Valerie Hansen – författare

The Open Empire takes an integrative, thematic approach to early Chinese history, using the concept of the “open empire” to highlight the dynamic, porous nature of China’s past. Hansen builds her chronological narrative on a rich variety of archeological and literary sources to flesh out the details of daily life, family relations, and social hierarchies.In the Second Edition, the narrative has been updated with findings from recent scholarship and streamlined throughout to highlight the main themes. A new chapter on the Qing Empire, 1600–1800, carries the story of the “open empire” up to the birth of modern China.

Park rangers facing deadly foes…Two tales of danger in the Grand CanyonIn Canyon Under Siege by Valerie Hansen, hostages’ lives hang in the balance as FBI agent Holly Forbes works with her former crush, park ranger Gabe McClelland, to outwit dangerous criminals. And in Jodie Bailey’s Missing in the Wilderness, a rescue mission turns into a race for pure survival when a killer begins stalking park ranger Morgan Dunham and her military ex-husband, Eric Larson.

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different--and far more interesting--as revealed in this new history.In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. For centuries, key records remained hidden-sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and China.

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different, and far more interesting, as revealed in this new history. In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archaeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. For millennia, key records remained hidden--often deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from northwest China to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. Hansen notes that there was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Hansen writes that silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different--and far more interesting--as revealed in this new history.In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. For centuries, key records remained hidden--sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi''an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China''s main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road''s transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and China.

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different--and far more interesting--as revealed in this new history.In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. For centuries, key records remained hidden--sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi''an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China''s main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road''s transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and China.

"Typically wide-ranging, informative, and illuminating . . . a lovely book" Peter FrankopanWhen did globalization begin? Most observers have settled on 1492, the year Columbus discovered America. But as celebrated Yale professor Valerie Hansen shows, it was the year 1000, when for the first time new trade routes linked the entire globe, so an object could in theory circumnavigate the world. This was the 'big bang' of globalization, which ushered in a new era of exploration and trade, and which paved the way for Europeans to dominate after Columbus reached America.Drawing on a wide range of new historical sources and cutting-edge archaeology, Hansen shows, for example, that the Maya began to trade with the native peoples of modern New Mexico from traces of theobromine - the chemical signature of chocolate - and that frozen textiles found in Greenland contain hairs from animals that could only have come from North America.Moreover, Hansen turns accepted wisdom on its head, revealing not only that globalization began much earlier than previously thought, but also that the world's first anti-globalization riots did too, in cities such as Cairo, Constantinople, and Guangzhou.Introducing players from Europe, the Islamic world, Asia, the Indian Ocean maritime world, the Pacific and the Mayan world who were connecting the major landmasses for the first time, this compelling revisionist argument shows how these encounters set the stage for the globalization that would dominate the world for centuries to come.

This intriguing book explores how ordinary people in traditional China used contracts to facilitate the transactions of their daily lives, as they bought, sold, rented, or borrowed land, livestock, people, or money. In the process it illuminates specific everyday concerns during China's medieval transformation. Valerie Hansen translates and analyzes surviving contracts and also draws on tales of the supernatural, rare legal sources, plays, language texts, and other anecdotal evidence to describe how contracts were actually used. She explains that the educated wrote their own contracts, whereas the illiterate paid scribes to draft them and read them aloud. The contracts reveal much about everyday life: problems with inflation that resulted from the introduction of the first paper money in the world; the persistence of women's rights to own and sell land at a time when their lives were becoming more constricted; and the litigiousness of families, which were complicated products of remarriages, adoptions, and divorces. The Chinese even armed their dead with contracts asserting ownership of their grave plots, and Hansen provides details of an underworld court system in which the dead could sue and be sued. Illustrations and maps enrich a book that will be fascinating for anyone interested in Chinese life and society.

