Stephen Hatch

Originally published in 1981 Social Welfare and the Failure of the State looks at how the 1980s have ushered in an intensification on the debate of the role of the state in social welfare. The book highlights the trends towards centralisation in modern Britain and then provides a critical argument on to new ground. It highlights the trends towards centralisation in modern Britain and then provides a critical analysis of the growth of the social services in the 1960s and 1970s. But its target is the way these services were provided, not the amount of money spent on them. The authors argue that they have grown in the wrong direction.

In an era like ours, when the Christian scriptures are so often used as an excuse to harm others and destroy the environment in the name of God, wilderness explorer and preservationist John Muir (1838-1914) gives us a completely fresh perspective. Like those who perform the ancient monastic practice of lectio divina, Muir usually discovered insights within scriptural passages of which the original authors most likely were not aware. Rocks and Waters Are Words of God: Reflections on John Muir's Ecological Reading of the Bible is a series of reflections on Muir's insights into biblical passages and phrases. Each reflection begins with a scripture verse and is followed in turn by a passage in which Muir used a part of that verse in his writings in a manner similar to what monks and contemplatives have always done. Like them, he "tasted" the meanings of the scriptures, rather than simply processing them intellectually.

Originally published in 1981 Social Welfare and the Failure of the State looks at how the 1980s have ushered in an intensification on the debate of the role of the state in social welfare. The book highlights the trends towards centralisation in modern Britain and then provides a critical argument on to new ground. It highlights the trends towards centralisation in modern Britain and then provides a critical analysis of the growth of the social services in the 1960s and 1970s. But its target is the way these services were provided, not the amount of money spent on them. The authors argue that they have grown in the wrong direction.

John Muir is best known for his work in preserving the great natural areas of America. What is not commonly known is that he was also a great contemplative thinker - a sort of "wilderness mystic" - one who experienced union with the Divine through contact with the great natural areas of the Western United States. Muir's preservation efforts were motivated in large part by his experience of the spiritual dimension of Nature. It was Muir's earthy mysticism that motivated him to work so diligently for the preservation of wild places, which he viewed as "God's First Temples." This book is a sort of "bible" of Muir quotations related to a vibrant and ecstatic spirituality of Nature. It includes a new selection of never-before published selections from original journals contained in the John Muir Papers, as well as passages from his published works. Anyone interested in experiencing a deeper communion with Nature will find this book invaluable.