New Releases by Stephen Mitchell

A sweeping historical account of the Later Roman Empire incorporating the latest scholarly research In the newly revised 3rd edition of A History of the Later Roman Empire, 284-700, distinguished historians Geoffrey Greatrex and Stephen Mitchell deliver a thoroughly up-to-date discussion of the Later Roman Empire. It includes tables of information, numerous illustrations, maps, and chronological overviews. As the only single volume covering Late Antiquity and the early Islamic period, the book is designed as a comprehensive historical handbook covering the entire span between the Roman Empire to the Islamic conquests. The third edition is a significant expansion of the second edition—published in 2015—and includes two new chapters covering the seventh century. The rest of the work has been updated and revised, providing readers with a sweeping historical survey of the struggles, triumphs, and disasters of the Roman Empire, from the accession of the emperor Diocletian in AD 284 to the closing years of the seventh century. It also offers: A thorough description of the massive political and military transformations in Rome’s western and eastern empires Comprehensive explorations of the latest research on the Later Roman Empire Practical discussions of the tumultuous period ushered in by the Arab conquests Extensive updates, revisions, and corrections of the second edition Perfect for undergraduate and postgraduate students of ancient, medieval, early European, and Near Eastern history, A History of the Later Roman Empire, 284-700 will also benefit lay readers with an interest in the relevant historical period and students taking a survey course involving the late Roman Empire.

“I love The First Christmas. What a charming way Stephen Mitchell has found to tell my favorite story of all, the Nativity, character by character (I love the donkey and the ox), with wise and thrilling interludes about God, reality, truth.” –Anne Lamott In The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced characters and a setting that reflects the culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Jesus with a sense of beauty that will delight and astonish readers. In this version, we see the world through the eyes of a Whitmanesque ox and a visionary donkey, starry-eyed shepherds and Zen-like wise men, each of them providing a unique perspective on a scene that is, in Western culture, the central symbol for good tidings of great joy. Rather than superimposing later Christian concepts onto the Annunciation and Nativity scenes, he imagines Mary and Joseph experiencing the angelic message as a young Jewish woman and man living in the year 4 bce might have experienced it, with terror, dismay, and ultimate acceptance. In this context, their yes becomes an act of great moral courage. Readers of every background will be enchanted by this startlingly beautiful reimagining of the Christmas tale.

“A unique and special kind of masterpiece.” —John Banville Stephen Mitchell’s gift is to breathe new life into ancient classics. In Joseph and the Way of Forgiveness, he offers us his riveting novelistic version of the Biblical tale in which Jacob’s favorite son is sold into slavery and eventually becomes viceroy of Egypt. Tolstoy called it the most beautiful story in the world. What’s new here is the lyrical, witty, vivid prose, informed by a wisdom that brings fresh insight to this foundational legend of betrayal and all-embracing forgiveness. Mitchell’s retelling, which reads like a postmodern novel, interweaves the narrative with brief meditations that, with their Zen surprises, expand the narrative and illuminate its main themes. By stepping inside the minds of Joseph and the other characters, Mitchell reanimates one of the central stories of Western culture. The engrossing tale that he has created will capture the hearts and minds of modern readers and show them that this ancient story can still challenge, delight, and astonish.

Science has shown the universe to be vastly larger, more intricately designed, and much older than early people imagined. One group of Christians, young earth creationists, claim that the earth is only about six thousand years old and that earth''s rock record was largely laid down by one catastrophic event, Noah''s flood. Stephen Mitchell, a Christian geologist, uses the geology of Texas and nearby areas to show solid evidence that demonstrates that the young earth explanations for geology just do not stand up. Many features that we find just do not fit the history that they say took place. Does that mean that the Bible accounts are invalid? Not at all! Stephen examines four questions that fundamentally show how the scientific data corresponds to the early chapters of Genesis: - Can the Bible be reconciled with the scientific understanding of time? - Can the story of Adam and Eve be reconciled with the scientific data? - Is the biblical account of Noah''s flood a record of a real historical event? - If so, when was it and what might it have looked like?

Perfect has lost nearly all meaning. A way of life, faith and theology without perfection.

