave. A young girl who died while attempting to free her head from a stair banister is said to still wander the halls of Waverly. Author Alan Brown uncovers the eerie thrills and chills within Mississippi s Golden Triangle."

Throughout the Southwest, ghostly fiends and tragic figures creep in the shadows of some of the most popular and historic spots. Phantom battle cries ring across the wide prairie, spectral forms mark mountain passages and the chilled desert night is made even colder by the ghostly visits of those lost on the wild and unpredictable frontier. Departed inmates of Yuma s territorial prison carry on their eternal incarceration, and the unnerving laughter of children echoes through the vacant halls of White Sanitarium in Wichita Falls. The languid spirit of a former owner wanders the winding corridors of the Albuquerque Press Club. Glasses float past waiters at the Melting Pot in Littleton, and passengers at Union Station in Ogden encounter the victims of the Bagley Train Disaster of 1944. Join author Alan Brown as he recounts these and more supernatural stories of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah."

It's easier to imagine ghosts haunting gloomy, medieval castles in Europe of brooding mansions in New England than bright, cheerful homes across the Sunshine State, but ghosts abound in sunny, tropical Florida. In fact, Florida absolutely oozes the weird, the creepy, and the ghastly.

Florida's Big Bend region is sometimes known as the Forgotten Coast," but the tales of its haunts are anything but forgotten. This small cluster of towns and cities has produced a body of ghost lore that rivals any stories produced in the state's better-known haunted cities. One of the towns in the Big Bend--Monticello--is known in paranormal circles as one of the most haunted places in the entire Southeast. Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee is the oldest public cemetery in the city and has a long list of chilling encounters. Join author Alan Brown as he recounts the history of one of Florida's most terrifying regions."

Some of the nation's most compelling ghost stories owe their origin to ""The Father of Waters."" Ghosts along the Mississippi River is the first book-length collection of ghost tales from the small towns and bustling cities that have grown up along its banks. The states represented in this book include Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Unlike most collections of ""true"" ghost stories, Ghosts along the Mississippi River draws from the folk traditions of the northern and the southern United States. These tales are populated with Federal and Confederate soldiers, Native Indians, wealthy entrepreneurs, actors, college students, hotel owners, preachers, slaves, and planters. According to some paranormal investigators, the large number of ghost stories from the Mississippi's river towns, and from watery sites all over the world, are proof that large bodies of water are conductors of psychic energy. Granted, no concrete proof exists that there is a definite connection between the river and any actual ghosts or spiritual phenomena. What is indisputable, though, is the fact that the ghost stories included in Ghosts along the Mississippi River are an invaluable record of the values, dreams, fears, and lives of the people who have called the river home.

Meridian once echoed with the high and lonesome sound of early country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers. With the right ears, that lonely wail might still be heard from the spirits that haunt this historic east Mississippi community. Now, for the first time, Meridian ghost expert and local author Alan Brown surveys the city's many sites of ghostly activity and recounts chilling tales of spirits past. From the Gypsy Queen's grave at the Rose Hill Cemetery to the phantom that haunts Stuckey's Bridge, this frightening collection offers adventurous readers a view of a side of Meridian's history that is rarely seen.

Pensacola may boast the world's whitest beaches, but the sands of time reveal a dark history in America's first settlement. It's no surprise that one of the nation's oldest cities is also among the most haunted, with culturally diverse spirits from the ag

Pensacola may boast the world's whitest beaches, but the sands of time reveal a dark history in America's first settlement. It's no surprise that one of the nation's oldest cities is also among the most haunted, with culturally diverse spirits from the ages of the Spanish founders and British settlers through the turbulent era of the Civil War. Author and expert Alan Brown presents a survey of unexplained mysteries at Pensacola's eerie landmarks. The infamous haunted lighthouse, the ghosts of St. Michael's Cemetery and the tale of the headless woman of Ramona Street are just a few of the chilling stories recounted in Haunted Pensacola.

From the eerie vestiges of the Sloss Furnaces to the unexplained (and un-booked) performances in the Alabama Theatre and rather otherworldly room service at the Tutwiler Hotel, Birmingham is truly one of the South's supernatural hotbeds. Renowned author and ghost expert Alan Brown delivers a fascinating, downright spine-chilling collection of haunts from around the city and surrounding neighborhoods such as Bessemer, Columbiana, Jasper and Montevallo. Residents and tourists alike will cherish this exclusive glimpse into the city's inexplicable occupants, and even the skeptics can enjoy the book's historical framework.

Southerners are accustomed to hearing stories of a residence, an old hotel, a mansion, or a battlefield being haunted. In Ghost Hunters of the South, Alan Brown shows that ghostlore is no longer enough for some. The forty-four ghost hunting groups he profiles in this book pack cameras, Geiger counters, thermal scanners, oscilloscopes, tape recorders, computers, and dowsing rods to find and record elusive proof of supernatural activity. With candor, the directors and team members reveal the passions and even obsessions that lead them to this expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes dangerous and chilling pursuit of evidence of the spirit realm. Brown interviews enthusiasts from twelve states--Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Ghost Hunters of the South takes the reader along on exciting and fearful investigations of places such as the Myrtles, St. Francis Inn, Chickamauga Battlefield, Bob Mackey's Music World, Old Talbott Tavern, North Carolina State Capitol, Granberry Opera House, and 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant. Brown participates in some of the investigations to gain a full and objective understanding of teachers, doctors, accountants, housewives, and law enforcement personnel, who devote much of their free time to a quest that many outsiders view with skepticism if not scorn. In fascinating, frightening, and sometimes humorous accounts, Brown highlights the determination of these individuals to answer the question: ""What happens to the soul after death?"" Alan Brown is a professor of English and director of the Writing Center at the University of West Alabama.

Modern medicine has been staggeringly successful in delivering better health and longer lifespan. But in the developed world doctors are still struggling to treat chronic, often lifestyle-related killers such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Physicians also have little in their armoury to cope with the huge increase in immune system problems such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Millions of people are turning to alternative therapies, feeling that they provide the relief medical science cannot deliver. Only a handful of these therapies have been properly tested so many scientists dismiss them as nonsense. The Whole Story Toby Murcott rounds up the latest evidence on the placebo effect, the randomized control trial, personalized genetic medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and more. It comes to a provocative conclusion: alternative therapies could provide valuable new ways to help chronic diseases. Biochemist and science journalist Toby Murcott challenges conventional medicine to drop its prejudices and investigate these treatments rigorously in pursuit of powerful new approaches to healthcare.

This book is designed to give students and newly qualified teachers a contextual and theoretical background to this subject, by exploring and challenging assumptions about the place of religion in education. The book is divided into the following sections:section one sets out the context for religious education in the curriculum. It looks at political, social and religious influences on legislation, particularly in faith schools, and raises questions about assessmentsection two focuses on Religious Education in the classroom, exploring our understanding of religion and the concept of development in Religious Educationsection three examines Religious Education as a whole-school issue, considering its relationship to literacy, citizenship, collective worship and spiritual, ethical and moral development.

This book is designed to give students and newly qualified teachers a contextual and theoretical background to this subject, by exploring and challenging assumptions about the place of religion in education. The book is divided into the following sections:section one sets out the context for religious education in the curriculum. It looks at political, social and religious influences on legislation, particularly in faith schools, and raises questions about assessmentsection two focuses on Religious Education in the classroom, exploring our understanding of religion and the concept of development in Religious Educationsection three examines Religious Education as a whole-school issue, considering its relationship to literacy, citizenship, collective worship and spiritual, ethical and moral development.