And at 1,500 pages, it’s no wonder why. Still, new editions keep appearing. In July 2009 Newsweek put War and Peace at the top of its list of 100 great novels and a 2007 edition of the AARP Bulletin, read by millions, included the novel in their list of the top four books everybody should read by the age of fifty. A New York Times survey from 2009 identified War and Peace as the world classic you’re most likely to find people reading on their subway commute to work. What might all those Newsweek devotees, senior citizens, and harried commuters see in a book about the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s? A mirror of our times. War and Peace is many things. It is a love story, a family saga, a war novel. But at its core it’s a novel about human beings attempting to create a meaningful life for themselves in a country torn apart by war, social change, political intrigue, and spiritual confusion. Give War and Peace a Chance takes readers on a journey through War and Peace that reframes their very understanding of what it means to live through troubled times and survive them. Touching on a broad range of topics, from courage to romance, parenting to death, Kaufman demonstrates how Tolstoy’s wisdom can help us live fuller, more meaningful lives. The ideal companion to War and Peace, this book will also be enjoyable to those who have never read a word of Tolstoy, making that masterpiece more approachable, relevant, and fun.

    We hardly ever think of it as world-changing--and neither does society. Yet this is exactly what the first-century ekklesia was.In these vital, eye-opening pages, bestselling author Ed Silvoso takes you back to the first days of the church. Digging into Scripture, he shows how the New Testament church--devoid of buildings, professional clergy, and religious freedom--was able to transform the hostile, pagan places into which it was born and set in motion a process that changed the world forever.Even more, Silvoso offers a roadmap back to becoming the ekklesia Jesus called his church to be. In the midst of the social, economic, political, and moral chaos in our world today, we possess the hope that people and nations so desperately need--and we can become the revolutionary, transformational, life-giving voice Jesus called us to be.A new, in-depth curriculum kit--which features a DVD with 12 brand-new teaching sessions, a group guide for both leaders and participants, and a copy of the book--is also available. Expounding on the book's dynamic teachings, each kit contains everything you need to equip your group to transform the world around them.

    It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events, but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in democratic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals. Even government leaders with disdain or contempt for intellectuals have had to bend to the climate of opinion shaped by those intellectuals.Intellectuals and Society not only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged. One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proved not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society—and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views.

    Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was a mystic, stigmatist, visionary, ecstatic, victim soul, discerner of spirits, seer of hidden things, prophetess, spouse of Christ, zealot for souls and devotee of the Poor Souls in Purgatory. She died at only 25. Her mother was also saintly, and it is beautiful to see how she helped cultivate this lily of purity. See how Gemma made great sacrifices painful to human nature from her tenderest years. Inspiring and edifying! Impr. 382 pgs, PB

    Many students are bored and disengaged Teachers are handcuffed by outdated textbooks, standardized curriculum, and disinterested students. What if you could solve these problems immediately and excite even your most reluctant learners daily? Read it Today and Engage tomorrow! 33-year veteran teacher, author, presenter, and engagement guru James Alan Sturtevant makes it easy, with incredible teacher tips and tools for both the veteran and student teacher--50 engagement tools that you can begin using right now, with no special training or boring professional development. Easily rebrand your class and connect with all students Are you the teacher students "hate"? Do kids groan when they walk into your classroom? Engaging learners is all about connecting and making education fun. With Sturtevant's education tips and creative teaching tools, students will rebrand you and your class as their favorites. Best of all, they'll engage with every lesson you teach, every single day! 50 Tips and Tools Unlike other education books that weigh you down with archaic research and impossible-to-implement strategies, Hacking Engagement, the 7th book in the popular Hack Learning Series, provides 50 unique, exciting, and actionable tips and tools that you can apply right now. And there's something here for every teacher--no matter what grade or subject you teach. Try one of these amazing engagement strategies tomorrow: Engage the Enraged Create Celebrity Couple Nicknames Hash out a Hashtag Empower Students to Help You Uncover Your Biases Avoid the Great War on Yoga Pants Let Your Freak Flag Fly Become a Proponent of the Exponent Trade Blah, Blah, Blah for Zen Transform Your Class into a Focus Group Commit to Engagement Try at least one tip or tool now and witness an amazing transformation in your classroom and school. Are you ready to engage? Scroll up and grab your copy of Hacking Engagement now.

    'Welcome to Islam' is a step-by-step guide to help people who have just accepted Islam. It teaches them the absolute basics of Islam that they should learn within their first month of being a Muslim. This work is not another introductory book on Islam but rather a step-by-step instruction manual that allows you to start practicing what you learn immediately. It also contains valuable advice on some common challenges that new Muslims often face.

    He has been invited to talk shows and events to discuss everything from the death of Jerry Falwell to the sainthood of Mother Teresa, from U.S. policy in the Middle East to the dangers of religious fundamentalism and beyond. And he is always armed with pithy discourse that is as intelligent as it is quotable.The Quotable Hitchens gathers for the first time the eminent journalist, public intellectual, and all-around provocateur Christopher Hitchen's most scathing, inflammatory, hilarious, and clear-cut commentary from the course of his storied career. Drawn from his many TV appearances, debates, lectures, interviews, articles, and books, the quotations are arranged alphabetically by subject--from atheism and alcoholism to George Orwell and Bertrand Russell, from Islamofascism and Iraq to smoking and sex--and perfectly capture the wit and range of "intellectual willing to show his teeth in the case of righteousness."

