Over at Transient and Permanent, there's great thread about the history of congregation v. denominational polity among the Unitarians, circa 1870-1945. Great if you like that kind of thing, anyway. So about 10 comments down, Murfin says "Check the standard Unitarian histories."
So what would those be. More to the point, if you had, say, $200 to build up a congregational library's History section, what would you buy? Or if you were stocking the book-sale tables at a district event, what histories would you be sure to include? (I'm thinking of specifically UU history.)
I'll throw out a few to start with
- The Larger Faith: A Short History of American Universalism- Charles A. Howe
- The Premise and the Promise: The Story of the Unitarian Universalist Association - Warren Ross
- Stream of Light: A Short History of American Unitarianism - Conrad Wright
$200 is pretty small - (heck it just about covers summer beach reading, doesnt it?)
ReplyDeleteI havent read the Premise and the Promise yet (I did just get through reading Bob West's autobiography)
so what to do with the other $140? I would go with a regional history or congregational history - Like A History of Universalism in North Carolina, or Freedom Goes West.
then a biography of Channing, Parker, if any or in print (one on Parker is in print). Maybe Standing Before Us. I dont own this - but how about the new book on Joseph Priestly?
Lots of other good books out, but had to keep it around $200
Hello, I turned my reply into a full blog post, which can be found here: http://transientandpermanent.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/the-well-stocked-uu-history-bookshelf/
ReplyDelete