Lacy Gray is a 21-year-old college senior, a committed Christian and gifted multi-sport athlete from Pennsylvania, attending school in Northern California. Her beautiful new roommate, Renee Lajoie, from Louisiana, is also an accomplished athlete. Because of their dedication to sports, they have never had much of a social or love life. Against all their beliefs and standards, they fall in love with one another. The story tells how God, through his amazing love and grace, worked in their lives to forgive their sin and bring them back to him; and then how he introduced Lacy to the right kind of love.

A headlong adrenaline-rush of a new novel from one of our most beloved and original writers: Slade House, which has its origins in Mitchell''s famously Twitter-released short story last year, is his most entertaining and accessible novel yet. A cycle of linked ghost stories perfect for any dark and stormy night. An ordinary road in a town like yours: bus routes and red-brick houses. A dank narrow alley, easy to miss, even when you''re looking for it. A small black metal door set into the wall: no handle, no keyhole, but at your touch it opens onto a sunlit garden, sloping up to a house that doesn''t quite make sense... Go through, and the door closes discreetly behind you. In David Mitchell''s exhilarating new novel, five "guests" separated by nine years enter Slade House for a brief visit--only to vanish without trace from the outside world. Who draws them to the heart of Slade House, and why is the house missing from maps? Beginning in 1979 and ending in 2015, these five interlacing narratives will enchant Mitchell''s readers, old and new, with a signature blend of mystery, realism and the supernatural.

The Bone Clocks follows the twists and turns of Holly''s life from a scarred adolescence in Gravesend to old age on Ireland''s Atlantic coast as Europe''s oil supply dries up - a life not so far out of the ordinary, yet punctuated by flashes of precognition, visits from people who emerge from thin air and brief lapses in the laws of reality. For Holly Sykes - daughter, sister, mother, guardian - is also an unwitting player in a murderous feud played out in the shadows and margins of our world, and may prove to be its decisive weapon.

The Second Edition of A History of the Later Roman Empire features extensive revisions and updates to the highly-acclaimed, sweeping historical survey of the Roman Empire from the accession of Diocletian in AD 284 to the death of Heraclius in 641. Features a revised narrative of the political history that shaped the late Roman Empire Includes extensive changes to the chapters on regional history, especially those relating to Asia Minor and Egypt Offers a renewed evaluation of the decline of the empire in the later sixth and seventh centuries Places a larger emphasis on the military deficiencies, collapse of state finances, and role of bubonic plague throughout the Europe in Rome’s decline Includes systematic updates to the bibliography

Girls are under-represented when it comes to superhero movies, toys and other merchandise. This wonderful group of authors decided to do something about it. Within these pages, you will find stories of female superheroes to enchant and delight. You will read all about their powers and their masked identities and then get to read a short story that gives you insight into who they are or who they will become. You''ll find action, adventure, magic and betrayal. You''ll find everyday female heroes, as well as super-powered heroines and devious villains. From friendly encounters to government conspiracies, 27 new superhero tales, featuring female superheroes, can be found represented in these stories, written by 24 different authors. This Expanded Edition contains additional illustrations. Edited by Rebecca Fyfe Foreword written by Emmie Mears Cover art by Julia Lela Stilchen A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book will be donated to the Because I am a Girl organization.

Lucas McAfferty is a former student, and now facing the issues that come with young adult life. He suffers self doubt, and romantic pain, as he journeys onwards into adulthood.

All richly illustrated with lustrous line drawings throughout, they are here for young readers to rediscover: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Abu Keer and Abu Seer, and Aladdin and the Magic Lamp in its original setting of China. These stories will bring you to a whole new world; one where clever wit will save the day, thieves give chase with swords and spears, kings can kill with a glance, honesty is rewarded with a vast, unheard-of treasure.

"Pasazer statku, z utesknieniem wygladajacy konca podrozy przez Pacyfik w 1850 roku; wydziedziczony kompozytor, usilujacy oszustwem zarobic na chleb w Belgii lat miedzywojennych; dziennikarka-idealistka w Kalifornii rzadzonej przez gubernatora Reagana; wydawca ksiazek, uciekajacy przed gangsterami, ktorym jest winien pieniadze; genetycznie modyfikowana uslugujaca z restauracji, w oczekiwaniu na wykonanie wyroku smierci; i Zachariasz, chlopak z wysp Pacyfiku, ktory przyglada sie, jak dogasa swiatlo nauki i cywilizacji - narratorzy Atlasu Chmur slysza nawzajem swoje echa poprzez meandry dziejow, co odmienia ich los zarowno w blahym, jak i w donioslym wymiarze."--Cover.

