BENTLEY, James 1937-

PERSONAL: Born March 9, 1937, in England; son of James (a miner) and Dorothy (a homemaker) Bentley; married, 1962; wife's name Audrey W.; children: Joanna Davson, Emma-Jane Debat. Education: Oxford University, M.A. (history), 1959, M.A. (religion), 1962; University of Sussex, D.Phil., 1980. Politics: "Passionate on issues but not a party member." Religion: Church of England.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—Turnac, 24250 Domme, France; fax: 0044553281553.

CAREER: Thames & Hudson, London, England, travel writer. Military service: Territorial Army (Great Britain), became major, awarded Territorial Decoration.

WRITINGS:

Ritualism and Politics in Victorian Britain: The Attempt to Legislate for Belief, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1978.

Cry for God: The Survival and Mission of the British Churches, Bowerdean Press (London, England), 1978.

Between Marx and Christ: The Dialogue in German-speaking Europe, 1870-1970, NLB (London, England), 1982.

(Reteller) Children's Bible, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1983.

(With Warwick Rodwell) Our Christian Heritage, G. Philip (London, England), 1984.

Martin Neimöller, 1892-1984, Free Press (New York, NY), 1984.

Restless Bones: The Story of Relics, Constable (London, England), 1985.

A Guide to the Dordogne, Penguin (New York, NY), 1986.

Secrets of Mount Sinai: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible—Codex Sinaiticus, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1986.

A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the Principal Saints of the Christian Year, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1986.

Life and Food in the Dordogne, New Amsterdam (New York, NY), 1987.

A Guide to Tuscany, Viking (New York, NY), 1987.

Languedoc, photographs by Charlie Waite, Salem House (Topsfield, MA), 1987.

The Rhine, photographs by Charlie Waite, Salem House (Topsfield, MA), 1989.

Albert Schweitzer: The Doctor Who Gave Up a Brilliant Career to Serve the People of Africa, G. Stevens (Milwaukee, MN), 1989.

Dare to Be Wise: A History of the Manchester Grammar School, James X James (London, England), 1990.

Alsace, Penguin (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Patricia Lantier) Albert Schweitzer: The Doctor Who Devoted His Life to Africa's Sick, G. Stevens Children's Books (Milwaukee, MN), 1991.

Albert Schweitzer: The Enigma, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.

(Editor) Some Corner of a Foreign Field: Poetry of the Great War, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1992.

A Guide to Eastern Germany, Viking (New York, NY), 1993.

Fort Towns of France: The Bastides of the Dordogne & Aquitaine, photographs by Francesco Venturi, Tauris Parke Books (London, England), 1993.

The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany, photographs by Hugh Palmer, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1995.

The Most Beautiful Villages of the Dordogne, photographs by Hugh Palmer, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1996.

(Editor) The Tongues of Men & of Angels: Inspirational Poetry & Prose from the Renaissance to the Restoration, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1996.

To Live in France, photographs by Michael Busselle, Thames & Hudson (London, England), 1997.

The Most Beautiful Villages of Burgundy, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1998.

The Most Beautiful Villages of England, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1999.

The Most Beautiful Villages of Brittany, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 1999.

The Most Beautiful Villages of the Loire, Thames & Hudson (London, England), 2001.

The Most Beautiful Country Towns of Tuscany, photographs by Alex Ramsay, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: James Bentley is an experienced travel writer who specializes in European villages. The Most Beautiful Villages of the Dordogne, for instance, introduces readers to the French region named for the river that flows through it. Booklist's Brad Hooper praised the "buoyant text" that describes the area's local cuisine and dramatic history, while The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany allows for "incomparable vicarious travel," according to Hooper. To Live in France takes the reader beyond Paris to travel from village to village. As Hooper declared in another Booklist review, the book "beckons us to stay a while to appreciate the geographical and cultural diversity that is la belle France."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Biblical Archaeologist, March, 1989, review of Secrets of Mount Sinai: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible—Codex Sinaiticus, pp. 40-41.

Booklist, March 15, 1992, Gilbert Taylor, review of Albert Schweitzer: The Enigma, p. 1325; November 15, 1995, Brad Hooper, review of The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany, p. 533; October 1, 1996, Brad Hooper, review of The Most Beautiful Villages of the Dordogne, p. 317; January 1, 1998, Brad Hooper, review of To Live in France, p. 767.

Book Report, November-December, 1992, Sharon Howell, review of Albert Schweitzer: The Enigma, p. 49.

Commonweal, February 24, 1984, Cornel West, review of Between Marx and Christ: The Dialogue in German-speaking Europe 1870-1970, p. 124.

Contemporary Review, February, 1998, Richard Mullen, review of God's Representatives: The Eight Twentieth-Century Popes, pp. 104-105.

First Things, October, 1998, Thomas F. X. Noble, review of God's Representatives, pp. 34-41.

Geographical Magazine, June, 1999, review of The Most Beautiful Villages of England, p. 92.

Journal of Church and State, autumn, 1983, John H. Hallowell, review of Between Marx and Christ, p. 571-574.

Library Journal, March 15, 1992, Eric D. Albright, review of Albert Schweitzer: The Enigma, p. 94.

New Catholic World, January-February, 1988, Neil J. McEleney, review of Secrets of Mount Sinai, p. 58.

New Statesman, June 11, 1982, Donald Soper, review of Between Marx and Christ, pp. 24-25; August 17, 1984, Geoffrey Best, review of Martin Neimöller, 1892-1984, pp. 23-24.

Progressive, February, 1985, review of Martin Neimöller, p. 45.

Publishers Weekly, March 30, 1984, "Neimöller Biography Due from Free Press," pp. 34-35; December 6, 1985, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of Secrets of Mount Sinai, p. 66; January 6, 1992, review of Albert Schweitzer: The Enigma, p. 54.

RQ, summer, 1987, W. Keith McCoy, review of A Calendar of Saints: The Lives of the Principal Saints of the Christian Year, p. 509.

School Library Journal, January, 1988, Anne Douglass, review of A Calendar of Saints, p. 98; November, 1989, Jean H. Zimmerman, review of Albert Schweitzer, pp. 116-117.

Science Teacher, January, 1990, Ronald N. Giese, review of Albert Schweitzer: The Doctor Who Devoted His Life to Africa's Sick, pp. 86-88.

Wilson Library Bulletin, March, 1987, James Rettig, review of A Calendar of Saints, p. 63; March, 1991, Patty Campbell, review of Life and Food in the Dordogne, p. 125A.*