for the book comes from deeply personal stories from survivors of war and displacement who rebuilt homes and livable environments in the a†ermath of traumatic violence. My grandparents and parents lived through the Second World War, experiencing destruction of their homes (on the maternal side) and hunger (on the paternal side). As a college student, I had the privilege to meet and talk with former members of the Dutch Resistance and concentration camp survivors while I worked at the Dutch National War and Resistance Museum at Overloon, the Netherlands. Particularly in‡uential was Harry van Daal, the secretary of the museum board and a former member of the resistance. My next formative experience was conducting „eldwork in northern Namibia in the early €€s, in the immediate a†ermath of the end of the liberation war against Apartheid South Africa. The women and men who shared their life histories with me were victims of wars and displacement that had transformed their villages, farms, and „elds into smoldering ashes, yet they rebuilt lives and livelihoods among ruins and graves with an incredible energy and determination that inspired their children and grandchildren.