From Stephen Mitchell comes an anthology of poetry chosen from the world''s great religious and literary traditions--the perfect companion to Mitchel''s bestselling translation of Tao Te Ching • The Upanishads • The Book of Psalms • Lao-tzu • The Bhagavad Gita • Chuang-tzu • The Odes of Solomon • Seng-ts''an • Han-shan • Li Po • Tu Fu • Layman P''ang • Kukai • Tung-shan • Symeon the New Theologian • Izumi Shikibu • Su Tung-p''o • Hildegard of Bingen • Francis of Assisi • Wu-men • Dõgen • Rumi • Mechthild of Magdeburg • Dante • Kabir Mirabai • William Shakespeare • George Herbert • Bunan • Gensei • Angelus Silesius • Thomas Traherne • Basho • William Blake • Ryõkan • Issa • Ghalib • Bibi Hayati • Wait Whitman • Emily Dickinson • Gerard Manley Hopkins • Uvavnuk • Anonymous Navaho • W. B. Yeats • Antonio Machado • Rainer Maria Rilke • Wallace Stevens • D.H. Lawrence • Robinson Jeffers

This is the essential pregnancy guide for dads-to-be and comes complete with must-have man-centric checklists so you won''t forget anything. From the joys of conception, the pain of labour and the exhilaration of birth, this easy-to-read book will empower you with authentic, reassuring, realistic, bloke-authoritative advice so you can be the most supportive and useful partner ever for your pregnant other half. This is more than what to expect, it is what to do...for blokes. Congratulations and enjoy the ride.

"A riot of goldfish taken from Kingyo: the artistry of Japanese goldfish by Kazuya Takaoka and Sachiko Kuru ... 2004"--T.p. verso.

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER David Mitchell''s novels have captivated critics and readers alike, as his Man Booker shortlistings and Richard & Judy Book of the Year award attest. Now he has written a masterpiece. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the kind of book that comes along once in a decade - enthralling in its storytelling, imagination and scope. Set at a turning point in history on a tiny island attached to mainland Japan, David Mitchell''s tale of power, passion and integrity transports us to a world that is at once exotic and familiar: an extraordinary place and an era when news from abroad took months to arrive, yet when people behaved as they always do - loving, lusting and yearning, cheating, fighting and killing. Bringing to vivid life a tectonic shift between East and West, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is dramatic, funny, heartbreaking, enlightening and thought-provoking. Reading it is an unforgettable experience.

The bestselling, widely acclaimed translation from Stephen Mitchell "Mitchell''s rendition of the Tao Te Ching comes as close to being definitive for our time as any I can imagine. It embodies the virtues its translator credits to the Chinese original: a gemlike lucidity that is radiant with humor, grace, largeheartedness, and deep wisdom." — Huston Smith, author of The Religions of Man In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao-tzu''s Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, provides advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit, and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao—the basic principle of the universe.

"If Mr. Mitchell gives an eloquent account of the effects of Job''s poetry in his introduction, in the translation itself he does even better: he makes those effects come alive. Writing with three insistent beats to the line, and hammering home a succession of boldly defined images, he achieves a rare degree of vehemence and concentration." — John Cross, New York Times The Book of Job pulses with moral energy, outrage, and spiritual insight; it is nothing less than human suffering and the transcendence of it. Now, The Book of Job has been translated into English by the eminent translator and scholar Stephen Mitchell, whose versions of Rilke, Israeli poetry, and the Tao Te Ching have been widely praised. This is the first time ever that the Hebrew verse of Job has been translated into verse in any language, ancient or modern, and the result is a triumph.

Following the phenomenal success of his own version of the Tao Te Ching, a renowned scholar and translator delivers a 21st-century form of ancient wisdom into the modern world.

