This is an auction for GREY EMINENCE by Aldous Huxley.

Amazon.com review:

"The life of Father Joseph, Cardinal Richelieu's aide, was a shocking paradox. After spending his days directing operations on the battlefield, Father Joseph would pass the night in prayer, or in composing spiritual guidance for the nuns in his care. He was an aspirant to sainthood and a practising mystic, yet his ruthless exercise of power succeeded in prolonging the unspeakable horrors of the Thirty Years War. In his masterful biography, Huxley explores how an intensely religious man could lead such a life and how he could reconcile the seemingly opposing moral systems of religion and politics."

More very favourable reviews on Amazon.com.

From Wikipedia:

"Grey Eminence: A Study in Religion and Politics is a book by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1941. It is a biography of François Leclerc du Tremblay, the French monk who served as advisor to Cardinal de Richelieu and was referred to by others as l'éminence grise. Huxley depicts Tremblay as an example of what can happen when a person's powerful spiritual energies are channelled in the wrong direction. Huxley praises his early preaching and ministering to the sick and poor, his reflections and writings on a life of prayer. However, Huxley argues, Tremblay abandoned the traditional Christian mystical tradition, whereby the imagination was to be set aside once it had initiated a process of mystical ascent..."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) was the author of the classic novels Brave New World, Point Counterpoint, Island, Eyeless in Gaza, and The Genius and the Goddess, as well as such critically acclaimed nonfiction works as The Devils of Loudun, The Doors of Perception, and The Perennial Philosophy.

Paperback 1959.

337 pages.

Good condition.

The cost of shipping is $5.95.

There is of course no charge for shipping if you collect this book from my shop in Palmerston North following the auction.

Payment within seven days, please.