Despite the crucial importance of religion in American life, the place of religion in literary studies continues to take a backseat to trendier academic causes. This book helps remedy this deficiency by exploring the place of faith in the lives of writers beginning with Ralph Waldo Emerson.

A richly imagined portrait of an immigrant woman in the heady and unpredictable first half of the twentieth century. Sweeping and panoramic, You Were There Before My Eyes is the epic and intimate story of a young woman who chafes at the stifling routine and tradition of her small, turn-of-the-century Italian village. When an opportunity presents itself for her to emigrate to America, her hunger for escape compels her to leave everything behind for the gleaming promises that await her and her young husband in Mr. Ford’s factories. Determined to survive, and perhaps even thrive, young Jane finds herself navigating not just a new language and country, but a world poised upon the edge of economic and social revolution—and war. As Jane searches for inner fulfillment while building young family, the tide of history ebbs and flows. From the chaos of Ellis Island to the melting pot of industrial Detroit, You Were There Before My Eyes spills over with colorful characters and vivid period details. Maria Riva paints an authentic portrait of immigrant America and poignantly captures the ever evolving nature of the American dream.

The propulsive start of a dynamic space opera trilogy featuring a gunrunning empress who must navigate alien politics and deadly plots to prevent an interspecies war. Hail Bristol: former runaway princess, interplanetary gunrunner, Empress of Indrana. When the Empire's closest ally asks her to intervene in a galactic military crisis, she embarks on the highest stakes diplomatic mission Indrana has ever faced. Caught between two powerful alien civilizations at each other's throats, Hail has one chance to make peace, before all of humanity becomes collateral damage in a full-blown galactic war. Praise for There Before the Chaos: "An exciting dose of space opera and political intrigue peppered with hard choices. Highly recommended!" —Booklist "Twisty and clever and magnificent, full of political maneuvers, space action, and genuine feeling." —Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger The Farian War Trilogy There Before the Chaos Down Among the Dead Out Past the Stars For more from K. B. Wagers, check out: Indranan War Trilogy Behind the Throne After the Crown Beyond the Empire

The memoirs by Fridtjof Nansen tell about the epoch-making attempt to reach the North Pole, which ended in the farthest northern journey in the history of his time. Fridtjof Nansen had an extraordinary idea of how to get to the North Pole by ship. After discovering that the remains of the boat, wrecked near Russian Siberia, were found in the Northern Atlantic, he presumed that there should be some drift through the North Pole. So, he developed a specifically customized ship that was frozen into an ice cube and crossed the Polar waters in this shape. The vessel did freeze successfully. Yet, the journey was too long, and Nansen left the ship to reach the Pole on skis. He and his companion Hjalmar Johansen left for the pole but didn't manage to get it. However, they were the first people to achieve the farthest north latitude of 86°13.6′N. The story tells about this challenging journey through snow and waters makes a unique record of one of the most incredible northern expeditions.