Discover how history is made up of the captivating stories of interesting people with Hansen/Curtis' VOYAGES IN WORLD HISTORY, 4E. Every chapter in this updated edition centers on the story of a different historic traveler while reinforcing a central theme -- the constant movement of people, goods and ideas throughout the world. The fascinating voyages of merchants, poets, rulers, explorers, soldiers, missionaries or scholars provide the framework for each chapter. New discussion questions and features prompt you to carefully consider and debate what you are reading. New inserts and special features demonstrate how information connects across chapters, societies and time periods. You learn about people, places and events that are crucial to understanding the global context of world history. MindTap digital resources are available with learning tools such as interactive maps. This edition is available as a complete volume or split into VOLUME 1: TO 1600 and VOLUME 2: SINCE 1500.

Discover how history is made up of the captivating stories of interesting people with Hansen/Curtis' VOYAGES IN WORLD HISTORY, 4E. Every chapter in this updated edition centers on the story of a different historic traveler while reinforcing a central theme -- the constant movement of people, goods and ideas throughout the world. The fascinating voyages of merchants, poets, rulers, explorers, soldiers, missionaries or scholars provide the framework for each chapter. New discussion questions and features prompt you to carefully consider and debate what you are reading. New inserts and special features demonstrate how information connects across chapters, societies and time periods. You learn about people, places and events that are crucial to understanding the global context of world history. MindTap digital resources are available with learning tools such as interactive maps. This edition is available as a complete volume or split into VOLUME 1: TO 1600 and VOLUME 2: SINCE 1500.

Discover how history is made up of the captivating stories of interesting people with Hansen/Curtis' VOYAGES IN WORLD HISTORY, 4E. Every chapter in this updated edition centers on the story of a different historic traveler while reinforcing a central theme -- the constant movement of people, goods and ideas throughout the world. The fascinating voyages of merchants, poets, rulers, explorers, soldiers, missionaries or scholars provide the framework for each chapter. New discussion questions and features prompt you to carefully consider and debate what you are reading. New inserts and special features demonstrate how information connects across chapters, societies and time periods. You learn about people, places and events that are crucial to understanding the global context of world history. MindTap digital resources are available with learning tools such as interactive maps. This edition is available as a complete volume or split into VOLUME 1: TO 1600 and VOLUME 2: SINCE 1500.

In her study of medieval Chinese lay practices and beliefs, Valerie Hansen argues that social and economic developments underlay religious changes in the Southern Song. Unfamiliar with the contents of Buddhist and Daoist texts, the common people hired the practitioner or prayed to the god they thought could cure the ill or bring rain. As the economy rapidly developed, the gods, like the people who worshiped them, diversified: their realm of influence expanded as some gods began to deal on the national grain market and others advised their followers on business transactions. In order to trace this evolution, the author draws information from temple inscriptions, literary notes, the administrative law code, and local histories. By contrasting differing rates of religious change in the lowland and highland regions of the lower Yangzi valley, Hansen suggests that the commercial and social developments were far less uniform than previously thought. In 1100, nearly all people in South China worshiped gods who had been local residents prior to their deaths. The increasing mobility of cultivators in the lowland, rice-growing regions resulted in the adoption of gods from other places.Cults in the isolated mountain areas showed considerably less change. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In her study of medieval Chinese lay practices and beliefs, Valerie Hansen argues that social and economic developments underlay religious changes in the Southern Song. Unfamiliar with the contents of Buddhist and Daoist texts, the common people hired the practitioner or prayed to the god they thought could cure the ill or bring rain. As the economy rapidly developed, the gods, like the people who worshiped them, diversified: their realm of influence expanded as some gods began to deal on the national grain market and others advised their followers on business transactions. In order to trace this evolution, the author draws information from temple inscriptions, literary notes, the administrative law code, and local histories. By contrasting differing rates of religious change in the lowland and highland regions of the lower Yangzi valley, Hansen suggests that the commercial and social developments were far less uniform than previously thought. In 1100, nearly all people in South China worshiped gods who had been local residents prior to their deaths. The increasing mobility of cultivators in the lowland, rice-growing regions resulted in the adoption of gods from other places.Cults in the isolated mountain areas showed considerably less change. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The authors of VOYAGES IN WORLD HISTORY never forget that history is made up of the stories of people. Each chapter of the text centers on a story -- a traveler‘s account that highlights the book‘s main theme, the constant movement of people, goods, and ideas. The travelers include merchants, poets, rulers, explorers, soldiers, missionaries, and scholars, and their voyages provide a framework for each chapter that will draw you into the intriguing stories of world history. Special features help you make connections across chapters, societies, and time periods as you explore the people, places, and events crucial to understanding world history and its global context. The print text integrates with MindTap, which includes an interactive map application that will transport you virtually to the locations each traveler visited. Available in the following split options: VOYAGES IN WORLD HISTORY, Third Edition Complete, Volume 1: To 1600, and Volume 2: Since 1500.

