This rich and varied collection of essays addresses some of the most fundamental human questions through the lenses of philosophy, literature, religion, politics, and theology. Peter Augustine Lawler and Dale McConkey have fashioned an interdisciplinary consideration of such perennial and enduring issues as the relationship between nature and history, nature and grace, reason and revelation, classical philosophy and Christianity, modernity and postmodernity, repentance and self-limitation,...

This dazzling anthology includes epic interstellar adventures, tales of space and wonder, from some of the brightest names in science fiction. Authors includeKage BakerStephen BaxterGregory BenfordTony DanielGreg EganPeter F. HamiltonGwyneth JonesJames Patrick KellyNancy KressKen MacleodPaul J. McAuleyIan McDonaldRobert ReedAlastair ReynoldsMary RosenblumRobert SilverbergDan SimmonsWalter Jon Williams

Poul Anderson was one of the seminal figures of twentieth-century science fiction. Named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1997, he produced an enormous body of standalone novels and series fiction and was equally at home in the fields of heroic fantasy and hard SF. He was a meticulous craftsman and a gifted storyteller, and the impact of his finest work continues, undiminished, to this day.Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson's Worlds is a rousing...

Based on a true story, a “wild west” tale of two brothers who battle both the state and a Mafia empire in 1920s Italy.Raffadali, province of Agrigento, 1920s. The Sacco brothers are free men with strong ideas about socialism and the state. Their lives change radically one morning when their father, Luigi Sacco, receives an anonymous letter from the local Mafia demanding protection money and is the victim of a robbery attempt. Luigi tells the police of the extortion letters he recei...

The first historical study—and a riveting account—of the last execution in Michigan.On September 24, 1830, Stephen G. Simmons, a fifty-year-old tavern keeper and farmer, was hanged in Detroit for murdering his wife, Levana Simmons, in a drunken, jealous rage. Michigan executed only two people during the fifty-year period, from 1796 to 1846, when the death penalty was legal within its boundaries. Simmons was the second and last person to be executed under Michigan l...

Ethics, Literature, and Theory: An Introductory Reader brings together the work of contemporary scholars, teachers, and writers into lively discussion on the moral role of literature and the relationship between aesthetics, art, and ethics. Do the rich descriptions and narrative shapings of literature provide a valuable resource for readers, writers, philosophers, and everyday people to imagine and confront the ultimate questions of life? Do the human activities of storytelling and complex...

"The Life of Stephen A. Douglas" by William Gardner is a comprehensive biography that delves into the life and political career of one of America's most influential figures during the 19th century. Douglas, known for his role in the debates with Abraham Lincoln and his advocacy for popular sovereignty, played a pivotal role in shaping the political landscape of the United States. Gardner meticulously explores Douglas's early life, his rise to prominence, and the complexities of his politic...

First came the days of the plague. Then came the dreams.Dark dreams that warned of the coming of the dark man. The apostate of death, his worn-down boot heels tramping the night roads. The warlord of the charnel house and Prince of Evil.His time is at hand. His empire grows in the west and the Apocalypse looms.(P)2012 Random House Audio

Biography of Lincoln's opponent. According to Wikipedia: "Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 - June 3, 1861) was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed series of debates. He was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short but was considered by many a "giant" in pol...

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides--or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail--and the worst ...

Tradition and Modernity focuses on how Christians and Muslims connect their traditions to modernity, looking especially at understandings of history, changing patterns of authority, and approaches to freedom. The volume includes a selection of relevant texts from 19th- and 20th-century thinkers, from John Henry Newman to Tariq Ramadan, accompanied by illuminating commentaries.

Race and racism have played a divisive and defining role throughout much of America's history. Slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and Ku Klux Klan terrorism have inflicted deep psychic wounds, social disparities, and economic disadvantages that have diminished the promise of equal rights and opportunities for all.While much progress in race relations has been made in recent years-including the election of Barack Obama as President of the United State-it's clear that our journey t...