Over the past 150 years scientists have discovered evidence that at least twenty-seven species of humans evolved on planet Earth. These weren't simply variations on apes, but upright-walking humans who lived side by side, competing, cooperating, sometimes even mating with our direct ancestors. Why did the line of ancient humans who eventually evolved into us survive when the others were shown the evolutionary door? Chip Walter draws on new scientific discoveries to tell the fascinating tale of how our survival was linked to our ancestors being born more prematurely than others, having uniquely long and rich childhoods, evolving a new kind of mind that made us resourceful and emotionally complex; how our highly social nature increased our odds of survival; and why we became self aware in ways that no other animal seems to be. Last Ape Standing also profiles the mysterious "others" who evolved with us-the Neanderthals of Europe, the "Hobbits" of Indonesia, the Denisovans of Siberia and the just-discovered Red Deer Cave people of China who died off a mere eleven thousand years ago. Last Ape Standing is evocative science writing at its best-a witty, engaging and accessible story that explores the evolutionary events that molded us into the remarkably unique creatures we are; an investigation of why we do, feel, and think the things we do as a species, and as people-good and bad, ingenious and cunning, heroic and conflicted.

The only official chapter book series based on Minecraft comes to an epic conclusion with Book 6--Last Block Standing! As the world of Minecraft falls under the Evoker King's control, Morgan, Ash, and their friends get ready for the final showdown. But with their enemy now in possession of the most powerful building block in Minecraft, do they really stand a chance of defeating him? And meanwhile, in the real world, the kids deal with the devastating news that Ash and her family may be moving away! Will both worlds come to an end, or is this just a new beginning? Find out in Last Block Standing! the sixth book in the Woodsword Chronicles! © 2021 Mojang AB and Mojang Synergies AB. MINECRAFT and MOJANG are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mojang Synergies AB.

As the last Don of the Philadelphia mob, Ralph Natale, the first-ever mob boss to turn state’s evidence, provides an insider’s perspective on the mafia. Natale’s reign atop the Philadelphia and New Jersey underworlds brought the region’s mafia back to prominence in the 1990s. Smart, savvy, and articulate, Natale came up in the mob and saw first-hand as it hatched its plan to control Atlantic City’s casino unions. Later on, after spending 16 years in prison, he reclaimed the family as his own after a bloody mob war that left bodies scattered across South Philly. He forged connections around the country, invigorated the family with more allies than it had in two decades, and achieved a status within the mob never seen before or since until he was betrayed by his men and decided to testify against them in a stunning turn of events. Using dozens of hours of interviews with Natale along with research and interviews with FBI agents, this book delivers revelatory insights into seminal events in American mob history, including: - The truth about Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance - The murder of Jewish mob icon Bugsy Siegel - The identity of the man who created modern-day Las Vegas With the full cooperation of Natale, New York Daily News reporter Larry McShane and producer Dan Pearson uncover the deadly reign of the last great mob boss of Philadelphia, a tale that covers a half-century of mob lore—and gore.

These messages in the standing stones combine and transcend spiritual truths from many disciplines and traditions. They explain the true power sources in our world and provide a design for realigning ourselves with them. The Standing Stones Speak unifies the underlying wisdom of Christianity, Buddhism, and the Sufis. It interprets the lives of the great teachers and recounts the dark history of Atlantis. Linking the chakras, crystals, and earth spirits, redefining reincarnation and forgotten realms of existence both here and on other planets, it promises us a future of tranquility and peace-- children born free of karma on a clean Earth-- the New Jerusalem. Natasha Hoffman knew that she'd been called to Carnac in northern France. An artist, healer, and "intuitive," Hoffman felt welcome in the presence of the mysterious giant monuments that stand there-- the megalithic standing stones set up around the same time as Stonehenge. Walking among these alignments with her companion, Hamilton Hill, she first heard the voice. "This is a library," she said, "and we can read it." So began the "receiving" of the revelations encoded in certain of the standing stones. Sneaking past barriers, eluding gendarmes, encountering a goblin, even working by moonlight, Hoffman and Hill sought out particular stones. Natasha "read" the information held in them, using a pendulum for question-and-answer dowsing to check it. Hamilton, also a dowser, transcribed it using rods. The messages were placed for us, as the two discovered, by the Archangels who watch over our planet. After World War I, seeing that the human race had fallen into profound disharmony with the environment and was becoming dominated by materialism and misuse of technology, these higher beings began to leave us guidelines for restoring the balance within ourselves and between humanity and nature. Readers will be struck by the beauty of the message, its clarity, authority, and compassion. "You are addicted to suffering," the Archangels say, "because you have been made to feel guilty about joy." The message leaves us with renewed hope. With notes on the authors' personal pilgrimages and more than a dozen photographs, The Standing Stones Speak is more than a great adventure; it's a text that may become the New Age Bible.

The focus of Christianity is Jesus Christ, yet for many he has been displaced by focusing on religious practices that were unknown to the early church. The question is - Why? If a time travelling first century Christian visited a church service today he would immediately recognize most of what we do. However, he would recognize it as part of the pagan world that he, as a Christian, had been called out of. He would probably turn tail and head for the exit while thanking Jesus that he no longer needed any of that. We, on the other hand, do connect all these things to our Christian experience in the twenty-first century. Where we have a problem is in seeing how they connect to the church of the first century. That is why this book is subtitled, 'Why Do We Do It The Way We Do?' Against a backdrop of world events, from the earliest days to the present, Last Stone Standing lays out how the church came into being and how many of the accepted practices of today became entrenched within it.

The true story of a cold case, a compulsive liar, and five determined detectives, from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author and “master journalist” (The Wall Street Journal). On March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, ages ten and twelve, vanished from a shopping mall in suburban Washington, DC As shock spread, then grief, a massive police effort found nothing. The investigation was shelved, and the mystery endured. Then, in 2013, a cold case squad detective found something he and a generation of detectives had missed. It pointed them toward a man named Lloyd Welch, then serving time for child molestation in Delaware. The acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and Hue 1968 had been a cub reporter for a Baltimore newspaper at the time of the original disappearance, and covered the frantic first weeks of the story. In The Last Stone, he returns to write its ending. Over months of intense questioning and extensive investigation of Welch’s sprawling, sinister Appalachian clan, five skilled detectives learned to sift truth from determined lies. How do you get a compulsive liar with every reason in the world to lie to tell the truth? The Last Stone recounts a masterpiece of criminal interrogation, and delivers a chilling and unprecedented look inside a disturbing criminal mind. “One of our best writers of muscular nonfiction.” —The Denver Post “Deeply unsettling . . . Bowden displays his tenacity as a reporter in his meticulous documentation of the case. But in the story of an unimaginably horrific crime, it’s the detectives’ unwavering determination to bring Welch to justice that offers a glimmer of hope on a long, dark journey.” —Time

The revelations received by the authors as they read the stones make up a New Age Bible for today.