Ten Battles Every Catholic Should Know

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Michael D. Greaney

Ten Battles Every Catholic Should Know offers readers richly detailed accounts of pivotal engagements many little known in the West in the centuries-long defense of Christendom against militant Islam. Join military historian Michael D. Greaney as in gripping prose he describes the struggle, primarily on Christendom s eastern borders, against the dreaded Ottoman Turks in places such as:

·      Manzikert, which marked the beginning of the fight against the Turks,

·      Wallachia, where Vlad III, the real Dracula, carried out a personal crusade against the Turks to such good effect that his name strikes terror down to the present day,

·      Mohács, the Tomb of Hungary,

·      Vienna (the siege of 1529), the first setback experienced by Süleymân the Magnificent, perhaps the greatest ruler the Ottoman Turks ever knew,

·      Szigetvár (known as the Hungarian Alamo),

...and five others, leading up to Lepanto, the subject of G.K. Chesterton's famous epic poem.

The accounts of battles are enlivened and expanded with historical footnotes and introductions. Though less well known than the struggle to retake Spain and Southern France, the battlefields of Armenia and Eastern and Central Europe were just as crucial to preserve Christendom. Includes 12 battle maps.

266 pp.    $27.95 (U.S.)   £17.26 (U.K.)

ISBN: 978-1505110203

 (Also available on Kindle)

TAN Books (Saint Benedict Press)

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Easter Witness

From Broken Dream to a New Vision for Ireland

Michael D. Greaney

--> ISBN: 978-0-944997-12-3    256 pp.,   $20.00 (U.S.)   £15.00 (U.K)

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There are many excellent and in-depth books about the Easter Rising that began on Monday, April 24, 1916 and ended less than a week later, to all appearances a blood-drenched fiasco.  Easter Witness, however, takes the story further, giving the political and economic context of the Rising and, more important, presenting a unifying and empowering new vision for the future of Ireland and the world

Relying heavily on contemporary newspaper reports, Statements By Witnesses collected in the 1940s and 1950s by the Irish Bureau of Military History (Buro Staire Mileata) 1913-21, diaries, personal correspondence, and first hand accounts of events leading up to the Rising, Easter Witness gives the reader a unique perspective for understanding a transforming world event.

The book begins with a concise overview of the Easter Rising and its aftermath.  It then presents the often confused and confusing, century-long series of events that led to the decision by a small band of Nationalists to sacrifice themselves to bring an end to British rule of Ireland and reassert the sovereignty of every individual in a free and independent Irish Republic.

What makes Easter Witness unique and relevant for today, however, is that it concludes by presenting the outline of a proposal that has the potential to make Ireland a global model for systemic reform offering a more just and humane future for all — a program of expanded capital ownership that would secure to every child, woman, and man the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and private property.  This, in the words of R. Buckminster Fuller, would “make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”

    In this centenary year of the Easter Rising, Ireland has the opportunity to establish and maintain a more free and just market system for the benefit of everyone in Ireland, and make Ireland a global model for the 21^st Century for people throughout the world who desire economic and social as well as political freedom.

The Political Animal

Economic Justice and the Sovereignty of the Human Person

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN: 978-0-944997-06-2    144 pp.    $10.00 (U.S.)   £8.00 (U.K.)

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“Often thought in the modern world to be completely unrelated, even antithetical to the restoration of a just society, the restoration of morality and widespread direct ownership of the means of production go hand-in-hand, as moral authorities through the ages have recognized. The problems facing modern society cannot be solved and the natural moral law restored except through the action of ordinary people organizing for the common good. Further, ordinary people will never have the power to organize effectively until and unless they have direct ownership of a meaningful stake of income-generating assets. As Daniel Webster observed in 1820, ‘Power naturally and necessarily follows property.’

“The problem is how to empower ordinary people with the means of acquiring and possessing private property and thereby lay the groundwork for solving today’s problems. In a modern economy, that necessarily means democratic access to money and credit by reforming the money and credit system.”

— The Political Animal, p. 117.

Michael D. Greaney, Director of Research of the Center for Economic and Social Justice, has written widely on money, credit, banking, and finance from a Just Third Way perspective. This is his fourth book published by Economic Justice Media.

Saint Thomas à Becket

The Holy Blissful Martyr

Robert Hugh Benson

ISBN 978-1602100015   132 pp.   $18.00 (U.S.)   £12.00 (U.K.)   $18.00 (AUD)

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Unique among the works of Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914), this short biographical sketch of St. Thomas à Becket, “the holy blissful martyr,” began as research for a historical novel undertaken in collaboration with the sinister “Baron Corvo”: Frederick Rolfe.  The project fell apart when Benson realized Rolfe’s true character and cut the connection. Benson reworked the material into a compelling non-fictional portrait of one of England's most popular and significant historical figures.

