fsbauthors
‘Faith’ By Geraldine Brooks
“Faith” By Geraldine Brooks, author of People of the Book:
“How come your novels always have vicars in them?”
The question came as part of the Q and A after a talk I’d given on my second novel, March, whose protagonist is a minister with the Union Army during the Civil War. My first novel, Year of Wonders, had featured a clergyman leading a rural Derbyshire village through a year of plague. My questioner had no way of knowing it, but the novel I was just then finishing, People of the Book, also had a priest in it. And a rabbi. And an imam.
Sort of like the set up for a bad joke. I hadn’t consciously set out to write about religious people and yet they kept popping up in my fiction like uninvited guests at a party. I mumbled something about being attracted to stories of the past, when religious leaders loomed so large…
‘The Myth of the Oil Crisis’ by Robin M. Mills
The opening years of the 21st century are marked by milestones in the world of oil: the war in Iraq, the Shell reserves downgrade, Hurricane Katrina, and the breaking of the once unthinkable $100 per barrel barrier. Many have seized on these events as evidence that we are crossing the threshold of ‘peak oil’. Behind us, a century and a half of abundant, cheap oil that fuelled industrial civilization and brought unparalleled prosperity to a fortunate global minority. Ahead of us, permanent declines in oil production, scarce and unaffordable energy, wars over dwindling resources, disastrous climate change, perhaps the collapse of modern society. But these ideas are based on misconceptions, flawed reasoning, and excessive pessimism. The world has abundant oil and gas for decades to come, geopolitical conflicts can be avoided by adroit policies, and we can learn to use hydrocarbons without unacceptable environmental damage.
We have been here before. In…
Jerry White’s ‘I Will Not Be Broken’ for a Military Audience
By Jerry White, Author of I Will Not Be Broken:
Americans start to feel the ripple effects of war and violence.
The United States is at war, and the home front is hurting. One and a half million Americans have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 4,000 are dead. Nearly thirty thousand have been physically wounded. Over 300,000 now suffer from invisible psychological wounds. Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have been called the signature injuries of these conflicts. According to research at the Rand Corporation and Centers for Disease Control, there has been a significant increase in rates of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness and domestic violence among returning service members. Making the transition from soldier to citizen is not simple or easy, but each of us can play a role to reach out with respect and empathy during this crucial time of transition.
There are…
Military Audience
Americans start to feel the ripple effects of war and violence.
The United States is at war, and the home front is hurting. One and a half million Americans have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 4,000 are dead. Nearly thirty thousand have been physically wounded. Over 300,000 now suffer from invisible psychological wounds.
