Killers of the King: the men who dared to execute Charles I by Charles Spencer (Bloomsbury, £8.99pb) J. Anthony Gaughan A book by Princess Diana’s brother would be certain to be of wide interest. But in this account of the vengeance that pursued the men who ordered the death of Charles I he has found…
Point Break (12A) Patrick Swayze, who died of cancer at the age of 57 in 2009, was by all accounts a very nice guy. He had three major hits in a stop-go career: Ghost, Dirty Dancing and Point Break. They’ve now re-made the latter and given it the proverbial ‘big treatment’. It deals with a…
The Passion and the Cross by Ronald Rolheiser (Hodder & Stoughton, £9.99 hb) Lent approaches, and many will be looking round for a book which will provide them with reading during the weeks to Good Friday and Easter. For readers of this paper, and for the many other publications where his columns are syndicated around…
‘Absorbing’ documentaries and welcome returns makes this week’s viewing ‘thought-provoking’ and ‘fascinating’, writes Brendan O’Regan With great hype and anticipation The X-Files returned to RTÉ 2 last Tuesday and Wednesday night after a 14-year gap, and as a long-time fan I wasn’t disappointed. The series featured many religious themes and plot lines over its nine-year run…
Soldiers of Christ: The Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar in Medieval Ireland ed. Martin Browne OSB and Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB (Four Courts Press, €50.00 hb) Ever since the controversy over The Da Vinci Code the Knights Templar have become a stock item in books from ‘alternative historians’ who have produced so many strange…
The dangers inherent in sport are something we’re all increasingly aware of, not only in boxing and rugby but also American football, despite the amount of protective headgear the players wear. The subject takes on a dark complexion in Concussion (12A), based on a true story. Will Smith plays Dr Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian pathologist…
Augustine: Conversions and Confessions by Robin Lane Fox (Allen Lane, £30.00) In the history of Western civilisation St Augustine has a special place. Just how special many may not realise. In any academic library the works of the Greek and Latin Fathers in their original (say in the standard edition of Migne) occupy a great…
Jim Noonan OCD The Eighth Day, selected writings of Christian Bobin translated by Pauline Matarasso (Darton, Longman & Todd, £12.99) An inspirational French author, Christian Bobin is a prolific writer, producing over 50 books, in more than 30 years, and has been a bestseller (his books have sold over 200,000 copies per edition) in France for many…
Fighting Irish: The Irish Regiments in the First World War by Gavin Hughes (Merrion Press, €19.00pb, €65.00hb) This is an account of the Irishmen who fought in the ranks of the British army in World War I. The narrative includes descriptions of some of the killing fields of that horrendous war. Most of the Irish served…
Silence and Thomas Merton The Powerball Lottery in the USA has been much in the news recently, partly because of the huge prize on offer to the lucky winner, or it seems, winners: $1.6 billion. Just think of that in terms of aid for famine and flood victims. What could an individual not do with…
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Courtney McGrail