Love and war don’t mix. Or do they? Eager to do even more for the war effort, nurse Gwen Milford puts in for a transfer from a convalescent hospital outside of London to an evac hospital headed across Europe. Leap-frogging from one location to the next, nothing goes as expected from stolen supplies to overwhelming numbers of casualties. Then, there’s the handsome doctor who seems to be assigned to her every shift. As another Christmas approaches without the war’s end, can she find room in her heart for love?

In this heartfelt and thoughtful book, Christopher Heuertz writes of the dangers of isolation, the challenges we face when we join together and the struggles and joys that emerge from genuine community bonding. “Ironically, as much as we yearn for deep friendships and meaningful communities, many of us seem to be unable to find our way into them. Even if we know we’re made for community, finding one and staying there seems almost impossible. Though we hate to admit it, if we stay long enough in any relationship or set of friendships, we will experience failure, doubt, burnout, loneliness, transitions, a loss of self, betrayal, frustration, a sense of entitlement, grief, and weariness. Yet it’s these painful community experiences, these tensions we struggle to navigate, that hold surprising gifts.” —FROM THE PREFACE IN A STRIKINGLY confessional tone and vividly illustrated through story, Unexpected Gifts names eleven inevitable challenges that all friendships, relationships, and communities experience if they stay together long enough. Rather than allowing these challenges to become excuses to leave, Chris Heuertz suggests that things like betrayal, transitions, failure, loss of identity, entitlement, and doubt may actually be invitations to stay. And if we stay, these challenges can become unexpected gifts. *** Betrayal, failure, loss of identity, doubt. If your relationships have suffered from any of these pitfalls, this book will show you that staying together can create something more—even something beautiful. IN THIS HEARTFELT and thoughtful book, Christopher Heuertz writes of the dangers of isolation, the challenges we face when we join together, and the struggles and joys that emerge from genuine community bonding. Whether readers are forming a new community, searching for deeper community, or participating in a longtime community, they will find inspiration, caution, guidance, and encouragement as they discover the beauty of pressing in to the ambiguities of growing relationships in this tender and honest testimony about how we are woven together by grace.

This book reveals tough realities about how public servants and politicians dither and avoid hard decisions in Ottawa and about how our senior public service needs a deep shake-up.

The American Civil War divided the United States from 1861-1865. During those years, over two million soldiers served in both the Union and Confederate Armies. What is little known is that not only the numerous children, some as young 12, enlisted on both sides, but also women who disguised themselves as men in an attempt to make a difference in the epic struggle to determine the future of the United States of America.

It is February 24, 2037, and the world has forever changed. Formerly a sniper for the People's Liberation Force, Lance's only crime is defending his country against the enemy. But now he is about to pay the ultimate price. As Lance awaits execution, he is only comforted by the morbid thought that at least he will not die alone. As his seventeen-year-old cellmate dies before his eyes, Lance thinks he is the next to go. Instead, he is carried off and brutally interrogated by the fiends who have slowly invaded the world for years. In the midst of his torture, he is secretly befriended by Lara, a female fiend, who seems compassionate and concerned for his well-being. But Lance has too much at stake to trust the beautiful blonde, for it is evident that soon both he and the human race will be enslaved by the evil laws of Dracona. As Lara assumes responsibility for her new friend, Lance is slowly losing hope that he will ever be rescued from an uncertain fate. In this futuristic tale, a fiend and a human caught in the midst of a brutal war for control must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice for both love and freedom.