Indulge your fantasies of delicious Regency Rakes, fierce Viking warriors and rugged Highlanders. Be swept away into a world of intense passion, lavish settings and romance that burns brightly through the centuries She had made a solemn promise to see her younger sister to safety in California. But the endless journey across the frontier was proving a heartbreaking test of courage and endurance for Faith Beal. All she had to sustain her was her steadfast belief in a loving God–and the guiding hand of a stranger who truly seemed heaven-sent. Connell McClain was her selfless guardian as their wagon train slowly made its way west.And as they shared the dangers of the trail–and the closeness of a covered wagon–Faith felt the first tender stirrings of love for this roughhewn yet caring man. But would the secrets that seemed to haunt him threaten their growing feelings for one another?

Indulge your fantasies of delicious Regency Rakes, fierce Viking warriors and rugged Highlanders. Be swept away into a world of intense passion, lavish settings and romance that burns brightly through the centuries After surviving an unhappy marriage, Charity Beal avoids men. But compassion gets the better of her when she encounters Thorne Blackwell, a rugged shipping magnate in the midst of crisis. His brother has vanished, and hired guns are after his brother's wife and son. To save them, Thorne faces a grueling journey through the wild Oregon Territory. In order to succeed, he needs Charity's help.Through roiling rivers and lush mountain passes, Charity's kindness and faith awakens Thorne to a strength he never knew. But before he can heal her wounded heart and win her love, he has to save their party from the sharpshooter stalking their every step.

Indulge your fantasies of delicious Regency Rakes, fierce Viking warriors and rugged Highlanders. Be swept away into a world of intense passion, lavish settings and romance that burns brightly through the centuries Valerie Hansen's basic nature is to see the humorous side of life and enjoy every day to the fullest. She's always loved stories about people who have successfully met life's challenges and gone on to find happiness, so writing joyful love stories is a perfect outlet for her. Her personal life sounds a lot like a romance novel. She married her high school sweetheart and they raised two great kids before leaving California to pursue their dreams of a rural lifestyle in the Arkansas Ozarks.That relocation has also given her work a new, more spiritual focus than ever before. Valerie had gone to Sunday school as a child and attended church off and on as an adult, but didn't really understand what was missing in her spiritual life until daily problems drove her to seek answers from a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. What a surprise! And what a difference in outlook. In the years that followed, she was continually amazed at the extraordinary opportunities that came her way. She still is.Valerie has always loved to write. That, and the strong conviction that this is what she was meant to do, led her to Steeple Hill and the Love Inspired series. Besides extensive research, she has plenty of interesting experiences to draw upon when creating stories: She's been a veterinary assistant, teacher's aide, volunteer fire department dispatcher, Emergency Medical Technician, bank worker, professional artist, store clerk, bookkeeper, 4-H leader, Sunday school teacher, gospel singer/songwriter, winning quiz show contestant, dog trainer, college extension-class instructor, and antique restorer. She's built dulcimers and a psaltery, laid bricks and tile, designed stained-glass windows, roofed a house, decorated store windows for the holidays, helped pour cement, raised fancy guinea pigs and finches, driven a long-haul moving van, and was once the proud owner of 23 Newfoundland dogs at one time. Her advice? Don't try that at home!Valerie and her husband now live on an 80-acre farm in northern Arkansas. She loves to hike the rocky, wooded hills behind the picturesque old house they renovated, watch for the wildlife so abundant in the area and think up new ideas for her books. She's always been a dreamer, a romantic who invented happier endings for books and movies that didn't already end on a lighthearted note. She was an adult before she realized that everybody didn't automatically do the same thing! Valerie Hansen can be reached at: P. O. Box 13, Glencoe, AR 72539-0013. Or via e-mail at: val@valeriehansen. com.

