Abandoned houses have always been places of great mysteries and untold stories. There is at once something fascinating and sad about broken windows and rotting beams that sparks the imagination. The authors of The Seven Story House have come together to share their takes on that image of the deserted dwelling. The stories they found hidden in and around the ruins run from when the house was new and shiny to the time when it lay in pieces, old and forgotten. Through their eyes, the forsaken structure takes on a life of its own, being both loved and hated for the secrets that it keeps-secrets which move from light to darkness, serenity to violence, life to death, and finally, to the hope of rebirth. So come inside The Seven Story House and see if one of its many secrets speaks to you.

A celebration of Merton's spiritual autobiography is accompanied by an introduction from the editor and a note from Merton's biographer.

From the white stag to the green knight, The Seven Story Tower examines how myth colors our perception of history, nature, and ourselves. Organized around seven key myths-representing the Irish, Greek, Sumerian, Indonesian, Amazonian, and Inuit cultures, as well as the fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien-this book is the perfect intro-duction to the common themes found in world mythology. Curtiss Hoffman, a noted archaeologist and anthropologist, takes us beyond the entertaining stories and uses insights from cultural anthropology and analytical psychology to analyze the many common themes found throughout. In particular, he examines the significance of names, numbers, plants, animals, the heavenly bodies, and the human body. The Seven Story Tower will enhance the reader's appreciation of myth's power today over our lives and cultures.

“Our mission continues . . . Until They Are Home!”—Motto of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command At the end of the Vietnam War—or American War, as it is called in Hanoi—2,585 Americans were unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. In 1992, a joint task force was established to continue the work of recovery, and its members became the first U.S. government representatives to return full-time to Vietnam. Army Lt. Col. Thomas (“Ty”) Smith arrived in Hanoi a decade later, in 2003. Until They Are Home is both a heartfelt memoir and a fascinating inside look at his tour of duty in Vietnam, “a place of shadows within shadows, secrets within secrets." Smith takes the reader on an extraordinary personal voyage from the shaded French boulevards of Hanoi to the remotest jungle trails of the border highlands. Written with a keen eye and touches of humor, Until They Are Home recounts life in the very heart of the mission to find and return to the families the remains of their loved ones. It offers equal parts historical context, political insight, social commentary, travelogue, and adventure chronicle. From describing everything from his diplomatic negotations between the Vietnamese and American governments to presenting his view of commanding a remarkably complex mission in an unforgiving environment, Smith draws on memory, e-mails, letters, and journal entries to recreate the story of his mission in Vietnam. Smith and the forces serving under him found the remains of fourteen lost American servicemen—including two graduates of Texas A&M University. The gripping, intensely personal narrative of Until They Are Home will fascinate general readers interested in the Vietnam War and its aftermath and will prove helpful to historians seeking primary information. It will also have great appeal to those with continuing involvement in POW/MIA issues and concerns.