Simon Parke: 21 books

In many ways Meister Eckhart has had to wait seven centuries to be heard. Born in 13th century Germany much of his life was spent in a monastery; though not all. The Meister in his name means Master and is an academic title from the University of Paris. An admired member of the Dominican Order he...

The day I was appointed Chair of the shop union was the same day the Pope was elected. There the similarities end, however. For while his elevation took place beneath the fine art of the Sistine Chapel, with the mysterious white smoke rising, mine took place in the cold store, with nothing more mysterious...

Vincent van Gogh is best known for two things - his sunflowers and his ear-cutting. But there are many other ways of knowing this remarkable son of a Dutch pastor, who left his chill homeland for the sunshine of Arles in the South of France; and left us over a thousand frank letters of struggle and...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart a child prodigy who became an adult genius died in debt and was buried in an unmarked grave in his adopted home of Vienna. Mozart needed no formal lessons in composition. Hed been composing since the age of five and possessed astonishing musical memory able to re-create whatever...

At the end of the 19th century perhaps every man wanted to be Arthur Conan Doyle. He had written historical novels short stories of horror and the supernatural; and displayed huge energy and talent in a variety of fields. He was a fine cricketer (he once took the wicket of the great WC Grace); played...

Wake up your mind and soul with a mini meditation! Need a break from the mayhem of the modern world? Sometimes all you need is to give yourself permission to pause. You’re not looking for easy answers or quick fixes; but you haven’t given up on truth – truth that is deep enough to hold and transform...

Times have changed since John Bunyan wrote his classic Pilgrim’s Progress, telling of Pilgrim’s journey up Hill Difficult and through the Slough of Despond to the Celestial City. Yet people in their millions still seek meaning in their lives and speak of journeying towards a goal. Everyone on...

January 30th 1649. England is not a country that wishes to execute its divinely-appointed king. Yet Charles 1 finds himself shivering on a scaffold in Whitehall, with the axe man by his side . . . In this brilliantly atmospheric novel, Simon Parke explores one of the most gripping tales in...

Sometimes we can lose touch with ourselves so much that we don't even know we have done so, until suddenly we realize with a start that we have just been going through the motions, without really experiencing our lives. The simple fact is that in today's world, we spend so much time looking forward,...

What does solitude mean to you? Albert Einstein once said: I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.In his latest book Simon Parke, author of The Beautiful Life and One-Minute Mindfulness describes solitude as the active path to inner silence and takes...

Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Many admire his spiritual teachings; some go further and claim him as the messiah while a few deny he ever existed at all. But everyone has an opinion about this obscure preacher who lived his brief life in one of the less significant regions of the Roman Empire; and who...

When the curtains of the Bell Theatre open for the second half of Mother’s Day, a new play commissioned for the venue’s thirtieth anniversary, the lifeless body of theatre director Hermione Bysshe-Urquhart MBE is revealed. Within the startled audience sit retired monk Abbot Peter and his guest...

This book offers ten new commandments for coping with the stresses, strains and pressures of modern life. These ten new commandments are ten skilful attitudes for the attainment of your true self. Be present Observe yourself Be nothing Flee attachment Transcend suffering Drop your illusions Prepare...

‘Excellence by the Sea’ is the strap line in Stormhaven Towers school’s publicity, but when, at the end of the summer term, the hard-drinking, hard-smoking new Headmaster, Jamie King, is found dead at the bottom of the town’s famous white cliffs, this excellence comes under savage scrutiny....