It was a firm belief in the ways of providence and the first stirrings of greater political freedom, says Aberth (history, U. of Nebraska), that allowed European communities to endure the full share and more of misery that befell them during the later Middle Ages. He takes his themes from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to describe responses to the Great Famine and the Black Death that swept away nearly half of the continent's population, while English and French leaders occupied themselves with the Hundred Years War. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Tracing the career of brilliant visionary Pope Sylvester II, Richard Erdoes has composed a vivid tapestry of a century frighteningly similar to our present one. --publisher description.

In the third installment of The End series, Joshua Jordan remains in Israel during his self-imposed exile out of the reach of U.S. authorities who have trumped-up false criminal treason charges against him. Joshua Jordan stands accused of treason. The charges paint him as a domestic terrorist who used his own defense-contracting firm and the Roundtable group to infiltrate the Department of Defense and manipulate America's national-security apparatus so it would conform to his own political agenda. Joshua has taken asylum in Israel until his wife and attorney, Abigail, can prove his innocence and guarantee him a fair trial. Following the nuclear attack by Russia, Israel has been cleaning up the bodies of dead enemy soldiers for 7 months and setting out on its 7-year plan—both per the prophecies in Ezekiel. As corruption in high government offices threaten to block the election of a worthy presidential candidate by all means necessary—including the unthinkable—Israel’s leadership is tempted to sign a “peace” proposal initiated by the UN under the authority of Coliquin. Joshua is convinced Coliquin may well be the prophesied Anti-Christ and that his peace plan is a trap to destroy Israel. Are the recurring dreams Joshua is having about the coming rapture from God? And is the end sooner than anyone expects? From New York Times bestselling author Tim LaHaye, creator and co-author of the world-renowned Left Behind books, and Craig Parshall, this epic series chronicles the earth-shattering events leading up to the Apocalypse foretold in Revelation. Futuristic Christian suspense The third installment of The End series Book 1: Edge of Apocalypse Book 2: Thunder of Heaven Book 3: Brink of Chaos Book 4: Mark of Evil Includes discussion questions for book clubs

FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE THE USA. In Tim LaHaye---creator and co-author of the world-renowned Left Behind series---and Craig Parshall's Edge of Apocalypse, Joshua Jordan's new weapons defense system will secure America against an array of new enemies, including a nuclear strike on New York City by North Korea. But global forces are mounting and corrupt government leaders will go to any extreme to prevent an impending economic catastrophe. As world events begin setting the stage for the 'end of days' foretold in Revelation, Jordan must weigh the personal price he must pay to save the nation he loves.

Publishers Weekly Top 10 Best of the Year In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague. Praise for Maureen F. McHugh: "Gorgeously crafted stories."—Nancy Pearl, NPR "Hauntingly beautiful."—Booklist "Unpredictable and poetic work."—The Plain Dealer Maureen F. McHugh has lived in New York; Shijiazhuang, China; Ohio; Austin, Texas; and now lives in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of a Story Prize finalist collection, Mothers & Other Monsters, and four novels, including Tiptree Award-winner China Mountain Zhang and New York Times editor's choice Nekropolis. McHugh has also worked on alternate reality games for Halo 2, The Watchmen, and Nine Inch Nails, among others.

“An informative and often enthralling book…in the appealing style of Tom Clancy” (Kirkus Reviews) about the 1983 war game that triggered a tense, brittle period of nuclear brinkmanship between the United States and the former Soviet Union. What happened in 1983 to make the Soviet Union so afraid of a potential nuclear strike from the United States that they sent mobile ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) into the field, placing them on a three-minute alert Marc Ambinder explains the anxious period between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1984, with the “Able Archer ’83” war game at the center of the tension. With astonishing and clarifying new details, he recounts the scary series of the close encounters that tested the limits of ordinary humans and powerful leaders alike. Ambinder provides a comprehensive and chilling account of the nuclear command and control process, from intelligence warnings to the composition of the nuclear codes themselves. And he affords glimpses into the secret world of a preemptive electronic attack that scared the Soviet Union into action. Ambinder’s account reads like a thriller, recounting the spy-versus-spy games that kept both countries—and the world—in check. From geopolitics in Moscow and Washington, to sweat-caked soldiers fighting in the trenches of the Cold War, to high-stakes war games across NATO and the Warsaw Pact, “Ambinder’s account of a serious threat of global annihilation…is spellbinding…a masterpiece of recent history” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The Brink serves as the definitive intelligence, nuclear, and national security history of one of the most precarious times in recent memory and “shows the consequences of nuclear buildups, sometimes-careless language, and nervous leaders. Now, more than ever, those consequences matter” (USA TODAY).

Global Community Supreme Potentate Nicolae Carpathia has his oldest and newest enemies right where he wants them: massed at Petra, a million strong--within reach of two bombs and a missile no one could survive without a miracle.