Jill Johnston has written a magisterial biography of her father, the English bellfounder Cyril F. Johnston (1884-1950), an homage to his life and the craft of bellfounding. During his time, he developed such a passion for his vocation that, almost single-handedly, he turned it into a profession celebre. Exemplars of his triumphs are the Laura Spelman Rockefeller 72-bell Carillon at Riverside Church in New York City, and the Peace Tower 53-bell carillon in Ottawa, Canada.

Why were so many religious images and objects broken and damaged in the course of the Reformation? Margaret Aston's magisterial new book charts the conflicting imperatives of destruction and rebuilding throughout the English Reformation from the desecration of images, rails and screens to bells, organs and stained glass windows. She explores the motivations of those who smashed images of the crucifixion in stained glass windows and who pulled down crosses and defaced symbols of the Trinity. She shows that destruction was part of a methodology of religious revolution designed to change people as well as places and to forge in the long term new generations of new believers. Beyond blanked walls and whited windows were beliefs and minds impregnated by new modes of religious learning. Idol-breaking with its emphasis on the treacheries of images fundamentally transformed not only Anglican ways of worship but also of seeing, hearing and remembering.

Handel called Britain 'The Ringing Isle' because he heard bells ringing everywhere he went. Behind the quintessentially English sound of bells ringing lies a unique way of hanging bells and a special way of ringing them that evolved in the late sixteenth century. Ringing has since developed and spread, with some 6,000 towers worldwide with bells hung in the English style, and most of them in England. Over 40,000 active ringers keep alive the traditions and skills of change ringing that have been handed down over many generations. The book is an introduction to the world of bells and bell-ringing. It explains how bells are made and how a ringing installation works. It explains the nature of change ringing, which has mathematical as well as musical aspects. It provides insights into the ringing community its origins and culture as well as its relationships with the Church and the community.

Few figures embody the physical courage, unstinting sacrifice, and inspired heroism behind the Civil Rights movement more than Fannie Lou Hamer. For millions hers was the voice that made "This Little Light of Mine" an anthem. Her impassioned rhetoric electrified audiences. At the DemocraticConvention in 1964, Hamer's televised speech took not just Democrats but the entire nation to task for abetting racial injustice, searing the conscience of everyone who heard it. Born in the Mississippi Delta in 1917, Hamer was the 20th child of Black sharecroppers and raised in a world in whichracism, poverty, and injustice permeated the cotton fields. As the Civil Rights Movement began to emerge during the 1950s, she was struggling to make a living with her husband on lands that her forebears had cleared, ploughed, and harvested for generations. When a white doctor sterilized her withouther permission in 1961, Hamer took her destiny into her own hands.Bestselling biographer Kate Clifford Larson offers the first account of Hamer's life for a general audience, capturing and illuminating what made Hamer the electrifying force that she became when she walked onto stages across the country during the 1960s and until her death in 1977. Walk with Medoes justice to the full force of Hamer's activism and example. Based on new sources, including recently opened FBI files and Oval Office transcripts, the biography features interviews with some of the people closest to Hamer and conversations with Civil Rights leaders who fought alongside her.Larson's biography will become the standard account of an extraordinary life.

Bells & Bellfounding is far removed from being dry and heavy reading. After a very amusing introduction we are taken through the origins of bells, bellfounding, carillons, the intricacies of change-ringing, and details of the world's largest bells; with a constant thread of humour. Having been Bellmaster for ten years at the John Taylor and Co. Bellfoundry, Loughborough, England (he cast and tuned the AC/DC "Hell's Bell" in 1980), the author gives a fascinating account of their history, aspirations, achievements and 200 years of family involvement. A comprehensive book with a wealth of interesting information spread over 21 chapters, with 64 pages of photographs.

Bell strokes toll out the death of an unknown man, and summon Lord Wimsey to East Anglia to solve the mystery.