Book excerpt: Americans are watching the news with expectant eyes, full of apprehension about what will happen next. Is it too early to worry that the times are winding down? Mark Hitchcock, a Dallas Theological Seminary graduate and recognized expert on end times theology, distills the seven essential signs of the end, as foretold in the Bible. In this fifth book of his authoritative series on biblical prophecy, Hitchcock cuts straight to the heart of an urgent topic, providing the information people need as they try to evaluate the state of their world.