The traitor and the knightThe most interesting of our Willcocks ancestors are possibly two brothers, one, Richard, who became Deputy Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary and was knighted, and the other Joseph, who emigrated to Canada and deserted to the Americans in the war of 1812 and, if he had not been killed at the battle of Fort Erie would, according to a family historian, have been hanged.

Elizabeth J Harris of Liverpool Hope University reviewed Michael Henderson's book No enemy to conquer in the December 2011 issue of the publication Interreligious Insights (published by the World Congress of Faiths).

Religious Studies Review, published at Rice University, Texas, has this review of No Enemy to Conquer in its edition of September 2011:

On the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks the the French publisher, Editions Autrement in Paris, brought out a 128-page book with the title of 'Dare for peace - the audacity of the reconcilers'. It gives examples of people working to heal history and memories around the world. It begins with a section containing interviews with Mohamed Sahnoun, the Algerian founder-president of the Caux Forum for Human Security, and Cornelio Sommaruga, the Swiss former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at Caux. The editors are French journalists Richard Werly, Francois d'Alancon and Anne Dhoquois; the introduction to the publication, in English, is by Michael Henderson.

A new nation, South Sudan, has just been born amidst great celebration and, sadly in some quarters, predictions of failure. The world's 193rd state and Africa's 55th, one of the world's poorest, faces enormous challenges following civil wars and neglect, with nearly 40% of its population on food aid. The land-locked country is rich in oil and minerals but dependent on agriculture and desperately in need of development. As Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society, wrote last week, 'If South Sudan becomes a peaceful successful state, it will be a miracle.'

Professor Elazar Barkan, a political scientist, in his book The Guilt of Nations, has observed that there is a new international emphasis on morality which has been 'characterized not only by accusing other countries of human rights abuses but also by self-examination'. He writes of a new internationalism personified by leaders who have been ready to apologize and repent for gross historical crimes in their own countries and for policies that ignored human rights. 'Moral issues came to dominate public attention and political issues and displayed the willingness of nations to embrace their own guilt.' And, as I wrote a few months ago Professor McCall Smith looked at the same phenomenon as a philosopher and has seen the emergence of forgiveness as one of the great ideas of our new century.

It was an American clergyman who introduced me to the importance of valuing other faiths besides my own. He was ahead of his time in appreciating that you did not need to water down what you believed in order to find unity. He was never slow to share his own source of power, but as a Christian respected the way God's spirit could work through any other person.

The week of 16 May 2011 was a special one for me. Not because we inducted a new vicar in our church. That was of course special, too, as we welcomed our bishop and together lived through the solemnity of that Church of England ceremony. But that week was specially memorable to me because of the courage and perspective and grace of the head of the Church of England, our 85-year-old Queen.

From Media Values (Inspired by Bill Porter) Troubador Publishing 2010I did not always live up to Bill Porter's expectations. I had a high regard for his work and was amazed what one person with a deep conviction could achieve when so many media forces might seem to be arrayed against him. There was no holding back on his part. He always liked to use what I was doing with my books as an example of writing to motivate people for a bigger purpose.

I have only recently been introduced to the work of Karen Armstrong who is widely regarded as one of the best living writers on religion. Karen spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun and then left her teaching order to study at Oxford, becoming afterwards a full time writer, authoring 16 books. She is the inspiration behind a Charter of Compassion which is gaining support around the world. 'I am a religious historian,' she says, 'and it is my study of the spiritualities of the past that has taught me all I know about compassion.'