Garry Wills

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

California

Presents a biblical analysis of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, evaluating each for their evangelistic style and goals while revealing key differences in how each writer portrayed Jesus.

What the Gospels Meant by Garry Wills (2008, UK-Trade Paper)

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Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Philosophy

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Renaissance plays and poetry in England were saturated with the formal rhetorical twists that Latin education made familiar to audiences and readers. Yet a formally educated man like Ben Jonson was unable to make these ornaments come to life in his two classical Roman plays. Garry Wills, focusing his attention on Julius Caesar, here demonstrates how Shakespeare so wonderfully made these ancient devices vivid, giving his characters their own personal styles of Roman speech. In four chapters, devoted to four of the play's main characters, Wills shows how Caesar, Brutus, Antony, and Cassius each has his own take on the rhetorical ornaments that Elizabethans learned in school. Shakespeare also makes Rome present and animate by casting his troupe of experienced players to make their strengths shine through the historical facts that Plutarch supplied him with. The result is that the Rome English-speaking people carry about in their minds is the Rome that Shakespeare created for them. And that is even true, Wills affirms, for today's classical scholars with access to the original Roman sources.

Rome and Rhetoric

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Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Louisiana

The Call of Leaders

Adora's mahogany hair and violet eyes captivated young Prince Murad the moment he saw her in a convent garden, and their love flowered like the peach blossoms surrounding them. But Orkahm, Grand Turk of an empire, claimed Adora for his bride, tearing her from her young love as she wept bitter tears. Destiny might carry them to other lands and other loves, but Murad and Adora were meant only for each other--forging a magnificent love that lies forever in the pages of history.... "Bertrice Small creates cover-to-cover pasion, a keen sense of history and suspense." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Certain Trumpets

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No writing or other markings inside. Lower back of the dust jacket shows a little bit of wear as you can see in the photo. Remnants of a formal price sticker on front cover. ￼y2fvvq

Massachusetts

Jefferson and the Slave Power

Offers a new look at Thomas Jefferson and his presidency, his election due to the "slave power" vote, the relationship between the power of the slave states and his administration's policies, and the opposition he faced.

Negro President

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award

Maryland

The Words That Remade America

In a masterly work, Garry Wills shows how Lincoln reached back to the Declaration of Independence to write the greatest speech in the nation’s history. The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead he gave the whole nation “a new birth of freedom” in the space of a mere 272 words. His entire life and previous training and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece. By examining both the address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew, and reveals much about a president so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln came to change the world and to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns, and how Lincoln wove a spell that has not yet been broken.

Lincoln at Gettysburg

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PAPAL SIN and its exposé of a fundamental dishonesty at the heart of the papacy provoked both praise and heated debate. Accused by some of harboring deep resentments against the church, Wills counters with a powerful statement of his Catholic faith.
Wills begins with a reflection on his early experience of that faith as a child, and later as a Jesuit seminarian, revealing the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the dogmatic claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. In a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of church history, he reveals that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia and can be reimagined in the future. Wills ends with a moving meditation on the significance of the creed, the timeless core of the Catholic faith, which endures even as the institution of the church changes.
Posing urgent questions for Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike, Wills argues for the continuing relevance of a papacy newly understood. He has already stirred up controversy about the failures of the church. Now, at a time when the selection of a new pope is imminent, he is sure to spark an equally heated conversation about its future.

Why I Am a Catholic  (71)

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Dust cover intact no moisture exposure clean print little shelf wear 

Texas

"The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom"--by tracing its first birth to the Declaration of Independence (which called all men equal) rather than to the Constitution (which tolerated slavery). In the space of a mere 272 words, Lincoln brought to bear the rhetoric of the Greek Revival, the categories of Transcendentalism, and the imagery of the "rural cemetery" movement. His entire life and previous training, his deep political experience, went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece." "As Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel has been restored to its bold colors and forgotten details, Garry Wills restores the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln at Gettysburg combines the same extraordinary quality of observation that defines Wills's previous best-selling portraits of modern presidents, such as Reagan's America and Nixon Agonistes, with the iconoclastic scholarship of his studies of our founding documents, such as Inventing America. By examining both the Address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew and reveals much about a President so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln came to change the world, to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns." "The Civil War is, to most Americans, what Lincoln wanted it to mean. Now Garry Wills explains how Lincoln wove a spell that has not, yet, been broken."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Lincoln at Gettysburg 73

What the Gospels Meant

Virginia

A History of American Distrust of Government

The author blames American's long-standing mistrust of government on a misreading of history, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the Founding Fathers.

A Necessary Evil

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Tennessee

Men of the Theater

Look out for a new book from Garry Wills, What the Qur'an Meant, coming fall 2017.

"Riveting . . . a double-barreled salvo that hits two bull's-eyes." --The New York Times Book Review

This dazzling study of the three operas that Giuseppe Verdi adapted from Shakespeare's plays takes readers on a wonderfully engaging journey through opera, music, literature, history, and the nature of genius. Verdi's Shakespeare explores the writing and staging of Macbetto (Macbeth), Otello (Othello), and Falstaff, operas by Verdi, an Italian composer who could not read a word of English but who adored Shakespeare. Delving into the fast-paced worlds of these men and the hands-on life of the stage that at once challenged them and gave flight to their brilliance, Wills, in his inimitable way, illuminates the birth of artistic creation.

Verdi's Shakespeare

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Former library copy of James Madison by Garry Willis, from the American Presidents Series

Oklahoma

The American Presidents Series: the 4th President, 1809-1817

Chronicles the life and career of the fourth American president from his work constructing the U.S. Constitution, his years in the legislature, his two presidential terms, and his later role as elder statesman.

