A royal prince escapes his always anxious parents and together with his pet tortoise visits the mountain of the gods

The Perfect Peach: A Story

Schwartz, Stephen

Lubin, Leonard B.

Little,Brown & Co

In this informed, compelling exploration of Moslem beliefs and of the sectarian conflicts within the community, a Jewish historian paints a sympathetic portrait of mainstream Islam and exposes the centuries-old roots of Osama bin Laden’s extremism. The difficult, protracted war against terrorism has raised unsettling questions about the nature of Islam and its influence on America’s declared enemies. In The Two Faces of Islam, Stephen Schwartz, who has devoted years to the study of Islam, explains its complex history and describes the profound philosophical and religious differences that distinguish traditional beliefs from the radical sects that have sprung up over the past fifteen hundred years. He focuses on Wahhabism, the puritanical sect to which Osama bin Laden belongs. Founded in the eighteenth century by a radical cleric, this intolerant “Islamo-fascist” sect became the official creed of the Saudi Arabian state and has been exported to Moslem countries from the Balkans to the Philippines, as well as to Islamic communities in Western Europe and the United States. By setting the current upheavals within an historical and religious context, Schwartz demonstrates that Osama bin Laden and his followers are not really fighting a war against America. Rather, they are engaged in a revolution within Islam itself–a movement that parallels the turmoil within Christianity during the sixteenth century. Schwartz not only exposes the collusion of the Saudi Arabian government in the spread of radical Islam (which makes them at best reluctant allies of the West), he shows that the majority of Moslems have little sympathy for the Wahhabis and that many openly denounce their motivations and goals. A riveting narrative that never smacks of propaganda, The Two Faces of Islam is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand who we are fighting, what our enemies believe, and who our friends in the Moslem world really are.

The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror

Religion & Spirituality

DOUBLEDAY

In 2005, two then-officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were indicted for handing over classified information to a foreign power. That the power in question was assumed to be Israel brought fresh credibility to a conspiracy theory that had been floating around Washington for years: that a powerful “Jewish lobby” controls U.S. policy in the Middle East. The run-up to the Iraq war had provided new grist for this theory. A group of largely Jewish neoconservatives were among the architects of the war, and their motivations for removing Saddam Hussein were alternately ascribed to oil interests and the need to protect Israel. The allegations against these neoconservatives—especially former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz—echoed the case of the notorious Jonathan Pollard who pled guilty of spying for Israel in 1986. In this biting and incisive polemic, journalist and author Stephen Schwartz confronts the myth of a Jewish lobby head on, asking questions that no one else has dared to pose. What is the “Jewish lobby”? How powerful is it? What was its involvement in the preparations for war in Iraq? Was there really a “cabal” of neoconservative Jews in the administration of George W. Bush? How did AIPAC officials come to be accused, in 2004, of espionage? Above all, what is good for the Jews, and who decides it? Many of us forget that in the 1930s, a genuine home-grown fascist movement arose in America. At that time, Schwartz reminds us, it was not the official representatives of the Jewish community that stood up to the fascist goons of New York City, but Jewish socialists—the antecedents of today’s neoconservatives. Likewise, today, it has not been the meek and timid leaders of the supposedly all-powerful Jewish Lobby that have defended the Jews but the reviled “neocons” in the Bush Administration. Their strategic vision projects a foreign policy that is both good for America and good for the Jews. As a result, Schwartz predicts an increasing turn for Jewish voters away from their dysfunctional marriage with the Democratic Party and toward the Republicans. Ultimately Schwartz concludes that in today's America, a “Jewish lobby” may no longer be necessary. In the face of the threatened collapse of the Lobby, he argues, American Jews should openly and proudly assume their proper role as moral and religious exemplars for their fellow Americans and cease acting like a frightened minority.

Is It Good for the Jews?: The Crisis of America's Israel Lobby

Judaism

This eye-opening, insightful exploration of Sufism, the spiritual tradition that has supported Islam for more than a thousand years, shows why it offers a promising foundation for reconciliation between the Western and Muslim worlds. Many Americans today identify Islam with maniacal hatred of the West. The Other Islam transforms this image and opens the way to finding common ground in our troubled times. Sufism, a blend of the mystical and rational tendencies within Islam, emerged soon after the revelation of Muhammad. A reforming movement against the increasing worldliness of Muslim society, it focuses on Islam’s spiritual dimension. Described as “Islam of the Heart,” Sufism has attracted adherents among both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, as well as Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists. In The Other Islam, Stephen Schwartz traces the origins and history of Sufism, elucidates its teachings, and illustrates its links to the other religions. He comments on such celebrated Sufi poets and philosophers as Rumi and Al-Ghazali, and narrates their influence on the Kabbalah, on the descendants of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, and on Christian mystics like Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Ávila as well as the American transcendentalists. Furthermore, Schwartz presents a fresh survey of Sufism in today’s Islamic world, anticipating an intellectual renaissance of the faith and alternatives to fundamentalism and tyranny in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.

The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Harmony

Secret Vaults of Time is the acknowledged classic in its field. As described by Publishers Weekly: Schwartz compelling and cogent book is new evidence that the thinking and writing on things psychic has...attained a maturity that commands the most serious attention. It covers 100 years of research around the world involving the use of remote viewing in archaeology.

The Secret Vaults of Time

Literature & Fiction

Penguin Adult HC/TR

An inspirational portrait of business teamwork shows how the troubled IBM corporation won the 1989 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for quality improvement, which led to the company's revitalization. 25,000 first printing.

The Quality Journey: How Winning the Baldridge Sparked the Remaking of IBM

Business & Money

Boyett, Joseph H.

Osterwise, Laurence

Bauer, Roy

Processes & Infrastructure

Dutton

A cultural history spanning almost five centuries explores the origins of California with its Spanish, Asian, European, and Native American roots, and covers everything from its first discovery through the birth of radicalism on the campus of Berkeley.

From West to East: California and the Making of the American Mind

History

Americas

Free Press

From the Academy Award(R)-winning composer of the Broadway shows Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show as well as the animated films The Prince of Egypt and Pocahantas. This definitive songbook offers more than 40 great songs, including: Beautiful City * Butterflies Are Free * Colors of the Wind * Corner of the Sky * Day by Day * Gifts of Love * In Whatever Time We Have * Meadowlark * Out There * The Spark of Creation * Through Heaven's Eyes * When You Believe.

The Stephen Schwartz Songbook: Piano/Vocal/Chords

Arts & Photography

Music

Alfred Music

A gift book featuring the new song created by an Oscar-winning composer and a Grammy-winning lyricist for the Disney movie Pocahontas features original artwork and haunting verses about the legendary love between Pocahontas and Captain John Smith.

Colors of the Wind: From Disney's Pocahontas

Menken, Alan

Children's Books

Hyperion Books

A beautifully-illustrated songbook in full color. 8 songs, including: Colors of the Wind * Listen With Your Heart * The Virginia Company * and more. Songs are by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. 81 inch. x 101 inch.

Disney's Pocahontas Illustrated Songbook

walt-disney-productions

Arts, Music & Photography

HAL LEONARD CORPORATION

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Books by Schwartz, Stephen