Beneath The Miracle

Tells of how a young girl in Cyprus is miraculously healed by a local saint who lived more than one thousand years ago.

Now a major motion picture starring Drew Barrymore, Ted Danson, Kristen Bell, Tim Blake Nelson, John Krasinski, and Vinessa Shaw—an account of the dramatic rescue of three gray whales trapped under the ice in Alaska in 1988. Set in Cold War–era 1988, Big Miracle tells the real story behind the remarkable, bizarre, and oftentimes uproarious event that mesmerized the world for weeks. On October 7, an Inuit hunter near Barrow, Alaska, found three California Gray whales imprisoned in the Arctic ice. In the past, as was nature's way, trapped whales always died. Not this time. Tom Rose, who was covering the event for a Japanese TV station, compellingly describes how oil company executives, environmental activists, Inupiat people, small business people, and the U.S. military boldly worked together to rescue the whales. He also tells the stories of some of the more than 150 international journalists who brought the story to the world's attention. The rescue was followed by millions of people around the world as Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev joined the forces of their two nations to help free the whales.

Challenging prevailing theories of development and labor, Gay Seidman's controversial study explores how highly politicized labor movements could arise simultaneously in Brazil and South Africa, two starkly different societies. Beginning with the 1960s, Seidman shows how both authoritarian states promoted specific rapid-industrialization strategies, in the process reshaping the working class and altering relationships between business and the state. When economic growth slowed in the 1970s, workers in these countries challenged social and political repression; by the mid-1980s, they had become major voices in the transition from authoritarian rule. Based in factories and working-class communities, these movements enjoyed broad support as they fought for improved social services, land reform, expanding electoral participation, and racial integration. In Brazil, Seidman takes us from the shopfloor, where disenfranchized workers organized for better wages and working conditions, to the strikes and protests that spread to local communities. Similar demands for radical change emerged in South Africa, where community groups in black townships joined organized labor in a challenge to minority rule that linked class consciousness to racial oppression. Seidman details the complex dynamics of these militant movements and develops a broad analysis of how newly industrializing countries shape the opportunities for labor to express demands. Her work will be welcomed by those interested in labor studies, social theory, and the politics of newly industrializing regions.

A tiny Christmas tree is convinced that nobody will select him for their holiday celebrations.

Filled with remarkable true stories of the kindness of strangers and the blessings of answered prayers, this collection with its small miracles truly captures the spirit of the season. They remind us that the greatest gifts in life can't be gift wrapped.

ACIM, the Fun Version! A real-world rewrite of the lessons of A Course in Miracles by the #1 New York Times best-selling author of E-Squared. A Course in Miracles is profound, deeply moving, and as boring to read as a bookshelf assembly manual. Ask for a show of hands at any self-help gathering, and 95 percent will happily admit to owning the dense blue book that's a famous resource for spiritual transformation. Ask the obvious follow-up, "How many have actually read it?" and all but a smattering of hands go down. It's as if everyone wants the miracles, the forgiveness, and the mind shifts, but they just can't bear its ponderous heaviness. Pam Grout to the rescue! Her new book is for all those still struggling with the Course. Grout offers a modern-day rewrite of the 365-lesson workbook-the text at the heart of the Course. Unlike the original, it's user-friendly, accessible and easy for everyone to understand. In daily lessons with titles like "The Home Depot of Spiritual Practices" and "Transcending the Chatty Asshat in My Head," Grout drills down to the Course's essential message and meaning, grounding it in the context of everyday life in a way that's bound to stick. The lessons here blend eternal truths with pop culture and personal stories that are laugh-out-loud funny and deeply soul-stirring, often at the same time. You won't be tempted to use this Course in Miracles as a doorstop. You'll want to use it, every day, to change your life.

"Confined to a wheelchair after a paralyzing injury, an Afghanistan War veteran endures a hardscrabble existence in his sister's ramshackle Mississippi home before spontaneously regaining his ability to walk, an apparent miracle that subjects him to scientific and religious debates and exposes his most private secrets."--