Most of us walk through each day expecting few surprises. If we want to better ourselves or our lives, we map out a path of gradual change, perhaps in counseling or psychotherapy. Psychologists William Miller and Janet C'de Baca were longtime scholars and teachers of traditional approaches to self-improvement when they became intrigued by a different sort of change that was sometimes experienced by people they encountered--something often described as "a bolt from the blue" or "seeing the light." And when they placed a request in a local newspaper for people's stories of unexpected personal transformation, the deluge of responses was astounding. These compelling stories of epiphanies and sudden insights inspired Miller and C'de Baca to examine the experience of "quantum change" through the lens of scientific psychology. Where does quantum change come from? Why do some of us experience it, and what kind of people do we become as a result? The answers that this book arrives at yield remarkable insights into how human beings achieve lasting change--sometimes even in spite of ourselves.

In the blockbuster storytelling tradition that is Barbara Taylor Bradford’s hallmark, here is an extraordinary novel about a remarkable young woman and the people whose lives she touches.

Archaeologists have long encountered evidence of natural disasters through excavation and stratigraphy. In Surviving Sudden Environmental Change, case studies examine how eight different past human communities—ranging from Arctic to equatorial regions, from tropical rainforests to desert interiors, and from deep prehistory to living memory—faced, and coped with, such dangers. Many disasters originate from a force of nature, such as an earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, volcanic eruption, drought, or flood. But that is only half of the story; decisions of people and their particular cultural lifeways are the rest. Sociocultural factors are essential in understanding risk, impact, resilience, reactions, and recoveries from massive sudden environmental changes. By using deep-time perspectives provided by interdisciplinary approaches, this book provides a rich temporal background to the human experience of environmental hazards and disasters. In addition, each chapter is followed by an abstract summarizing the important implications for today’s management practices and providing recommendations for policy makers. Publication supported in part by the National Science Foundation.

The results of climate change make the headlines almost daily. All across America and the globe, communities have to adapt to rising sea levels, intensified storms, and warmer temperatures. One way or another, climate change will be a proving ground. We will either sink, in cases where the land is subsiding, or swim, finding ways to address these challenges. While temperatures and seas are rising slowly, we have some immediate choices to make. If we act quickly and boldly, there is a small window of opportunity to prevent the worst. We can prepare for the changes by understanding what is happening and taking specific measures. There is "commitment" already in the climate change system. To minimize those effects will require another kind of commitment, the kind Rick Van Noy illustrates in these stories about a climate-distressed South. Like Rachel Carson's groundbreaking work Silent Spring, Rick Van Noy's Sudden Spring is a call to action to mitigate the current trends in our environmental degradation. By highlighting stories of people and places adapting to the impacts of a warmer climate, Van Noy shows us what communities in the South are doing to become more climate resilient and to survive a slow deluge of environmental challenges.

In Alabama, football is king. It dominates many aspects of life in the southern state. For Jerry Glover, the former head student manager for the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide, life was rolling along at a strong and desirable clip despite some of his deceptive and potentially destructive actions. But as coach Paul "Bear" Bryant taught him and the other members of the football team, you need to be ready for any quick change in your life's direction, like you would for a fumble or an interception on the gridiron. His father's illness made Glover take an inward look at his own life and where it was headed as Jesus Christ entered his world in a dynamic and supernatural way. After forty-four years of denying and hiding, Glover witnessed what he needed to see-that those who play properly win. As Glover puts himself under center in this play-by-play account of his life, he challenges and inspires you to do the same so that you, too, can know the rewards of living your life the right way, without denial or delusions and affirming a powerful and transformative commitment to God.

"Classic Returns ....In this expanded edition of the 1978 original, Conway and Siegelman continue their study of the altering of the American psyche, which has led to the rise of religious cults, super Christian sects, private citizen militias, and other phenomena that dominate today's headlines. Probably more timely now than when first published, this is an important title for academic and public libraries." - Library Journal "Their book is judicious, sensible, well-researched and very frightening." - New York Times Book Review "It is a book of investigative reporting at its best." - New York Post "What Woodward and Bernstein were to Watergate, Conway and Siegelman may well be to the cults." - United Press International "Credible and chilling . . . The second edition of SNAPPING is as important a resource in understanding spreading societal chaos as the first edition was in explaining the chaos of cults." - Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Important. . . . this book provides a tool to exercise judgment, monitor incoming information, and interpret what has become an increasingly intrusive battle for our minds. . . . At its core, it is language that holds the key to our mental health or to our destruction. What George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is to literature, 'SNAPPING' is to non-fiction." - Albuquerque Journal "In a prophetic vein. . . . SNAPPING is not only fascinating and frightening reading, it is also extremely well-written. . . . The escalating pattern of cult fanaticism and religious-political terror that the authors call a 'death spiral' seems to be widening. If we do nothing to understand and ultimately reverse that pattern, it will pull more and more innocent people into its vortex." - Cleveland Jewish News "For anyone threatened with snapping, this book is a dispassionate, valuable study of an often frightening phenomenon." - People "There is no doubt that Conway and Siegelman are opening the door on areas of human understanding that have never been examined and that are in urgent need of study." - New Society "SNAPPING is an exciting and responsible and original piece of research that has taught this old poop amazing new ways to think about the human mind." - Kurt Vonnegut "SNAPPING is by far the best and most scientific treatment of the cult problem yet published. For the scientist, politician, clergy or parent, it is valuable and wonderfully readable." - John G. Clark, M.D. Asst. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School "Conway and Siegelman . . . place cultic behavior in the wider context of the communication revolution of our time. . . Indeed, SNAPPING unfolds as a traveling detective investigation. . . . they very capably trace and analyze the course of the phenomenon and . . . contribute greatly to our understanding of it." - The Cult Observer "Conway and Siegelman are onto something important. . . . SNAPPING is a fascinating book with frightening implications." - Edward T. Hall, author of The Silent Language " The] classic book on cults, still the best book ever. . . . Believe me, folks, these are the real experts." - Geraldo Rivera

Everywhere, one can hear the heartrending call as millions disappear from the earth. Terror-stricken people are in a frenzy, running crazily, crying, screaming, and searching for their loved ones who vanished in a split second. Pastor Gulston Parris and several of his congregation members find themselves in the midst of the chaos and panic. There is no doubt in their minds that Jesus Christ has come and taken these people away. What are they going to do? Will they be able to stand true to God during the tyrannical reign of the anti-Christ in the great tribulation? As the final drama of prophetic events unfold, the dreadful day comes when the heartless world ruler proclaims himself god of the universe. The world is ordered to receive his mark on the right hand or on the foreheads. Those who refuse are arrested and tortured to death. Pastor Parris and some of his members flee from their homes. However, Karel Jones and his wife, Reena, face real danger. Reena is pregnant, and they are at their wits’ end. As fear mounts, they run from their home only to face the most horrific period of their lives.