Saint Thomas Aquinas
Treatise on Theological Virtues Volume 47

Enjoy the most renown Catholic cultural historian of the 20th century. An objective scholarly approach to world history. Essays include: Jewish History, Confucian Tradition, Crisis in Western Civilization, European Revolution, Study of Christian Culture, Christianity Soul of the West, The Challenge of Secularism, The Papacy and the Modern World, Christianity and the Bourgeois Mind and several others.

Saint Louis Marie de Montfort’s Secret of the Rosary
Kolbe’s Greatest Books Volume 68

Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673–1716) was an outstanding French Catholic priest and missionary preacher commissioned by Pope Clement XI to preach the gospel and to teach all men the nature of true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Canonized on July 20, 1947, de Montfort is the author of several classics about Jesus and Mary: “The Love of Eternal Wisdom“, The “Secret of the Rosary” presented here, and “True Devotion to Mary“.

The Catholic Kings of Christendom
Study how Catholic kings established Christian commonwealths following the collapse of Rome. Examine their encounters with paganism, establishment of Christian schools and legal judgments, which gave shape to the moral, economic, social, and political fabric of Europe built on the principles of justice and charity.

Kolbe’s Greatest Books Volume 73

The Federalist Papers were written by James Madison (The “Father of the Constitution), Alexander Hamilton and John Jay over a period of 10 months between October 1787 to August 1788.  They were written to involve citizens of the young republic in political discussion intended to promote support for and, ratification of, the new United States Constitution. As such, they are filed with brilliant arguments, trenchant insight and invaluable information relative to the formation of government.

Some of the more important articles include Federalist No. 10 in which Madison presents the idea of the Union as a safeguard against domestic faction and insurrection. In Federalist No. 39 he provides us with one of the most organized and well presented statements about federalism ever coined by a political theorist. Likewise, in Federalist No. 51 he summarizes the main arguments for a system of checks and balances necessary to compensate for the disregarded check of the church on state as was prevalent in Christendom. In Federalist No. 78 Hamilton establishes the concept of “judicial review” In Federalist No. 84 he dispenses with arguments advocating the necessary inclusion of a Bill of Rights.

The History of Science
Companion to Kolbe’s Greatest Books Science Collection

Williams and Williams provide a great aid to understanding the development of science from the Ancient World into the Modern Era. A great addition to your home library and complement to your Greatest Books Science Collection.

The Lawgiver and Warrior Moses and Joshua
Essential reading for Christian Politics and Social Ethics, which begins with the revelation given to Moses and the subsequent judical and ceremonial precepts recorded in the Old Testament and the planting of a nation in Canaan under Joshua.

The Life of Saint Benedict
Kolbe’s Greatest Books Volume 35

Saint Benedict of Nursia (480 – 547) is the “Father of Western Europe” because he is the “Father of Western Communal Monasticism”.  Benedict founded 12 communities of work and prayer (ora et labora) that he ruled by a prudent and well balanced Christian Law aimed at human perfection in the context of a just society enlightened by charity, which is the Law of Christ he prescribed for his monks.

Benedictine monasteries functioned as centers of learning and of Christian culture, which spread throughout Europe contributing to the establishment of Christian Common law centuries before Alfred and Charles the Great would make their enduring contributions in the 8th and 9th centuries.

The Major Writings of Sophocles