The story of Becket is well known.  His murder at the instigation of Henry II launched the famed pilgrimage to Canterbury and inspired countless works of literature and films.

Seeing the rapid increase of State power that characterized the late nineteenth century and the whole of the twentieth, Benson seems to have used the “passion” of Becket to illustrate the dangers of an all-powerful State released from the moral guidance of organized religion and freed from the bonds of respect for the sovereignty of the human person under God.  Becket’s martyrdom can be taken as the exemplar of what happens when the State subsumes all rights unto itself, and only recognizes those it deems expedient.

This deluxe edition is particularly well-designed and formatted, and features an in-depth foreword by Benson scholar Michael D. Greaney

So Much Generosity

An Appreciation of the Fiction of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman, John Henry Cardinal Newman, and Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-1602100022    268 pp.    $20.00 (U.S.)    £18.00 (U.K.)    $24.00 (AU)

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The late Dr. Ralph McInerny, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame du Lac, once commented that some Catholic novels are so good, they’re bad.  He meant that the heroes are so virtuous that you simply can’t believe them.  Worse, the novels try so hard to be “Catholic” that they fail to be catholic, that is, universal, or even any sort of realistic commentary on the human condition.

Worst of all are probably the novels that try to imitate the authors profiled in this appreciation of the fiction of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman (1802-1865), John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), and Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914).  Part of this is due to the fact that many people misunderstand not only why these writers wrote, but what they wrote.  Benson’s wonderfully barbed satire, for example, endeared him to Evelyn Waugh, yet it is often characterized as “prophecy”!

This collection of biographical sketches and essays by Mr. Michael D. Greaney, Director of Research at the interfaith, all-volunteer think tank, the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A., does much to dispel the misimpressions and misunderstandings many people might have of the novels of Wiseman, Newman, and Benson.  More than that, this compendium introduces these works to a new generation of readers, and makes it clear that the authors wrote for everyone, not just for Catholics, or even Christians.

Also Available in Kindle for $2.99

Freedom Under God

Fulton J. Sheen

ISBN: 978-0-944997-11-6    264 pp.  $20.00 (U.S.) £14.00 (U.K.)

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In 1940, on the eve of the United States entry into World War II, the late Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) published Freedom Under God. This new, annotated “Just Third Way Edition” of a neglected classic includes an in-depth foreword, as well as a bibliography and index not included in the original.

While Freedom Under God addresses the loss of true freedom throughout the world, Sheen’s special concern was freedom of religion. This is under increasing attack today. Individual life as well as marriage and the family are also in grave danger as the State continues to expand its power to fill the vacuum left by the growing powerlessness of ordinary people.

Speaking to people of all faiths and philosophies, albeit from a “Catholic” perspective, then-Monsignor Sheen traced the rise of totalitarian State power in the first half of the 20^th century to the fact that fewer and fewer people in America and throughout the world owned capital — what Sheen called “creative wealth.” As Sheen argued, only widespread private property in capital has the capacity to restore the foundation of true freedom.

The world needs the wisdom of Fulton Sheen now more than ever. The republication of Freedom Under God helps introduce the work of this pivotal thinker to a new generation of readers and students.

The Restoration of Property: A Reexamination of a Natural Right

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-0944997079   136 pp.   $10.00 (U.S.) £8.00 (U.K.)

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In 1936 Hilaire Belloc, with G. K. Chesterton revered as one of the founders of "distributism," wrote of "the restoration of property." Trapped within what Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler called the slavery of past savings (The New Capitalists, 1961), however, Belloc's insightful analysis suffered from the lack of an effective program of implementation. The best he could do was to recommend burdening the rich with laws and regulations to keep them from using their power to prevent capital acquisition by others. A better, "Just Third Way" solution would be to remove systemic barriers in the form of flawed tax, monetary, financial and legal systems that inhibit or prevent capital acquisition by the non-rich.

At a time when most people are focused on the results of seriously flawed tax, monetary and fiscal policy, and seek government assistance to stave off the effects of generations of bad decisions, this short book by Michael D. Greaney, Director of Research for the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), suggests a better alternative: focus on the causes of the growing wealth gap and other problems. We need to take a hard look at our institutions, especially taxation, money and credit, and determine how these hinder access to the means of acquiring and possessing property in capital today, and what needs to be changed so they can help us rather than hinder us tomorrow.

A Plea for Peasant Proprietors: With the Outlines of a Plan for Their Establishment in Ireland

William Thomas Thornton

 

ISBN 978-0944997109  364 pp. $25.00 (U.S.)   £20.00 (U.K.)

