First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Between the Hammer and the Anvil?

Politics & Social Sciences

Ewing, Thomas Esson

Social Sciences

Routledge

Focusing on the decade from 1911 to 1921, which saw near cataclysmic upheavals throughout much of Eurasia that led to the collapse of major empires from the Hapsburg to the Romanov to the Qing, but also witnessed the rise of youthful regimes from their ashes. Among the latter was Outer Mongolia, which renounced two centuries of vasslage to China and declared its intention to create an independent, Westernized nation. This book examines the political maneuverings of Chinese and Russians over Mongolia's fate.

Between the Hammer and the Anvil?: Chinese and Russian Policies in Outer Mongolia, 1911-1921

History

Asia

Sinor Research Institute of Inner Asian Studies

Spring, 1096. Europe’s princes march their armies toward the Holy Land. They are accompanied by tens of thousands of pilgrims, led by a fiery preacher Peter the Hermit. Their destination is Jerusalem, the holiest of all Christian cities. Their goal is to conquer the Muslim occupation. History will call them the First Crusade.Among the pilgrims is Oderic of Rheims, a Benedictine monk from eastern France. He's devoted to the cause, but the Crusade will test every vow he swore to the Church. His poverty will be challenged by greed, his obedience tempted by blood lust. But it’s his oath of chastity facing the greatest trial, in a deep, secret love for Rebecca, a Jewish woman Oderic rescues on the long road to Jerusalem.The four-year journey is filled with unimaginable hardships and dangers: terrifying Turkish armies, impregnable cities, a death march, starvation, excruciating thirst, desertions. Ninety percent of the Crusaders will never see Europe again. As Oderic evolves from priest to warrior to lover, he realizes he will not return to Europe the same man. If he returns at all.

Jerusalem Falls: A Monk's Tale of the First Crusade

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Canoe Tree Press

In 1891, diphtheria struck a farming area west of Silverton, Oregon. A family called Simmons was particularly stricken by the disease, and they turned to the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel—who had established a monastery in the town only three years earlier—for help in caring for their ill children.The sisters responded to the call. For the next two months, indifferent to personal risk, they attended to the family, converting the Simmons farmhouse into a hospital, ministering to all their needs, praying for their recovery and refusing any payment for their services.Author Thomas Ewing is a descendant of the Simmons family. Call &amp; Responseis his tribute to the Benedictine Sisters and a fascinating history of the order’s presence in Mt. Angel, Oregon. Sixty-four years after the diphtheria epidemic, the Sisters assumed supervision of a small nursing home. Over the next decades, through ceaseless energy and devotion, they made thehome one of the finest in the nation, renowned for its innovation and compassion in caring for the elderly.“Of the Sisters’ many achievements—Mt. Angel College, the Shalom Prayer Center, and Mission Benedict—none quite equal the Benedictine Nursing Center, now the Providence Benedictine Nursing Center, either in scope or number of lives touched.”

Call and Response: A History of the Benedictine Nursing Center

World

DartFrog Books

In 1972, Thomas Esson Ewing left his home in Oregon for Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, to study Mongolian, Chinese, and Russian history and language. One of his professors in Tibetan history was a gentleman named Norbu, the brother of the Dalai Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and formerly the head abbot of a famous monastery in eastern Tibet.Over four years of doctoral study, Ewing became friendly with Norbu. One day, Norbu told of an ancient legend, about a Tibetan prince who journeyed to China, then ruled by the Tang Dynasty (7th to 10th centuries AD), to compete for the hand of a Chinese princess. It was a fascinating tale, one that Ewing never forgot. When he met and married an art student, Virginia Sala, she also fell in love with the story.Together the couple decided to retell the legend as an illustrated book. The result is The Prince of Tibet, which follows the adventures of a Tibetan noble, Prince Dendub, as he faces the mighty Tang Emperor Tai-tsu. First by war, then by wits, Dendub finally achieves peace and unity between China and Tibet.

The Prince of Tibet