The "illuminating" (Los Angeles Times) answer to why Israel and Palestine's attempts at negotiation have failed and a practical, "admirably measured" (The New York Times) roadmap for bringing peace to the Middle East--by an impartial American diplomat experienced in solving international conflicts.George Mitchell knows how to bring peace to troubled regions. He was the primary architect of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement for peace in Northern Ireland. But when he served as US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace from 2009 to 2011--working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--diplomacy did not prevail. Now, for the first time, Mitchell offers his insider account of how the Israelis and the Palestinians have progressed (and regressed) in their negotiations through the years and outlines the specific concessions each side must make to finally achieve lasting peace.

Compelling, poignant, enlightening stories from former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell about growing up in Maine, his years in the Senate, working to bring peace to Northern Ireland and the Middle East, and what he's learned about the art of negotiation during every stage of his life. It's a classic story of the American Dream. George Mitchell grew up in a working class family in Maine, experiencing firsthand the demoralizing effects of unemployment when his father was laid off from a lifelong job. But education was always a household priority, and Mitchell embraced every opportunity that came his way, eventually becoming the ranking Democrat in the Senate during the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Told with wit, frankness, and a style all his own, Senator Mitchell's memoir reveals many insights into the art of negotiation. Mitchell looks back at his adventures in law and politics-including instrumental work on clean air and water legislation, the Iran-Contra hearings, and healthcare reform-as well as life after the Senate, from leading the successful Northern Ireland peace process, to serving as chairman of The Walt Disney Company, to heading investigations into the use of steroids in baseball and unethical activity surrounding the Olympic Games. Through it all, Senator Mitchell's incredible stories-some hilarious, others tragic, all revealing-offer invaluable insights into critical moments in the last half-century of business, law, and politics, both domestic and international.

John Bunyan is certainly one of history's most famous authors. His book, The Pilgrim's Progress, has been read by more Christians than any other book except the Bible. With such great fame, it is surprising hwo few know the story of Bunyan's life and work in Bedford, England. He was a man who fixed pots and pans for a living, but also loved to preach the Gospel. He spent almost fifteen years in prison for preaching and during those years wrote over sixty books. His contributions were great and his faith in Christ was strong. This book draws us into the life of a man who served Christ first, no matter the circumstances.

Phoenician traders believed it marked the end of the world. To the Greeks and Romans, it was one of the mythological Pillars of Hercules. For centuries, strategic Gibraltar, the massive limestone ""Rock"" also known as the ""Gateway to the Mediterranean,"" was besieged by marauders and vanquishers. In 1504, Spain prevailed over the Moors and formally annexed Gibraltar to its Crown. Two hundred years later, the Spanish were forced to surrender their Rock to British Admiral Sir George Rooke; the event triggered an altercation that has yet to be resolved. ""The Dispute Over Gibraltar"" helps clarify the conflict for students, explaining how the failure of Spain's claim to set specific boundaries on land or at sea led to an unstable situation in which the border changed depending on the status of Spanish-British relations and their comparative military strength. Still, monarchy and population viewed the two-and-a-quarter-square-mile territory as ""the key to Spain,"" and despite signing a treaty ceding the territory, the Spanish government maintains that no foreign country can exercise sovereignty over the Rock because it is an integral part of its territory. Diplomatic attempts to recover the Rock have been no more successful than military sieges; nor has international intervention in the form of a UN resolution calling for Spain and Britain to negotiate an end to the conflict. Britain, Spain, and the population disagree about fundamental issues and have not been able to reach a settlement agreeable to all parties.

The Balkan Wars of the 1990s ripped the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia apart and resulted in war crimes and atrocities not seen in Europe since World War II. But these wars entailed more than territorial disputes - they were the result of arbitrary social, cultural, and ethnic borders that have developed over centuries. This lucid book will help students understand how the location and accessibility of the lands of the South Slavs determined Yugoslavia's volatile history as a battleground of peoples, empires, and cultures. Historically, Yugoslav lands have been located in the ""fracture zone"" between East and West, Christianity and Islam, and have always been a focus of international rivalries. In the 20th century, two Yugoslavias were created and destroyed: the first from 1918 to 1941; the second from 1945 to 1991. Both Yugoslavias struggled with externally imposed borders, striving to achieve a viability that eluded them in the end. Readers will find ""The Breakup of Yugoslavia: Conflict in the Balkans"" an instructive example, and cautionary tale, of the centrality of arbitrary borders in the development of societies and nations in world history.