The New Castle

From cover notes: "With the challenge of another vision The New Castle attacks the mood of despair and chaos that scars our spirits and our lives. It invites us away from surrender and indifference. Mere survival is not enough. The Castle is Malachi Martin's metaphor for mankind's ancient vision of an existence perfected by a spirit investing human beings and their material condition with its liberating and transcendent power. In The New Castle Martin examines the few times in history when that ideal seemed within reach. He describes what people and places were like before the vision touched them, the nature of each vision, the tangible changes it wrought, and what remains of its promise. And by revisiting the scenes of human hope's greatest triumphs, he shows us how a New Castle vision is forming above the debris of our crumbling age of surrender and despair. Martin's richly detailed narrative is a unique survey of the pivotal points in humanity's quest for perfection. It comprises masterful analyses of complex social and cultural phenomena and of perennial philosophic dilemmas, tracing the roots of many of the problems that plague us yet. And it includes penetrating critiques of the central artistic creations that were the concrete manifestations of each vision: the Islamic Arabesque, Byzantine mosaics, Gothic cathedrals, the temple of Angkor Wat, and even the linear thrusts of America's sky-scraping cities. The New Castle provides marvelously fresh insights into the character, feelings, and actions of great leaders and of the masses of ordinary people who shared their vision...."