Now in paperback—this acclaimed book from Norman Rosenthal, the New York Times–bestselling author and research psychiatrist, shows how life’s disappointments and difficulties provide us with the lessons we need to become happier and more resilient human beings. Winner of the 2014 Nautilus Award represents “Better Books for a Better World”—the Silver Award in the category of Heroic Journeys. Adversity is an irreducible fact of life. Although we can and should learn from all experiences, both positive and negative, bestselling author Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal, believes that adversity is by far the best teacher most of us will ever encounter. Whether the adversity one experiences is the result of poor decision-making, a desire to test one’s mettle, or plain bad luck, Rosenthal believes life’s most important lessons—from the value of family to the importance of occasionally cutting corners—can be best learned from it. Running counter to society’s current prevailing message that “excellence” must always be aspired to, and failure or mistakes of any sort are to be avoided at all costs, Rosenthal shows that engaging with our own failures and defeats is one of the only ways we are able to live authentic and meaningful lives, and that each different type of adversity carries its own challenges and has the potential to yield its own form of wisdom. Using stories from his own life—including his childhood in apartheid-era South Africa, his years after suffering a violent attack from a stranger, and his career as a psychiatrist—as well as case studies and discussions with well-known figures like Viktor Frankl and David Lynch, Rosenthal shows that true innovation, emotional resilience, wisdom, and dignity can only come from confronting and understanding the adversity we have experienced. Even when life is hardest, there are meanings to be found, riches to be harvested, and gifts that can last a lifetime. Rosenthal illustrates his message through a series of compact, memorable chapters, each one drawn from episodes in the lives of his patients, colleagues, or himself, and concluded with a take-away maxim on the lesson learned.

In this definitive analysis of the Weimar Republic, Hans Mommsen surveys the political, social, and economic development of Germany between the end of World War I and the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor in 1933. His assessment of the German experiment with democracy challenges many long-held assumptions about the course and character of German history. Mommsen argues persuasively that the rise of totalitarianism in Germany was not inevitable but was the result of a confluence of specific domestic and international forces. As long as France and Britain exerted pressure on the new Germany after World War I, the radical Right hesitated to overthrow the constitution. But as international scrutiny decreased with the recognition of the legitimacy of the Weimar regime, totalitarian elements were able to gain the upper hand. At the same time, the world economic crisis of the early 1930s, with its social and political ramifications, further destabilized German democracy. This translation of the original German edition (published in 1989) brings the work to an English-speaking audience for the first time. European History

This New York Times bestseller recounts the true story of the touching gift bestowed on the US by the Maasai people in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In June of 2002, a mere nine months since the September 11 attacks, a very unusual ceremony begins in a far-flung village in western Kenya. An American diplomat is surrounded by hundreds of Maasai people. A gift is about to be bestowed upon the American men, women, and children, and he is there to accept it. The gift is as unexpected as it is extraordinary. Hearts are raw as these legendary Maasai warriors offer their gift to a grieving people half a world away. Word of the gift will travel newswires around the globe, and for the heartsick American nation, the gift of fourteen cows emerges from the choking dust and darkness as a soft light of hope―and friendship. With stunning paintings from Thomas Gonzalez, master storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy (in collaboration with Naiyomah) hits all the right notes in this elegant story of generosity that crosses boundaries, nations, and cultures.

A riveting account of a German woman's experiences during World War II--a story not of heroism or evil, but of ordinary people caught in the gears of history--and a granddaughter's quest to uncover a family history kept hidden for seventy years Growing up in France, Svenja O'Donnell knew little of her German grandmother's past, except that she had been raised in K nigsburg, a place that no longer existed on any map. But when O'Donnell's reporting brought her near the windswept city--now known as Kaliningrad, and a part of Russia--a spur-of-the-moment phone call to her grandmother Inge opened the floodgates to a family story she could not have imagined. Over the course of nearly ten years of conversations, as well as archival research and travel across Europe, she would soon learn that behind her grandmother's facade of dull respectability lay a troubled past of passion, displacement, and betrayal. In this transporting and illuminating book, the award-winning journalist vividly reconstructs the story of Inge's life from the rise of the Nazis through the brutal postwar years: from falling in love in Berlin's underground jazz bars with a sensitive young man who was soon sent to the Eastern Front to returning to her provincial home pregnant with his child to spearheading her family's flight to Denmark as the Red Army closed in, her not-yet-two-year-old daughter--O'Donnell's mother--in tow. By walking in her grandmother's footsteps and ultimately uncovering the act of violence that finally parted Inge from the man she loved, O'Donnell tells a part of the World War II story that is less often heard: that of ordinary German women, whose stories will soon disappear from living memory.