Islam has pointed to Jesus' parable of the prodigal son as proof that Jesus was a Muslim prophet. On the surface, the parable does seem to present a message of forgiveness based on behavior rather than on a Savior. But author Kenneth Bailey reveals the message of the cross that unfolds from a Middle Eastern understanding of the parable's details.

In Part One of this book, Kenneth Bailey presents a verse-by-verse commentary on the parable of the prodigal son in the context of the three parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and the lost son(s), adding cultural insights that the original Middle Eastern audience would have naturally understood. In Part Two he dramatizes the parable by means of a stage play that can be read or acted.

Iran and its Islamic society are entities we will encounter more and more in the coming years. "To understand Iran," the author states, "we need to understand Iranians." With this book he lifts the veil.

• What is the formal and informal system of government in the Islamic Republic of Iran?
• How do humility and pride characterize Shia Muslims in the land that once was Persia?
• Why does Iranian President Amadinejad obsess about the holocaust and nuclear power?
• How does Shia Islam differ from Sunni Islam?
• In what ways is Iran a progressive Muslim country?

"If we cannot understand the depth of feeling in the Muslim world toward Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Islam as a political force, then we will be doomed to failure in every encounter we have with that world."

Although American Greg Mortenson grew up on a Lutheran mission field near Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, a different mountain would determine his future. In memory of his sister Christa, he set out to carry her amber necklace up the formidable Himalayan peak, K-2 in Asia, wanting to leave it on the top of the world. The attempt failed. Then he lost his way during the descent. What seemed a disaster began a dramatic detour for Greg's life. Helped by the hard-working Muslim people who live in Korphe, a remote village among the jagged heights, Mortenson decided to adopt a compelling new goal - build schools in order to educate the underprivileged Muslim children of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially Muslim girls.

Later, while he was in the Zuudkhan region of far NW Pakistan visiting one of his many construction sites, Mortenson heard the tragic news of 9-11 on a Muslim friend's shortwave radio. Instead of destroying his dream, the attack on America urged him to press forward with his efforts. He was and remains convinced that providing a well-rounded education is the way to counter the radical madrassas that recruit and train naive, impoverished children for military jihad. Thus, the book's subtitle, "One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time."