Author: Gail Harland File Type: pdf Elegant flowers dressed in simple white and green, snowdrops look far too fragile to deal with wintry weather. But thats just what they do, and they have become treasured by horticulturalists for their ability to flower in the earliest parts of the year. In this book, Gail Harland explores the role snowdrops have played in gardens and popular culture alike, as a treasured genus for enthusiast growers and an important symbol of hope and consolation.br br Harland explores a variety of cultural meanings for the deceptively petit flower. In Victorian England snowdrop bands encouraged chastity among young women. They have been favorite subjects in paintings in many different eras, and today they are the iconic symbols of several hope-giving charities. Poets and writers have written extensively about them, as have pharmacists, who have used their chemical, galantamine, in the treatment of Alzheimers disease. Today some of their rarer bulbs can fetch record-breaking sums, and annual festivals that celebrate them draw people from all over the world. Walking among their brilliant white beds, Harland offers an ideal companion for any plant-lover who has ever eagerly awaited this treasured sign of spring. **

Author: Mosab Hassan Yousef File Type: mobi Son of Hamas is now available in softcover with an all-new chapter about events since the books release such as the revelation of Mosabs Israeli intelligence handlers true identity, and Homeland Securitys effort to deport the author.Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence, and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader. In Son of Hamas, Mosab reveals new information about the worlds most dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth about his own role, his agonizing separation from family and homeland, the dangerous decision to make his newfound faith public, and his belief that the Christian mandate to love your enemies is the only way to peace in the Middle East.ReviewSon of Hamas, written by Mosab Hassan Yousef and journalist Ron Brackin, is . . . a must-read book and one can only hope it becomes the basis of a major Hollywood motion picture. - Joel Rosenberghr--Amazon . . . a fascinating book. I couldnt put it down. - Sean Hannity --Fox News Hannity. . . a book more incendiary than any roadside IED . . . --GQ Magazine . . . intriguingly detailed . . . --Newsweek . . . one of the most extraordinary spy stories in history . . . David Asman, Americas Nightly Scoreboard, Fox Business Network. . . a Le Carreesque thriller wrapped in a spiritual coming-of-age story . . . (Matthew Kaminski )reads with the page-turning ease of a great thriller. (Claudia Rosett ) From the Inside FlapBefore the age of twenty-one, Mosab Hassan Yousef saw things no one should ever see abject poverty, abuse of power, torture, and death. He witnessed the behind-the-scenes dealings of top Middle Eastern leaders who make headlines around the world. He was trusted at the highest levels of Hamas and participated in the Intifada. He was held captive deep inside Israels most feared prison facility. His dangerous choices and unlikely journey through dark places made him a traitor in the eyes of people he lovesand gave him access to extraordinary secrets. On the pages of this book, he exposes events and processes that to this point have been known only by a handful of individuals. . . .Mosab Hassan (Joseph) Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding leader of Hamas, internationally recognized as a terrorist organization and responsible for countless suicide bombings and other deadly attacks against Israel. An integral part of the movement, Mosab was imprisoned several times by the Israeli internal intelligence service. After a chance encounter with a British tourist, he started a six-year quest that jeopardized Hamas, endangered his family, and threatened his life. He has since embraced the teachings of Jesus and sought political asylum in America. Ron Brackin has traveled extensively in the Middle East as an investigative journalist. He was in Bethlehem, Ramallah, Gaza, and Jerusalem during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. He was on assignment in Baghdad after the fall of Iraq and more recently with the rebels and refugees of southern Sudan and Darfur. He has contributed articles and columns to many publications, including USA Today and the Washington Times. Ron served as a broadcast journalist and a congressional press secretary in Washington after graduating from the University of Marylands Philip Merrill College of Journalism.