{"title":"William Riordan","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"plunkitt-of-tammany-hall-book-william-l-riordon-9780525471189","title":"Plunkitt of Tammany Hall","description":"This classic work presents the candid wit and wisdom of George Washington Plunkitt (1842-1924), a longtime state senator from New York who represented the Fifteenth Assembly District and was especially powerful in New York City. Plunkitt was part of the city's Tammany Hall organization and a cynical practitioner of what today is generally known as machine politics, a patronage-based system in which politicians openly exercise power for personal gain. \u003cbr\u003e Plunkitt defined dishonest graft as working solely for one's own interests, as opposed to honest graft, which involves the interests of one's party and state as well as individual benefits. An enthusiastic party man, he believed in appointments, patronage, spoils, and all the corrupt practices that were curtailed by the civil service law, regarding them as both the rewards and cause of patriotism. Modern readers will find his strikingly modern-sounding motivations and justifications both entertaining and instructive.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50057374892305,"sku":"CIN0525471189G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50115271983377,"sku":"CIN0525471189A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B0016PEFHW.jpg?v=1751103991"},{"product_id":"plunkitt-of-tammany-hall-book-william-l-riordan-9780451526205","title":"Plunkitt Of Tammany Hall","description":"This classic work offers the unblushing, unvarnished wit and wisdom of one of the most fascinating figures ever to play the American political game and win. George Washington Plunkitt rose from impoverished beginnings to become ward boss of the Fifteenth Assembly District in New York, a key player in the powerhouse political team of Tammany Hall, and a millionaire.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In a series of utterly frank talks given at his headquarters at Graziano's bootblack stand inside the New York County Court House, he revealed to a sharp-eared and sympathetic reporter named William L. Riordon the secrets of political success as practiced and perfected by Tammany Hall titans.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The result is not only a volume that reveals more about our political system than does a shelf load of civics textbooks, but also an irresistible portrait of a man who would feel happily at home playing ball with today's lobbyists and kingmakers, trading votes for political and financial favors.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Doing for twentieth-century America what Machiavelli did for Renaissance Italy, and as entertaining as it is instructive, \u003cb\u003ePlunkitt of Tammany Hall\u003c\/b\u003e is essential reading for those who prefer twenty-twenty vision to rose-colored glasses in viewing how our government works and why.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50083910254865,"sku":"CIN0451526201VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50108214673681,"sku":"CIN0451526201A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50215940292881,"sku":"CIN0451526201G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0451526201.jpg?v=1750942737"},{"product_id":"divine-light-book-william-riordan-9781586171209","title":"Divine Light","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn his missionary journeys, St. Paul spoke in a number of cities in the Greek peninsula including Athens, renowned for its philosophical heritage. He addressed to them the message of the One, Unknown God (Acts 17:22ff). Among those present in the Areopagus (the open city center of Athens) on that day was a certain Denys (Dionysios) who eventually became a disciple of Paul.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCenturies later, a corpus of writings appeared bearing the name of the Denys the Areopagite. These texts were considered to be the writings of the first century disciple of the Apostle Paul and thus achieved almost immediate prominence, strongly influencing the lives of St. Maximus the Confessor (d. 662) and St. John Damascene (d.749) in the East and Eriugena (d. 877), St. Bede (d. 735), St. Bernard (d.1153) St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1272) Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464), St. John of the Cross (d. 1591), and many other great minds in the West.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLater historical studies of Denys' texts, especially during the 19th century, showed conclusively that the writings are of a later date (5th century) than had generally been thought. Hence, the appending of Pseudo- before the name of Denys (Pseudo-Denys, Pseudo-Dionysius) became common place.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe extraordinary brilliance of the texts themselves, however, has been in no way dimmed. The late Holy Father John Paul I in his monumental encyclical \u003ci\u003eFides et Ratio\u003c\/i\u003e warns insistently against an approach to Revelation that shuns metaphysics. The texts of Denys provide a majestic and profound metaphysical perspective. Deeply formed by the Divine Liturgy and the Sacred Scriptures, this mysterious author uses the great insights of Plato and his later disciples, expressing the deepest profundities of the faith in stunningly beautiful writings. In Denys, readers past, present, and future find a penetrating contemplative vision into the Mystery of the Trinity and its creation.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis book is a focused exposition of Denys' theological understanding with particular attention to the illuminating metaphysical depth of his insight. Care has been taken to prepare a text that is readable for the serious laymen accompanied with footnotes to provide a more detailed background for the scholar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50146472722705,"sku":"CIN1586171208G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1586171208.jpg?v=1750762153"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-william-riordan.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}