Assimilating Seoul, the first book-length study written in English about Seoul during the colonial period, challenges conventional nationalist paradigms by revealing the intersection of Korean and Japanese history in this important capital. Through microhistories of Shinto festivals, industrial expositions, and sanitation campaigns, Todd A. Henry offers a transnational account that treats the city’s public spaces as "contact zones," showing how residents negotiated pressures to become loyal, industrious, and hygienic subjects of the Japanese empire. Unlike previous, top-down analyses, this ethnographic history investigates modalities of Japanese rule as experienced from below. Although the colonial state set ambitious goals for the integration of Koreans, Japanese settler elites and lower-class expatriates shaped the speed and direction of assimilation by bending government initiatives to their own interests and identities. Meanwhile, Korean men and women of different classes and generations rearticulated the terms and degree of their incorporation into a multiethnic polity. Assimilating Seoul captures these fascinating responses to an empire that used the lure of empowerment to disguise the reality of alienation.

The Texas Landscape Project explores conservation and ecology in Texas by presenting a highly visual and deeply researched view of the widespread changes that have affected the state as its population and economy have boomed and as Texans have worked ever harder to safeguard its bountiful but limited natural resources. Covering the entire state, from Pineywoods bottomlands and Panhandle playas to Hill Country springs and Big Bend canyons, the project examines a host of familiar and not so familiar environmental issues. A companion volume to The Texas Legacy Project, this book tracks specific environmental changes that have occurred in Texas using more than 300 color maps, expertly crafted by cartographer Jonathan Ogren, and over 100 photographs that coalesce to fashion a broad portrait of the modern Texas landscape. The rich data, compiled by author David Todd, are presented in clearly written yet marvelously detailed text that gives historical context and contemporary statistics for environmental trends connected to the land, water, air, energy, and built world of the second-largest and second-most populated state in the nation. An engaging read for any environmentalist or conscientious citizen, The Texas Landscape Project provides a true sense of the grand scope of the Lone Star State and the high stakes of protecting it. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

Spiritual Gumbo is a book based on the testimonies of ordinary people who are members and friends of Agape Community Church in Lancaster, California. These testimonies are expressed through essays, poetry, short stories and sermons. There are even a few recipes thrown in for flavor. The naming of the book came from the finished manuscript which had a mixture of ingredients like a dish called gumbo. Gumbo is, "soup you can bite" or sink your teeth into. The ingredients in spiritual gumbo came from imperfect people who share how Jesus Christ has impacted and changed their lives. Spiritual Gumbo is for "unpeople". Unpeople are the unconcerned, the unspiritual, the unchurched and those who consider themselves unreachable. Spiritual Gumbo for the Hungry Heart is best experienced when read slowly over a period of time or it can be gobbled down in one sitting. If reading is exercise for the mind then reading Spiritual Gumbo is food for a hungry heart. It is a book you can sink your teeth into!

Chronicles of the Revolutionary War organizes the events of the tumultuous birth of the United States into easily read, short chapters. These chapters enliven the story of the American Revolution and capture the spirit of Americas patriot forebears with a balanced account that also respects their British and Tory antagonists. Ideal for students, or even for reading aloud at meetings of historical societies, the book received its inspiration from Patriot Medal recipient Clarence M. Carroll, who has had a lifelong interest in educating the public about American History. Even those who already have an excellent grasp of the history of the Revolutionary War can profit from this book, as it can also serve as a concise outline of that surprisingly broad and expansive subject.

What do I do now?! Face life's "forks in the road" and write your own future—fearlessly. Be guided to your own wisdom within the context of the always-present divine voice. Living into the Answers teaches a way to ask for and receive God's guidance as you approach an issue or choice. "Large or small, the decisions of life point toward particular paths," write Isenhower and Todd. "Paying attention to the process of discerning God's desire for our life starts us on a journey that leads to abundant life. ...It opens us to a larger number of life choices and to a more interactive relationship with God who calls us for future possibilities." Discernment isn't magic. It isn't passive. Discernment isn't a complicated mystical practice. Rather, it's a process of listening and choosing based on the understanding that God is to be at the center of decision making. The authors explain how to live in a way that satisfies the yearning for a deeper connection with the spiritual. There may not always be one "right" answer because there's no shortcut to knowing which job to take, house to buy or relationship to pursue. But we don't have to make these decisions alone. As people of faith, we know every aspect of our lives is important to God, who created us for a purpose. Living into the Answers is an inspiring and practical personal workbook that introduces tools and practices that invite God in as we consider priorities and alternatives guides us to create prayerfully considered options helps us live with the confidence that God will use our choices to invite us into a deeper and more fruitful relationship With Isenhower and Todd as your guides, you'll learn how to make every decision an opportunity for living in God's presence more deeply.