Desert Destiny

Beth, a popular singer, was shooting her latest music video in the middle of a desert. when she was taken to the palace of Sheikh Suliman for entering his property without permission. As ordered, she sings a song for the sheikh and his eyes never leave her. Soon, she’s smitten with Suliman, but are they really meant for each other?

Were holy men historical figures or figments of the theological imagination? Did the biographies devoted to them reflect facts or only the ideological commitments of their authors? For decades, scholars of late antiquity have wrestled with these questions when analysing such issues as the Christianization of Europe, the decline of paganism, and the 'rise of the holy man' and of the hagiographical genre. In this book Peter Turner suggests a new approach to these problems through an examination of a wide range of spiritual narrative texts from the third to the sixth centuries A.D.: pagan philosophical biographies, Greek and Latin Christian saints' lives, and autobiographical works by authors such as Julian and Augustine. Rather than scrutinizing these works for either historical facts or religious and intellectual attitudes, he argues that a deeper historicity can be found only in the interplay between these types of information. On the textual level, this analysis recognises the genuine commitment of spiritual authors to write truthfully and to record realistically a world felt to be replete with spiritual and symbolic meaning. On the historical level, it argues that holy men, expecting the same symbolism within their own lives, adopted lifestyles which ultimately provoked and confirmed this world view. Such praxis is detectable not only in the holy men who inspired biography but also in the period's scattered autobiographical writings. As much a historical as a textual phenomenon, this spiritually-minded scrutiny of the world created interpretations which were always open and contested. Therefore, this book also associates spiritual narrative texts with only one possible voice of religious experience in a constant dialogue between believers, opponents, and the sceptical undecided.

Pride, Prejudice _ and Vengeance! Weed-eaters. Monkey-spawn. Honorless herbivores. Individually weak, humans have proved most difficult to conquer and enslave. Now the young heir to the Kzinti patriarchy is forced into a desperate wilderness exile as his empire cracks and the contentious Great Prides attempt to rip one another apart while facing total war with humanity. Annihilation looms unless the young patriarch can ally with two human warriors to battle his way back to his rightful place as Leader of the Prides, keeper of pride strahk, and upholder of sacred Kzinti honor. A masterful addition from popular contributor Paul Chafe to the _Man-Kzin WarsÓ shared universe created by multiple New York Times best-seller, incomparable tale-spinner, and Nebula- and five-time Hugo-Award-winner, Larry Niven! At the publisher's reqeust, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). _[The Man-Kzin Wars series is] excellent . . .gripping . . .and expands well on Larry Nivens universe. . . .Ó ¾ Locus

A British Royal Air Force pilot recounts fighting over African deserts and Asian jungles during World War II in this military memoir. Merton Naydler joined the RAF at the age of nineteen and served for the next six years until May 1946. He flew Spitfires and Hurricanes during a tour of duty that took him to North Africa, Burma, and Malaya. This well written and extremely entertaining memoir portrays wartime life in the desert environment where sand, flies, life under canvas made living and flying a daunting experience. When Naydler was posted to Burma he was filled with “a deep and genuine dread.” After a long uncomfortable trip, he joined 11 Squadron and was then faced with Japanese Zeroes in combat over dense tropical jungle rather than Bf 109s over a barren desert terrain. “Daytime flying was hot as hell, the humidity intense”—the author’s description of his new posting that goes on to describe life in “Death Valley,” named because of the likeliness of falling victim to tropical disease rather than enemy aircraft . . . This is the story of a sergeant pilot who learned his trade the hard way in action over Africa and then honed his combat skills in the skies over Japanese-held tropical forests where he was eventually commissioned.