Nothing was easy about transforming the barren and rocky mountainside of Mount Carmel in the Holy Land into the spectacular garden paradise it is today.

Its dramatic story began with the secret rescue in 1850 of the sacred remains of the Báb, Prophet-Herald of the Baha’i Faith. For almost 60 years, His casket was hidden in place after place. With infinite difficulty, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá raised up the first simple building to enshrine the Báb’s remains. Then, over successive decades, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith completed the golden-domed superstructure and extended the gardens around it. In the 1990s, the stairway of 19 garden terraces, envisaged by 'Abdu'l-Bahá was constructed - completing a century of devotion, sacrifice and supreme expertise in architecture, engineering and horticulture.

This fascinating history of the Shrine of the Báb and its terraces is compellingly told in a trilogy of three books published by George Ronald - Journey to a Mountain, Coronation on Carmel and Sacred Stairway - written by Michael Day.

In this episode of Great Reads: The George Ronald Podcast, Michael Day talks about his own journey to telling the story of the mountain of God.

Purchase Journey to a Mountain, here >

Purchase Coronation on Carmel here >

Purchase Sacred Stairway here >

Presented and produced by Rob Weinberg

This podcast © 2024 George Ronald Publisher. To use all or any part of it, kindly request permission by emailing sales@grbooks.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British Bahá’í community has been in existence since 1899 and its National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1923. Although a number of monographs, articles and biographies have appeared over the years, no overall survey of the community’s history had yet been published - until very recently. The Bahá’í Community of the British Isles 1844–1963, published in 2023 by George Ronald, is an attempt to fill some of the gap.

The project was conceived by the late Adam Thorne, who spent more than two decades collecting material on the history of the Bahá’í community of the British Isles. His work was completed by Dr Moojan Momen, with the assistance of George Ronald authors Earl Redman and Janet Fleming Rose.

In this episode of Great Reads: The George Ronald Podcast, Dr Moojan Momen shares more about this magnificent piece of scholarly research and a labour of love.

The Bahá'í Community of the British Isles 1844-1963 can be purchased here >

Presented and produced by Rob Weinberg

This podcast © 2024 George Ronald Publisher. To use all or any part of it, kindly request permission by emailing sales@grbooks.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alma Sedonia Knobloch’s name may not be as well-known as, say, Martha Root’s or May Maxwell’s - yet her pioneering efforts were singled out by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in His Tablets of the Divine Plan.

Her 13 years in Germany saw an astonishing growth in its Bahá’í community which became the largest in Europe. After returning to the United States, she dedicated the rest of her life to the cause of race unity, building up communities in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Alma’s fascinating and little-known story is told in full in the recent George Ronald publication, Alma Sedonia Knobloch: Maidservant of the Divine Plan.

In this episode of Great Reads: The George Ronald Podcast, Jennifer Redson Wiebers shares more about this inspiring, unsung heroine.

Alma Sedonia Knobloch: Maidservant of the Divine Plan is available as a book or electronic publication, here >

Presented and produced by Rob Weinberg

This podcast © 2024 George Ronald Publisher. To use all or any part of it, kindly request permission by emailing sales@grbooks.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This first pilgrimage by Westerners to visit ‘Abdul-Bahá in the Holy Land was a pivotal event in the history of the Bahá í Faith, a turning point that would have, and continues to have, far-reaching implications. The fascinating story of the intrepid travellers who made that journey is brilliantly told in Lighting the Western Sky: The First Pilgrimage of Western Baha’is to the Holy Land by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson, first published by George Ronald in 2010.

More recently Kathryn has given us Infinite Horizons: The Life and Times of Horace Holley, an account of a unique man from the next generation of American Baha’is who left an equally indelible imprint on the history of his community for more than four decades - and indeed on the entire Bahá’í world as a Hand of the Cause of God.

In this episode of Great Reads: The George Ronald Podcast, Kathryn Jewett Hogenson shares more about the process of researching and writing her two fascinating books.

Lighting the Western Sky: The First Pilgrimage of Western Baha’is to the Holy Land is available as a book or electronic publication, here >

Infinite Horizons: The Life and Times of Horace Holley is available as a book or electronic publication, here >

Presented and produced by Rob Weinberg

This podcast © 2024 George Ronald Publisher. To use all or any part of it, kindly request permission by emailing sales@grbooks.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you consider yourself untalented when it comes to art or, for that matter, any creative activity? Were you told early on in your education that you lacked talent or ability, that your energies would be better re-directed into something more scientific or “academic”?

In her new book published by George Ronald, Margaret Appa sets out to challenge our conventional definitions and understanding of science and art, offering a fresh perspective - rooted in the Baha’i teachings - that could revolutionize how we view human potential. Every individual, she suggests, possesses the capacity for both - if we only would open up our definitions of both to embrace the myriad ways that humans design, create, and shape our world.

In this episode of Great Reads: The George Ronald Podcast, Margaret Appa argues that the domains of science and art are not separate or in opposition to each other, but deeply interconnected aspects of human knowledge and skill.

The Science and Art of Being Human: Questioning Accepted Understandings - A Baha’i Perspective can be purchased here >

Presented and produced by Rob Weinberg

This podcast © 2024 George Ronald Publisher. To use all or any part of it, kindly request permission by emailing sales@grbooks.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first decades of the 20th Century, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was known as the leading exponent of the Bahá'í Teachings, renowned as a champion of social justice and an ambassador for international peace. Freed after more than five decades of exile and imprisonment, Abdu'l Bahá embarked on three years of historic travels to Egypt, Europe, Great Britain, and the United States of America.

For the American and final European stages of his momentous journey, 'Abdu'l Bahá was accompanied everywhere by Mirzá Mahmud Zarqání, who made extensive notes not only of His many public talks and conversations with individuals, but also of the new sights and experiences they found, as well as the daily routines of eating, writing letters and traveling. The result was a unique diary regarded as a reliable account of 'Abdu'l Bahá's travels in the West and an authentic record of his utterances, whether in the form of formal talks, table talks, or oral statements.

While the first volume of Mahmúd's Diary - published in translation by George Ronald in 1998 - covered 'Abdu'l-Bahá's historic travels in North America, a second volume, untranslated until now, continues the story, chronicling 'Abdu'l Bahá's return to Europe.

In this episode of Great Reads: The George Ronald Podcast, its translator Adib Masumian introduces this momentous publication and the process of its translation.

'Abdu'l-Bahá in Europe 1912-1913: The Talks and Travels of the Master as Recorded by Mírzá Mahmúd Zarqání can be purchased here >

Presented and produced by Rob Weinberg

This podcast © 2024 George Ronald Publisher. To use all or any part of it, kindly request permission by emailing sales@grbooks.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.