This book arose out of a challenge. The challenge was made by Bob Geldof to the British academic and historian Michelle Brown. Pop singers raise huge sums of money for Band Aid and touch the hearts of people from all walks of life. But to give money can be an easy way out. How does the so called intellientsia respond with their minds(not just their hearts and pockets) to the appalling disparities in the conditions of members of the human race. This a challenge that a number of notable and gifted people have responded to enthusiastically. They range from John Simpson and Martin Bell to Former President Mary Robinson and the noted US feminist intellectual Charlotte Bunch. Other noted authors include Sir David Ramsbothom, Ricardo Navarro, Founder of the Friends of the Earth and Simon Counsell, Director of The Rainforest Foundation. Ultimately the purpose of this book is to make people think and connect wires, to encourage them to question their own place within the world , to acknowledge personal and collective responsibility and to discuss a range of situations and issues that have been changed by individuals. The book is also published to coimcide with Britian's Presidenct of the G8 and EU and ther associated drive to focus on issues of global social justice through the newly established Commission for Africa.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Bob Geldolf; Introduction Michelle P. Brown, British Library and St. Paul's; Cathedral and Richard Kelly, Kobe University, Japan; 'It's Positively Medieval': Challenging Some Preconceptions Michelle P. Brown. Inequality: A Modest Proposal? Richard Kelly; Africa, the crisis continent? Richard Dowden, Royal African Society; The Middle East and its Legacy John Simpson OBE, journalist and broadcaster for the BBC; Reviving Democracy Martin Bell politician and former journalist; Proclaiming Civil Liberty Dan Plesch; Gender Issues and Women's Rights Charlotte Bunch, Rutgers State University; 'A Discover of Erros, Heresies, Blasphemies': Thomas Edwards' Gangraena and Heresies in the 17th and 21st Centuries Stevie Davies; The Politics of Sexuality: Faith - the Final Frontier? Stephen Bates,; The Guardian; What Price Imprisonment General Sir David Ramsbotham, former Inspector of HMP; Who Owns America's Past Ingrid Stadler, Wellesley College, Boston; Genocide: the Violence and the Silence Ciaran Quinn; Reporters on the Line: risk taking and conscience in the former Soviet Union Bruce Clarke, The Economist; Poverty and the Destruction of Dignity: the Irish Context Alan Titley, Dublin City University; Children's Rights UNICEF; Education, Health and Public Sanitation William Frame, British Library; Surviving Ourselves: Environment and Economics Ricardo Navarro, Founder of Friends of the Earth; Adam, Eve, Tarzan and Kayapo: People and Canopy, Myth and Science Simon Counsell, Director of the Rain Forest Foundation Using the Platform of Celebrity Richard Curtis, Writer; Epilogue: Ethnicity and Identity: A Poet's Response Benjamin Zephaniah; Appendix: Did You Know...? Ciaran Quinn and Rosemary Brown.

Author Biography

Michelle Brown is Curator of Medieval manuscripts at the British Library and a Lay Canon of St Paul's Cathedral. Richard J. Kelly is Professor of Anglo Saxon Studies at the University of Kobe in Japan.