Most Popular Books by Peter Brown

''Transformation'' is a notion apposite to essays in honour of Peter Brown. ''The transformation of the classical heritage'' is a theme to which he has devoted, and continues to devote, much energy. All the essays here in some way explore this notion of transformation; the late antique ability to turn the past to new uses, and to set its wealth of principle and insight to work in new settings.

This gorgeously illustrated picture book brings to full color the adventures of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Wild Robot. Roz is not where she’s supposed to be. You see, the robot wasn’t designed to live in the wilderness. But when she washes up on an island, she must learn from the animal inhabitants and adapt to her new, natural surroundings, and before long, the island begins to feel like home. Filled with bestselling creator and award-winning artist Peter Brown’s stunning artwork, this moving picture book is the perfect gift for readers new to The Wild Robot or for longtime fans of the middle-grade book series that sparked a global phenomenon.

First published in 1988, Peter Brown''s The Body and Society was a groundbreaking study of the marriage and sexual practices of early Christians in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. Brown focuses on the practice of permanent sexual renunciation-continence, celibacy, and lifelong virginity-in Christian circles from the first to the fifth centuries A.D. and traces early Christians'' preoccupations with sexuality and the body in the work of the period''s great writers. The Body and Society questions how theological views on sexuality and the human body both mirrored and shaped relationships between men and women, Roman aristocracy and slaves, and the married and the celibate. Brown discusses Tertullian, Valentinus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Constantine, the Desert Fathers, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine, among others, and considers asceticism and society in the Eastern Empire, martyrdom and prophecy, gnostic spiritual guidance, promiscuity among the men and women of the church, monks and marriage in Egypt, the ascetic life of women in fourth-century Jerusalem, and the body and society in the early Middle Ages. In his new introduction, Brown reflects on his work''s reception in the scholarly community.

A streamlined and simplified global history

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year A Tablet Book of the Year Marking a departure in our understanding of Christian views of the afterlife from 250 to 650 CE, The Ransom of the Soul explores a revolutionary shift in thinking about the fate of the soul that occurred around the time of Rome’s fall. Peter Brown describes how this shift transformed the Church’s institutional relationship to money and set the stage for its domination of medieval society in the West. “[An] extraordinary new book...Prodigiously original—an astonishing performance for a historian who has already been so prolific and influential...Peter Brown’s subtle and incisive tracking of the role of money in Christian attitudes toward the afterlife not only breaks down traditional geographical and chronological boundaries across more than four centuries. It provides wholly new perspectives on Christianity itself, its evolution, and, above all, its discontinuities. It demonstrates why the Middle Ages, when they finally arrived, were so very different from late antiquity.” —G. W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books “Peter Brown’s explorations of the mindsets of late antiquity have been educating us for nearly half a century...Brown shows brilliantly in this book how the future life of Christians beyond the grave was influenced in particular by money. —A. N. Wilson, The Spectator

The author links Chaucer''s writings with the medieval optical tradition in its various forms (scholastic texts, encyclopedias, exempla, vernacular poetry) both in general cultural terms and through the discussion of specific examples. He shows how the science of optics, or perspectiva, provides an account of spatial perception, including visual error, and demonstrates how these aspects of optical theory impact on Chaucer''s poetry. He provides detailed and sustained analysis of the spatial content of narratives across the range of Chaucer''s works, relating them to optical ideas and making use of Lefebvre''s theory of the production of space. The texts discussed include the Book of the Duchess, House of Fame, Knight''s Tale, Miller''s Tale, Reeve''s Tale, Merchant''s Tale, Squire''s Tale and Troilus and Criseyde.

Since its publication this book has become the standard for both students studying for their examinations and practitioners needing a comprehensive reference book covering rating law, valuation and, importantly, practice. This third edition brings the reader up to date with the changes for the 2010 Rating Revaluation, developments in case law, the new appeals regulations and current approaches to valuing many classes of hereditament, as well as highlighting the differences between cases in England and Wales. The book is well illustrated with example valuations showing both methods of valuation and the variety of property surveyors come across in practice. The authors have extensive experience in the subject and regularly lecture on rating, valuation and taxation matters.

Index of manuscripts in Middle English prose contained in the Additional Collection 10001-14000, British Library, LondonThe great scholar and palaeographer Sir Frederic Madden (1801-73) was Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum (as it then was) when most of the items in this Handlist were acquired. The manuscripts here represented, from the still expanding Additional Collection, provide examples of almost every kind of Middle English prose composition. Many of the items in this Handlist are well known, but some have been previously overlooked and a surprising number remain unedited.

The era of late antiquity--from the middle of the third century to the end of the eighth--was marked by the rise of two world religions, unprecedented political upheavals that remade the map of the known world, and the creation of art of enduring glory. In these eleven in-depth essays, drawn from the award-winning reference work Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, an international cast of experts provides essential information and fresh perspectives on this period''s culture and history.

A truly global approach to world history built around significant world history stories. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart is organized around major world history stories and themes: the emergence of cities, the building of the Silk Road, the spread of major religions, the spread of the Black Death, the Age of Exploration, alternatives to nineteenth-century capitalism, the rise of modern nation-states and empires, and others. The Fourth Edition of this successful text has been streamlined, shortened, and features a new suite of tools designed to help students think critically, master content and make connections across time and place.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the cult of the saints was the dominant form of religion in Christian Europe. In this elegantly written work, Peter Brown explores the role of tombs, shrines, relics, and pilgrimages connected with the sacred bodies of the saints. He shows how men and women living in harsh and sometimes barbaric times relied upon the merciful intercession of the holy dead to obtain justice, forgiveness, and to find new ways to accept their fellows. Challenging the common treatment of the cult as an outbreak of superstition among the lower classes, Brown demonstrates how this form of religiousity engaged the finest minds of the Church and elicited from members of the educated upper classes some of their most splendid achievements in poetry, literature, and the patronage of the arts. "Brown has an international reputation for his fine style, a style he here turns on to illuminate the cult of the saints. Christianity was born without such a cult; it took rise and that rise needs chronicling. Brown has a gift for the memorable phrase and sees what the passersby have often overlooked. An eye-opener on an important but neglected phase of Western development."—The Christian Century "Brilliantly original and highly sophisticated . . . . [The Cult of the Saints] is based on great learning in several disciplines, and the story is told with an exceptional appreciation for the broad social context. Students of many aspects of medieval culture, especially popular religion, will want to consult this work."—Bennett D. Hill, Library Journal

When Lucy, a young bear, discovers a boy lost in the woods, she asks her mother if she can have him as a pet, only to find him impossible to train.

Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island''s unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot''s mysterious past comes back to haunt her. From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.