“Byron Katie is one of the truly great and inspiring teachers of our time. I encourage everyone to immerse themselves in this phenomenal book.” –Dr. Wayne W. Dyer In her first two books, Loving What Is and I Need Your Love–Is That True? Byron Katie showed how suffering can be ended by questioning the stressful thoughts that create it. Now, in A Thousand Names for Joy, she encourages us to discover the freedom that lives on the other side of inquiry. Stephen Mitchell–the renowned translator of the Tao Te Ching–selected provocative excerpts from that ancient text as a stimulus for Katie to talk about the most essential issues that face us all: life and death, good and evil, love, work, and fulfillment. With her stories of total ease in all circumstances, Katie does more than describe the awakened mind; she lets you see it, feel it, in action.

Stephen Mitchell is widely known for his ability to make ancient masterpieces thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and create versions that are definitive for our time. His celebrated version of the Tao Te Ching is the most popular edition in print, and his translations of Jesus, Rilke, Genesis, and Job have won the hearts of readers and critics alike. Stephen Mitchell now brings to the Bhagavad Gita his gift for breathing new life into sacred texts. The Bhagavad Gita is universally acknowledged as one of the world''s literary and spiritual masterpieces. It is the core text of the Hindu tradition and has been treasured by American writers from Emerson and Thoreau to T. S. Eliot, who called it the greatest philosophical poem after the Divine Comedy. There have been more than two hundred English translations of the Gita, including many competent literal versions, but not one of them is a superlative literary text in its own right. Now all that has changed. Stephen Mitchell''s Bhagavad Gita sings with the clarity, the vigor, and the intensity of the original Sanskrit. It will, as William Arrowsmith said of Mitchell''s translation of The Sonnets to Orpheus, "instantly make every other rendering obsolete."

The classic guide for Zen students pursuing the true way. “Somebody comes into the Zen center with a lighted cigarette, walks up to the Buddha-statue, blows smoke in its face and drops ashes on its lap. You are standing there. What can you do?” This is a problem that Zen Master Seung Sahn was fond of posing to his American students who attended his Zen centers. Dropping Ashes on the Buddha is a delightful, irreverent, and often hilariously funny living record of the dialogue between Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn and his American students. Consisting of dialogues, stories, formal Zen interviews, Dharma speeches, and letters using the Zen Master’s actual words in spontaneous, living interaction, this book is a fresh presentation of the Zen teaching method of “instant dialogue” between Master and student which, through the use of astonishment and paradox, leads to an understanding of ultimate reality.

David Mitchell comes home - to England, 1982, and the cusp of adolescence. Jason Taylor is 13, doomed to be growing up in the most boring family in the deadest village (Black Swan Green) in the dullest county (Worcestershire) in the most tedious nation (England) on earth. And he stammers. 13 chapters, each as self-contained as a short story, follow 13 months in his life as he negotiates the pitfalls of school and home and contends with bullies, girls and family politics. In the distance, the Falklands conflict breaks out; close at hand, the village mobilises against a gypsy camp. And through Jason''s eyes, we see what he doesn''t know he knows - and watch unfold what will make him wish his life had been as uneventful as he had believed. Vividly capturing the mood of the times - high unemployment, Cold War politics and the sunset of agrarian England - this is at once a portrait of an era and of an age: the black hole between childhood and teenagerdom.

Introducing an innovative four-pronged approach to self-liberation, this intriguing guide shows how to dissolve the debilitating stories we tell ourselves, which in turn allows the truth of "what is" to give rise to a life of new fulfillment and happiness. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.

Amusingly absurd and playfully profound, this delightfully illustrated volume of original poems is sure to tickle the fancy of children and adults alike. It happened on a winter’s day (The air was cold, the sky was gray): Out walking in the woods alone, I came upon a wishing bone. What would you do if everything you wished came true? How does a white rhinoceros take his tea? Where can you find the elusive purple tiger? Who wanders in the whiffle bog on a bilgy, bulgy night? Resonating with childlike questions, the fanciful poems in THE WISHING BONE invite readers to think and to dream. Full of illustrations as fresh and whimsical as the verse, here is a collection to read aloud and savor for its sheer verbal and visual exuberance.