What happens when a teenage fishing trip becomes a life-altering encounter with the impossible?At sixteen, Michael W. Cook came face-to-face with something that would forever change his understanding of the wilderness—and launch him into a decades-long quest for answers.The Bigfoot takes readers on a breathtaking journey from the misty riverbanks of Eastern Kentucky to the deepest reaches of scientific inquiry. Drawing on ancient indigenous wisdom, controversial ev...

A panoramic history of the Muslim world from the age of the Prophet Muḥammad to the birth of the modern eraThis book describes and explains the major events, personalities, conflicts, and convergences that have shaped the history of the Muslim world. The body of the book takes readers from the origins of Islam to the eve of the nineteenth century, and an epilogue continues the story to the present day. Michael Cook thus provides a broad history of a civilization re...

Why Islam is more political and fundamentalist than other religionsWhy does Islam play a larger role in contemporary politics than other religions? Is there something about the Islamic heritage that makes Muslims more likely than adherents of other faiths to invoke it in their political life? If so, what is it? Ancient Religions, Modern Politics seeks to answer these questions by examining the roles of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity in modern political ...

A storm at sea. Forty-two souls aboard. One secret heavy enough to sink them all.When The Ocean Blue leaves Pier 39 on a foggy San Francisco morning, Captain Buddy Skella feels the unease before he can name it. The vessel is sound, the route is familiar, and the manifest lists forty-two passengers and crew. But a suspicious crate has been loaded into the hold, several passengers seem far too interested in it, and the Pacific has begun to turn against them.As the ferry pushe...

This audiobook narrated by Ric Jerrom traces the panoramic history of the Muslim world from the age of the Prophet Muḥammad to the the dawn of the modern eraThis book describes and explains the major events, personalities, conflicts, and convergences that have shaped the history of the Muslim world. The body of the work takes readers from the origins of Islam to the eve of the nineteenth century, and an epilogue continues the story to the present day. Michael Cook t...

An honest, probing look at the dynamics of the New Testament—in relation to problems that disconcert Jews and Christians today.Despite the New Testament’s impact on Jewish history, virtually all Jews avoid knowledge of its underlying dynamics. Jewish families and communities thus remain needlessly stymied when responding to a deeply Christian culture. Their Christian friends, meanwhile, are left perplexed as to why Jews are wary of the Gospel’s “good news.”...

The James Beard Award-winning chef and co-owner of Philadelphia's Zahav restaurant reinterprets the glorious cuisine of Israel for American home kitchens.Ever since he opened Zahav in 2008, chef Michael Solomonov has been turning heads with his original interpretations of modern Israeli cuisine, attracting notice from the New York Times, Bon Appétit, ("an utter and total revelation"), and Eater ("Zahav defines Israeli cooking in America")....

Just as they do on those television cooking contests when the bell rings and the contestants’ hands go up, at four o’clock on Friday afternoon, the column is filed—ready or not—to the columnist’s horror, discomfort, or self-satisfaction. Regardless, one exigent and unrelenting thought remains: what you wish you’d said.Such is the life of a weekly newspaper columnist.Unable to ignore the urge any longer, in What I Wish I Said: Confessions of a Columnist, author Jaim...

Award-winning chefs and bestselling authors of the James Beard Award–winning Zahav, Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook invite you to cook the way they do at home, with 125 new recipes for simple, achievable, and family-friendly meals.Since opening Zahav (the beloved, award-winning, and critically acclaimed restaurant in Philadelphia that serves a powerfully flavorful menu inspired by modern Israeli cuisine) fifteen years ago, co-owners chef Michael Solomono...

The Abyss. The word evokes a visceral response. It also evokes contemplation and a search for deeper knowledge and understanding. The abyss of despair can feel heavy too from all accounts. It pulls you into a dark, suffocating existence that can feel like you are drowning, prevent you from getting out of bed, or compel desires to end your life. By many accounts I should have drowned in an abyss of despair at the age of six, when I experienced a devastating tragedy. I did not. Where many fi...

A young boy steps out of a thunderstorm and onto a strange bus. Like a flash of lightning, his long-gone grandmother suddenly appears on the bus too! Is she there to offer him a gift . . . or a warning? The boy is in for a shocking surprise. Step aboard Michael Dahl's addictively creepy SCHOOL BUS OF HORRORS where the final destination is never expected.

The Abyss. The word evokes a visceral response. It also evokes contemplation and a search for deeper knowledge and understanding. The abyss of despair can feel heavy too from all accounts. It pulls you into a dark, suffocating existence that can feel like you are drowning, prevent you from getting out of bed, or compel desires to end your life. By many accounts I should have drowned in an abyss of despair at the age of six, when I experienced a devastating tragedy. I did not. Where many fi...