{"title":"David Willem","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"black-rood-book-david-willem-9781849955317","title":"Black Rood","description":"Black Rood tells the fascinating story of one of Scotland's oldest and most significant crown jewels. Once as famous as the Stone of Scone, the Black Rood was a gold and jewel-studded reliquary for a piece of the True Cross. This profound and holy treasure was smuggled into Scotland after the Norman invasion by the sister of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. On her marriage to King Malcolm III, the Black Rood passed into the Scottish royal family, and so became a symbol of the authority and legitimacy of Scotland's kingship. Giving its name to the abbey and then the palace and now the parliament of Holyrood, the Black Rood was to help define Scotland as a kingdom which was at least the equal of England in the eyes of God, and in some ways superior to it.David Willem tells the story of the Black Rood though the lives of the kings and queens of Scotland and England who honoured it, treasured it, enacted themselves through it, fought over it, and who sometimes died clutching it, so creating a history in vivid human detail that ranges over a thousand years of Scottish and English history.At the same time, the author tells the story of two other similar reliquaries of the True Cross - the Croes Gneth of Wales and Ireland's Cross of Cong. Like the Black Rood, these Irish and Welsh crown jewels helped define the autonomy and independence of their nations, and both were to follow similar trajectories through time. The book ends with the mystery of what happened to the Black Rood, and explores the possibility that, like the Cross of Cong, it might still exist and be waiting to be found.Together these stories create a new and compelling perspective on the relationships between Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland, just when those relationships are changing again for the first time in hundreds of years.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49509849923857,"sku":"GOR013382214","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49749386264849,"sku":"NGR9781849955317","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/184995531X.jpg?v=1766138860"},{"product_id":"st-cuthbert-s-corpse-book-david-willem-9781908381156","title":"St Cuthbert's Corpse","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe miracle of St Cuthbert's incorrupt corpse has been the subject of much fascination since his death over thirteen-hundred years ago, inspiring pilgrims, monks, and even the construction of Durham Cathedral itself. Throughout the centuries, Cuthbert's coffin has been opened on six occasions. For the first time, accounts of these openings have been brought together in a single volume, providing a unique history of the saint from his death to the present day.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIncluding details of his death and burial, the moment when monks first discovered his remains to be incorrupt, and the most recent exhumation of his relics in 1899, David Willem brings alive the mystery and intrigue of the life of Cuthbert's corpse, and tries to answer questions such as, When did the corpse decay? and, Is Cuthbert still buried in Durham Cathedral?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eElegant, accessible, and movingly written.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eGiles E. M. Gasper\u003c\/strong\u003e, Associate Director, Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Durham University\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn Christian traditions, curiosity, piety, and awe almost inevitably frame that sensed affinity our own embodiment finds with holy bodies. St Cuthbert's body is no exception as this book shows in tracing varieties of hope, faith, and experience down the Christian centuries.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eProf. Douglas J. Davies\u003c\/strong\u003e, Director, Centre for Death and Life Studies, Durham University\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e David Willem is the author of Kicking: Following the Fans to the Orient and a former correspondent for The Guardian and The Times.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50767776776465,"sku":"GOR005568022","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51206451593489,"sku":"NIN9781908381156","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52134373884177,"sku":"NLS9781908381156","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1908381159.jpg?v=1751413673"},{"product_id":"kicking-book-david-willem-9781840186239","title":"Kicking","description":"\"Kicking\" tells the story of what happened off the pitch during the 2002 World Cup: when, for an extraordinary moment in English footballing culture, the most feared and distrusted fans in the world became the most popular, most imitated and most adored people in Japan. While other commentators had their eyes on the pitch, David Willem was following the fans into the bars, restaurants, entertainment districts, and even the courthouses around the grounds in order to record this unique event. In \"Kicking\", he covers the whole story: from the uncertainty that characterised English-Japanese relations before and after the first game against Sweden, through the spontaneous all-night street party the Japanese laid on for the victory over Argentina, to the mutual admiration that had developed in time for England's qualification from the group stage and the defeat of Denmark. But \"Kicking\" is more than just an account of this cross-cultural love-in. It is also an introduction to Japanese culture, and an examination of the way in which the national identities of England and Japan express themselves through football. Above all, the book shows how thousands of acts of individual kindness by ordinary Japanese people, combined with intelligent policing and brilliant organization, produced a tournament where, for the first time, England fans felt truly welcome - and responded in kind. Forget what happened on the pitch, the real story of the 2002 World Cup was the love affair between England and Japan.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53408703676689,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53408703774993,"sku":"GOR011292583","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781840186239.jpg?v=1776257486"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-david-willem.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}