SAFEGUARDING THREE LITTLE ORPHANS Fire captain Mitch Andrews can’t forget the three young children he saved from a fi re. A suspicious fi re that left them orphans. In the care of foster mother Jill Kirkpatrick, he knows the little ones will be loved. Even if the sweet, strong widow won’t let Mitch close to her.But suddenly the kids—and Jill—are in terrible danger…and one of the children is missing. Mitch and Jill will risk everything to fi nd the stolen girl and keep a makeshift family of five together forever. The Defenders: Protecting children in need.

THE DAVIS LANDING OBSERVER THE GOSSIP GURU …hears tough tycoon Tim Hamilton – the legitimate son currently running Hamilton Media for his ailing father – was seen squiring his assistant, Dawn Leroux, around town last week. Inside information is that Tim wrecked Dawn's car and offered to lend her a replacement, but her concern was with the people on her meal-delivery route.Only time will tell if the lovely Ms. Leroux's sweet nature can tame Tim's all-business beast and turn him into a human being.

When a tornado strikes a Kansas town without warning, wealthy businessman Greg Garrison rushes an orphaned boy to safety. His heroism–and kindness–stirs something inside single mother and secretary Maya Logan. Especially when her hard-nosed boss helps search for the child's missing dog. Suddenly, Greg is pitching in all over town–including her own destroyed home. Rebuilding efforts will take time. Yet Maya now has hope that there's room in her boss's much bigger heart for love…and family.

The pint-sized orphan had big, big plans… She longed for Graydon Payne to be her daddy, and Stacy Lucas to be her mommy. And there was only one way to bring them together: by running away…. Stacy would do anything to find the lost child – even face the man she never wanted to see again. She had managed to avoid Gray all these years. Now it was time to put their differences aside and join forces on a heart-wrenching mission.Since Gray had last seen Stacy, he had discovered something more powerful than his wealthy family. But it would take more than steadfast faith to locate the missing cherub in the vast Ozark wilderness – and to convince Stacy to give him another chance. It might even take a miracle….

Hi, Mom! Camp is going well. (I feel like a child writing home instead of the animal therapist assigned to work here with the troubled kids!) Since James Harris has seen the success of the program, the skeptical camp director is much more charming – we've been having some late night talks…and a surprising good-night kiss! He didn't even complain when I brought Roxy along – you remember how my sister didn't want to join me.And there was a scare – Roxy and another teen disappeared – but James and I found them. You know, Mom, I think James needs some healing of his own – his soul seems…wounded. I think my strong faith might even help him regain his…if he'll let me. Love, Megan

The little town in the Ozarks had always been a safe haven for Chancy Boyd. But now a disturbing series of crimes was moving ever closer to her, threatening everything she held dear. And a man unlike any she'd ever known was unsettling her in other ways…. Now a deadly tornado–her worst nightmare, ever since a twister had killed her parents–was racing toward the town.With the help of storm chaser Nate Collins, she'd have to face her deepest fears, both the storm gathering outside, and the storm this man unleashed in her heart.

TO: AL CRANE@CSSENTINEL.ORG FROM: COLLEEN MONTGOMERY@CSSENTINEL.ORG Boss, My reporter's nose smells a story brewing at the Double V Ranch. Word is that rancher Michael Vance has already lost several cows to a mystery ailment. This isn't the first odd thing to happen there, either –Michael's old foreman disappeared out of the blue, and his new one, Hector Delgato, is cagey. He bears watching.Meanwhile, Michael hired newcomer Layla Dixon as the housekeeper/vet while his injured housekeeper recovers, and the bohemian beauty is nothing like meat-and-potatoes Michael. I think romance might be in the air, but there is also something sinister starting up in Colorado Springs….