Michael Braswell

At the outset of the Civil War, two southern soldiers, one from Alabama, the other from Tennessee, their friendship forged in the fire of battle, embark on a journey of self-discovery. Having escaped capture and destruction at Fort Donelson, they struggle westward to join up with the regiment of the Alabamian's two brothers, only to find themselves, cold, weary, and exhausted, caught in the futile struggle at Island No. 10. Taken prisoner, eventually only one of the four will survive their ordeal. Although a meticulously researched and historically accurate novel, one resonant with vivid detail, it is less about war, in the sense of battles, tactics and strategy, as it is about men at war. It is a journey of identity and self-discovery, as the men struggle to get "home." It is about friendship, family, tenderness, loss, wrongdoing, and redemption. Zevitz and Braswell have crafted a genuinely moving story that evokes emotions such as courage, fear, camaraderie, anger, shame, sadness, and perhaps even hope. It is an authentic tale of men at the grassroots level of war, where life was rough-hewn and precarious. Stephen G. Fritz, Ph. D. East Tennessee State University Author of Frontosldaten: The German Soldier in World War II The Trials and Tribulations of a Confederate Soldier is a realistic novel of historical fiction which shows humans harrowing hell but retaining hope. The writing is consistently very good, often beautiful in its description of persons and places, conveying unobtrusively, the "stamp of verity." Robert J. Higgs Ph. D. Author of God in the Stadium

At the outset of the Civil War, two southern soldiers, one from Alabama, the other from Tennessee, their friendship forged in the fire of battle, embark on a journey of self-discovery. Having escaped capture and destruction at Fort Donelson, they struggle westward to join up with the regiment of the Alabamian's two brothers, only to find themselves, cold, weary, and exhausted, caught in the futile struggle at Island No. 10. Taken prisoner, eventually only one of the four will survive their ordeal. Although a meticulously researched and historically accurate novel, one resonant with vivid detail, it is less about war, in the sense of battles, tactics and strategy, as it is about men at war. It is a journey of identity and self-discovery, as the men struggle to get "home." It is about friendship, family, tenderness, loss, wrongdoing, and redemption. Zevitz and Braswell have crafted a genuinely moving story that evokes emotions such as courage, fear, camaraderie, anger, shame, sadness, and perhaps even hope. It is an authentic tale of men at the grassroots level of war, where life was rough-hewn and precarious. Stephen G. Fritz, Ph. D. East Tennessee State University Author of Frontosldaten: The German Soldier in World War II The Trials and Tribulations of a Confederate Soldier is a realistic novel of historical fiction which shows humans harrowing hell but retaining hope. The writing is consistently very good, often beautiful in its description of persons and places, conveying unobtrusively, the "stamp of verity." Robert J. Higgs Ph. D. Author of God in the Stadium

How would you feel if you were Esau and your brother Jacob had stolen your birthright? What impact would Jesus's intervention have on the rest of your life if you were the adulteress he rescued from the mob ready to stone her? If Peter and Judas accidentally met on the night before the resurrection of Christ, what do you think they would say to each other? Interview with Joab, a collection of 15 scripture-based what-if stories, offers the reader an opportunity to reflect on and discuss well-known Bible stories in a fresh, thought-provoking way. The brief commentaries and questions following each story are designed for personal and small group study. These biblical what-ifs demonstrate the relevance of these timeless truths and God's lessons for contemporary individuals, families, and communities.

How would you feel if you were Esau and your brother Jacob had stolen your birthright? What impact would Jesus's intervention have on the rest of your life if you were the adulteress he rescued from the mob ready to stone her? If Peter and Judas accidentally met on the night before the resurrection of Christ, what do you think they would say to each other? Interview with Joab, a collection of 15 scripture-based what-if stories, offers the reader an opportunity to reflect on and discuss well-known Bible stories in a fresh, thought-provoking way. The brief commentaries and questions following each story are designed for personal and small group study. These biblical what-ifs demonstrate the relevance of these timeless truths and God's lessons for contemporary individuals, families, and communities.

From drinking sweet tea on a beloved grandmother's porch to playing army to witnessing prejudice and violence or receiving the lash, these stories illustrate growing up in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, what it felt, tasted, and looked like through the eyes of the boys who lived it.

There are stages we find ourselves experiencing along our way to God. Mystery, a sense of new beginning, crossroad experiences, suffering, and transcendence are stages that challenge us time and again as we search for a closer relationship with the one we seek. Our pilgrimage is not linear but more of a spiral toward God. Michael Braswell is Professor Emeritus at East Tennessee State University. His previous books include Interview with Joab, God's Scoundrels and Misfits with Clemens Bartollas, An Unholy Alliance: The Sacred and Modern Sport with Robert J. Higgs, and Morality Stories with Joycelyn Pollock and Scott Braswell.

This book views peacemaking as a broad, encompassing process that is expressed in many different shapes and forms. It blends ancient-wisdom traditions, peacemaking criminology, and restorative justice principles as a way of intervening with offenders in both institutional and community-based settings. Philosophical and spiritual contexts for peacemaking are presented that form a foundation for understanding the potential for peacemaking in criminological thought, the criminal justice system, and society in general.

This book views peacemaking as a broad, encompassing process that is expressed in many different shapes and forms. It blends ancient-wisdom traditions, peacemaking criminology, and restorative justice principles as a way of intervening with offenders in both institutional and community-based settings. Philosophical and spiritual contexts for peacemaking are presented that form a foundation for understanding the potential for peacemaking in criminological thought, the criminal justice system, and society in general.