James Madison

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Washington

In his most original and important work on American history since "Lincoln at Gettysburg," Garry Wills examines Americans' skepticism and distrust of government, which he ascribes to our misunderstanding of the Founding Fathers and of much of our history.

In "A Necessary Evil," Wills scrutinizes our anti-governmental attitudes -- from the revolt of the colonies against king and parliament (romanticized as a revolution against central authority in general) to the present justifications for tax revolts, gun owning, and term limits. Wills reveals the roots of distrust of government -- from mainstream to extremist -- from the Founding Fathers' rancorous disputes, through secession struggles and Civil War, to the present. He shows how we have handed down a number of myths that inflate or distort our ideas about what freedom means and that perpetuate our mistrust of government.

"A Necessary Evil" debunks some of our fondest myths -- that minutemen, not the Continental Army, won the Revolutionary War; that checks and balances were designed to make our government inefficient; that the national ideal should be "citizen-politicians" se

Florida

A Meditation on Power

The Kennedy Imprisonment

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Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

In this provocative work, which could not be timelier, Garry Wills, one of our country's most noted writers and historians, offers a powerful statement of his Catholic faith. Beginning with a reflection on his early experience of that faith as a child and later as a Jesuit seminarian, Wills reveals the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. For Wills, a Catholic can be both loyal and critical, a loving child who stays with his father even if the parent is wrong. Wills turns outward from his personal experiences to present a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of church history, revealing that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia -- and can be reimagined in the future. At a time when the church faces one of its most difficult crises, Garry Wills offers an important and compelling entrée into the discussion of the church's past -- and its future. Intellectually brisk and spiritually moving, Why I Am a Catholic poses urgent questions for Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike.

Why I Am a Catholic

New York

In 1800 Thomas Jefferson won the presidential election with Electoral College votes derived from the three- fths representation of slaves -- slaves who could not vote but were still partially counted as citizens. Moving beyond the recent revisionist debate over Jefferson"s own slaves and his relationship with Sally Hemings, Garry Wills instead probes the heart of Jefferson"s presidency and political life, revealing how the might of the slave states remained a concern behind his most important policies and decisions. Jefferson"s foil was Thomas Pickering, who along with the Federalists fought the president and the institutions that supported him. In an eye-opening, ingeniously argued expose, Wills restores Pickering and his allies" dramatic struggle to our understanding of Jefferson, the creation of the new nation, and the evolution of our representative democracy.

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

The author reveals the values and behavior patterns Ronald Reagan brought to his terms as Governor and President

Reagan's America - Innocents at Home

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Ohio

A simple strand of beads and a crucifix, the rosary has been an aid to prayer, contemplation, and religious worship for centuries. In this superb book, Garry Wills looks at the meaning of the beads and at the mysteries, or events, in the lives of Jesus and Mary that the beads are meant to signify. In an age when self-help methods abound and meditation is increasingly popular, Wills reminds us that the rosary is a “timely and timeless” method for reconnecting with ourselves and with our faith. As he discusses each mystery, Wills guides us through the lives of Jesus and Mary, reflecting on Scripture passages and their teachings with his signature elegant, lucid prose.With gorgeous full-color reproductions of paintings by Renaissance master Tintoretto illustrating the mysteries, The Rosarywill be the perfect book for those who practice the rosary themselves or for those who are seeking a new and timeless form of contemplation.

The Rosary

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In A Necessary Evil, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wills shows that distrust of government is embedded deep in the American psyche. From the revolt of the colonies against king & parliament to present-day tax revolts, militia movements & term limits debates, he shows that American antigovernment sentiment is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of history. By debunking myths about the Founding Fathers, the Constitution & the taming of the frontier, he shows how tendencies to hold our elected government in disdain are misguided.
1 Revolutionary myths. 
Minutemen
Term limits 
2 Constitutional myths. 
Sovereign states
Checking efficiency 
Co-equal branches 
The uses of faction
Bill of Rights 
No standing army
3 Nullifiers. 
John Taylor of Caroline: father of nullification
Jefferson: prophet of nullification
Madison: abettor of nullification
Nullification North: Hartford Convention
Nullification South: John C. Calhoun
Academic nullifiers
4 Seceders. 
Civil War
5 Insurrectionists. 
From Daniel Shays to Timothy McVeigh
Acdemic insurrectionists
6 Vigilantes. 
Groups: from regulators to clinic bombings
Individuals: frontier
Individuals: NRA
7 Withdrawers. 
Individuals: from Thoreau to Mencken
Groups: from Brook Farm to hippie communes
8 Disobeyers. 
From Dr King to SDS
9 A necessary good. 
The uses of government
The uses of fear



*** Writing just inside book , first page**** 

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Garry Wills

What the Gospels Meant by Garry Wills (2008, UK-Trade Paper)

Garry Wills

Rome and Rhetoric

Garry Wills

Certain Trumpets

Garry Wills

Negro President

Garry Wills

Lincoln at Gettysburg

Garry Wills

Why I Am a Catholic (71)

Garry Wills

Lincoln at Gettysburg 73

Garry Wills

What the Gospels Meant

Garry Wills

A Necessary Evil

Garry Wills

Verdi's Shakespeare

Garry Wills

James Madison

Garry Wills

A Necessary Evil

Garry Wills

James Madison

Garry Wills

The Kennedy Imprisonment

Garry Wills

Why I Am a Catholic

Garry Wills

James Madison

Garry Wills

Negro President

Garry Wills

Lincoln at Gettysburg

Garry Wills

Reagan's America - Innocents at Home

Garry Wills

James Madison

Garry Wills

The Rosary

Garry Wills

A Necessary Evil

Garry Wills

Lincoln at Gettysburg

Garry Wills

The Kennedy Imprisonment