    Each lesson should be concluded with the corresponding lecture from the DVD or CD series, which contains expert commentary presented by Jeff Cavins. The Bible Timeline Study Kit includes:Study Set: Questions and ResponsesAn in-depth, 176-page set of Study Questions (including maps, charts, tables and note-pages) with a corresponding 88-page set of Responses provides you with a guide for your reading and Scripture study.Bible Timeline ChartA 33" full-color chart provides a visual overview of the books of the Bible. It allows you to track the growth of God's family from Creation to the establishment of the Church and see Bible history in context of world events.Bible Timeline BookmarkA full-color bookmark provides the significance for the color assigned to each time period and serves as a reference tool to mark your place in your Bible.Memory Bead WristbandThe t

    This exciting new series assembles key documents and criticism concerning these works that have so recently become central components of the American literature curriculum. Each casebook will reprint documents relating to the work's historical context and reception, present the best in critical essays, and when possible, feature an interview of the author. The series will provide, for the first time, an accessible forum in which readers can come to a fuller understanding of these contemporary masterpieces and the unique aspects of American ethnic, racial, or cultural experience that they so ably portray.Perhaps more than any other single text, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings helped to establish the mainstream status of the renaissance in black women's writing. This casebook presents a variety of critical approaches to this classic autobiography, along with an exclusive interview with Angelou conducted specially for this volume and a unique drawing of her childhood surroundings in Stamps, Arkansas, drawn by Angelou herself.

    Reading them as they were written is a must for every American. Regular reading is required for any historian or member of the legal profession, and a good idea for all Americans. Acclaimed Constitutional scholar Paul Skousen, author of How to Read the Constitution, frames this simple text with a brief preface and a summary of important facts about these two documents, including important dates, for the ultimate quick reference. Throughout the text of the Constitution, he provides a clear guide to parts that became invalid due to later amendments, making the current meaning clear. Without intruding on the meaning, Skousen gives you a great tool for understanding our most basic principles of good government. An inspiring introduction by New York Times best-selling author Dan Clark will put you in the right frame of mind to read and appreciate these great documents. This handy guide can become your best friend, and you'll want to keep a copy nearby. Fortunately, this little book will easily fit into your pocket or briefcase, top desk drawer, or iPad case. You'll may find you want to have extra copies around to hand out, too. Here is your chance to become an expert on two of the most important documents that shaped our country!

    This is the amazing story of a woman who survived a near fatal explosion. Incredibly, that was only the beginning of her story. During the event, she experienced a NDE (Near Death Experience). She retained vivid memories of going to the spirit side and from that unique out-of-body perspective; she helped celestial beings put her body back together so she could return to life. She wanted to share what the experience was like as viewed from the spirit side. A true tale of survival and courage, sure to empower others who read it.

    Offering children gems of advice such as "Strive to learn" and "Be not a dunce," it was no fun at all. So how did we get from there to "Let the wild rumpus start"? And now that we're living in a golden age of children's literature, what can adults get out of reading Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight Moon, or Charlotte's Web and Little House on the Prairie?In Wild Things, Bruce Handy revisits the classics of every American childhood, from fairy tales to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and explores the back stories of their creators, using context and biography to understand how some of the most insightful, creative, and witty authors and illustrators of their times created their often deeply personal masterpieces. Along the way, Handy learns what The Cat in the Hat says about anarchy and absentee parenting, which themes link The Runaway Bunny and Portnoy's Complaint, and why Ramona Quimby is as true an American icon as Tom Sawyer or Jay Gatsby.It's a profound, eye-opening experience to reencounter books that you once treasured after decades apart. A clear-eyed love letter to the greatest children's books and authors, from Louisa May Alcott and L. Frank Baum to Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, Mildred D. Taylor, and E.B. White, Wild Things will bring back fond memories for readers of all ages, along with a few surprises.

    She claimed the police had inserted a stick inside her… Swaranpreet realised that she had been cruelly violated; He spoke a single sentence but repeated it twice in chaste Punjabi: ‘Please give me a turban? I want nothing else…’ These are voices begging for deliverance in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in October-November 1984 in which 2,733 Sikhs were killed, burnt and exterminated by lumpens in the country. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay walks us through one of the most shameful episodes of sectarian violence in post Independent India and highlights the apathy of subsequent governments towards Sikhs who paid a price for what was clearly a state-sponsored riot. Poignant, raw and most importantly, macabre, the personal histories in the book reveal how even after three decades, a community continues to battle for its identity in its own country.

    The Christians have broken the truce and the Fifth Crusade has begun, the irate Saracens are expelling Christians and Jews from their lands, and desperate refugees are pouring into Jerusalem's port city of Acre which is expected to fall. There are coins to be earned carrying those most favoured by God to safety, meaning those with the most coins to pay for a place on one of the company's galleys. And the French governor of Acre wants to leave his young wife behind and flee with the chests of coins he collected from the city's Saracen merchants before he expelled them despite the bribes they paid him. It is a rollicking good story and a very good read.