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During the Great Famine in Ireland (1846-1852), William T. Thornton (1813-1880), an English economist, proposed that unused land be purchased by the government and sold on credit to families that would put it into production. In this way funds spent on famine relief would be turned from an expenditure into an investment, jobs would be created, and the benefits of widespread capital ownership would accrue to individuals, families and the nation. Although never adopted, later thinkers, offering a principled, growth-oriented approach for the 21st Century, refined Thornton's vision. As the global economy experiences ever-more-frequent downturns (with accelerating replacement of human labor by advanced technology, reinforced by flawed methods of finance that concentrate capital ownership in fewer and fewer hands) Thornton's book shines light on the path out of today's global dilemma. Originally published in 1848, this newly annotated and indexed edition of A Plea for Peasant Proprietors was prepared from Thornton's 1874 revision includes a foreword that examines a new framework for solving the global financial crisis, financing economic growth and enabling every citizen to become an owner of productive capital, as well as appendices explaining topical references and the political and economic environment within which Thornton worked.

Supporting Life: The Case for a Pro-Life Economic Agenda

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-0944997055  122 pp.   $10.00 (U.S.)  £8.00 (U.K.)

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Starting from a pro-life perspective, Supporting Life looks unflinchingly at the moral, constitutional and tactical implications of "choice" and at the economic pressures for abortion. It then offers a principled, commonsense and achievable political strategy and economic solution that would secure for every man, woman and child a new right of citizenship: the equal opportunity to acquire and own capital assets that would provide for that citizen a direct and independent source of income. Supporting Life should be read by all leaders, policymakers and citizens who seek a life-promoting economy that can deliver prosperity, power, freedom and justice for every person and family.

The Formation of Capital

Harold G. Moulton

ISBN 978-0944997086     234 pp.     $20.00 (U.S.)     £14.00 (U.K.)

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This classic refutation of Keynesian monetary policy and radical prescription for balanced growth in today's private sector economy was written in 1935 by Dr. Harold G. Moulton, the first president of the Brookings Institution (1928-1952) in response to the unsound approach embodied in the New Deal. Its applicability to the present day is seen by the fact that speculative uses of money and credit, along with massive government and consumer debt, threaten to bankrupt families, companies, and nations alike.

The Formation of Capital shows how we can reform the financial system to foster more rapid rates of sustainable growth while reversing our mounting deficits and debt. Moulton's work offers a framework for monetary policy that can spread prosperity, power and freedom to every citizen. Moulton also raises a radical point: Economic progress and growth need not be limited by existing accumulations of savings. Furthermore, Moulton's findings prove that the economy grows faster when it is not dependent on past savings, and businesses can employ "future savings" — future increases in production, rather than past reductions in consumption — to finance their economic growth.

This edition of The Formation of Capital features a new introduction by Dr. Norman G. Kurland, president of the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.

In Defense of Human Dignity

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-0944997024     320 pp.     $20.00 (U.S.)     £16.00 (U.K.)

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In Defense of Human Dignity is a compilation of articles previously appearing in Social Justice Review, based on the "Four Pillars of an Economically Just Society":

1) Limited economic role for the State,

2) Free and open markets within a just legal system as the best means for determining just wages, just prices and just profits,

3) Restoration of the rights of private property, particularly in corporate equity and other forms of business organization, and

4) Widespread direct ownership of capital.

 The Just Third Way is a holistic program developed by the interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice ("CESJ") in Arlington, Virginia, USA, in response to the growing disparities of wealth and the failure of today's institutions to meet people's wants and needs in a manner consistent with their essential dignity as human beings. Analyzing the applications of natural law as expressed in Catholic social teaching, the articles demonstrate the universality of the principles underpinning the Just Third Way from the perspective of that particular faith tradition.

The Emigrant's Guide

William Cobbett

ISBN 978-0944997017     264 pp.     $20.00 (U.S.)     £14.00 (U.K.)

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William Cobbett, considered by G. K. Chesterton as the "Apostle of Distributism," wrote The Emigrant's Guide in 1829 toward the end of a long and fruitful career as a journalist, traveler, economic commentator, and political activist. Frustrated with trying to change the system in England, Cobbett broke his rule against advising English men and women to stay in their own country, and urged them to go to the United States, where instead of working for others and being effective slaves of the English government and upper classes, they could obtain some small ownership of land or other capital and become independent — owners instead of being owned themselves.

This annotated edition of The Emigrant's Guide includes the texts of letters written home to England by people considered useless in England, providing a valuable source of sociological and economic data of early 19th century America, as well as giving us an understanding why the United States was considered the "Land of Opportunity" for so long. As one recent immigrant expressed his enthusiasm for his new country, in which he had easily become a landowner, "America forever for me!" The Emigrant's Guide provides an incentive to modern politicians and policymakers to restore the greatness that was once America's, and begin to spread true economic democracy throughout the globe.