The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton celebrates this author’s genius in a thoughtfully assembled book that provides new modern-spelling versions of Milton’s texts, expert commentary, and a wealth of other features that will please even the most dedicated students of Milton’s canon. Edited by a trio of esteemed scholars, this volume is the definitive Milton for our time.In these pages you will find all of Milton’s verse, from masterpieces such as Paradise Lost–widely viewed as the finest epic poem in the English language–to shorter works such as the Nativity Ode, Lycidas,, A Masque and Samson Agonistes. Milton’s non-English language sonnets, verses, and elegies are accompanied by fresh translations by Gordon Braden. Among the newly edited and authoritatively annotated prose selections are letters, pamphlets, political tracts, essays such as Of Education and Areopagitica, and a generous portion of his heretical Christian Doctrine. These works reveal Milton’s passionate advocacy of controversial positions during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth and Restoration periods. With his deep learning and the sensual immediacy of his language, Milton creates for us a unique bridge to the cultures of classical antiquity and medieval and Renaissance Christianity. With this in mind, the editors give careful attention to preserving the vibrant energy of Milton’s verse and prose, while making the relatively unfamiliar aspects of his writing accessible to modern readers. Notes identify the old meanings and roots of English words, illuminate historical contexts–including classical and biblical allusions–and offer concise accounts of the author’s philosophical and political assumptions. This edition is a consummate work of modern literary scholarship.

    Cromwell is dead but Charles II presides over an uncertain court. Now, with rumour of treason brewing in the Scottish Isles, the king needs men he can trust... Men like young Matthew Quinton, a loyal but inexperienced sea captain. Matthew's first command was lost at sea but this time he is determined to complete his mission. Vital to his success is Kit Farrell, a young mariner who has promised to help Matthew. In return, Matthew will teach Kit to read and write. And there is the surly Phineas Musk. Unpleasant he may be, but Musk will protect his master with his life. With their help, Matthew must tackle a resentful Cornish crew and the growing conviction that treason lies closer to home...

    From the Army's birth at the battle of Edgehill in 1642 to our current conflict in Afghanistan, this is history at its most relevant -- and most dramatic.

    Fox presents a thoroughly engrossing story, and one worthy of the greatest battle of the age of sail, the Four Days' Battle of 1666.

    Yet as long ago as the sixteenth century, British monarchs deployed what we might now describe as “spin.” In this book a leading historian reveals how Tudor kings and queens sought to enhance their authority by presenting themselves to best advantage. Kevin Sharpe offers the first full analysis of the verbal and visual representations of Tudor power, embracing disciplines as diverse as art history, literary studies, and the history of consumption and material culture.The author finds that those rulers who maintained the delicate balance between mystification and popularization in the art of royal representation—notably Henry VIII and Elizabeth I—enjoyed the longest reigns and often the widest support. But by the end of the sixteenth century, the perception of royalty shifted, becoming less sacred and more familiar and leaving Stuart successors to the crown to deal with a difficult legacy.

    With few friends, many rivals, and ever-shifting loyalties, Louise learns the perils of her new role. Yet she is too ambitious to be a pawn in the intrigues of others. With the promise of riches, power, and even the love of a king, Louise creates her own destiny in a dance of intrigue between two monarchs-and two countries.

    A Gambling Man is a portrait of Charles II, exploring his elusive nature through the lens of these ten vital years - and a portrait of a vibrant, violent, pulsing world, in which the risks the king took forged the fate of the nation, on the brink of the modern world.

    But its impact goes far beyond battles on the high seas. This lavishly illustrated tie-in to a major BBC series follows the progress of the Royal Navy from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to World War I. Noted historian Brian Lavery reveals how the Royal Navy shaped British industry, innovation, and identity, and eventually how that naval leadership, initiative and courage began to stagnate in the nineteenth century.

    The English reformers of the 1530s, with Thomas Cromwell at their head, continued to have a strong belief in kingly rule and authority, in contrast to their radical approach to the power of the Pope and the Roman Cathoic Church. Resisting the king was tantamount to resisting God in their eyes, and even on a matter of conscience the will of the king should prevail. Yet just more than 100 years later, Charles I was called the "man of blood," and Oliver Cromwell famously declared that "we will cut off his head with the crown on it." This history explores how the deferential Reformation become a regicidal revolution.

    The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak was one of the most popular nineteenth-century versions of the legend.In bringing together translations of the Scroll, four anonymous youth books, and other texts related to the development of the White Snake legend, this volume opens a window into the richness and variety of premodern Chinese popular literature. It also illustrates the ways in which traditional and modern Chinese societies have treated a host of vital cultural issues, including the role of women in society, perceptions of sexuality, and folk religion.Wilt L. Idema's Introduction traces the evolution of the legend and places the translated texts in the history of Chinese popular literature and culture. Annotations explaining terms and references that may be unfamiliar to Western readers, a glossary, and a thorough bibliography further enhance the value of this book for both scholars and students.

    These include the killing of "Sweet Fanny Adams" in 1867; the horrific murder committed by the postmaster at Grayshott in 1901; the mysterious poisoning of Hubert Chevis in 1943; and the gun battle in the village of Kingsclere in 1944, which resulted in the deaths of three people. Nicola Sly’s carefully researched, well-illustrated, and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the shady side of Hampshire’s history, and should give much food for thought.

    In contrast, the major set-piece battles are repeatedly analyzed and reassessed. As a result our understanding of the conflict, and of its outcome, is incomplete. John Barratt, in this lucid and perceptive account, makes the siege the focal point of his study. As well as looking at the theory and practice of siege warfare and fortification, he considers the often-devastating human impact. Using a selection of graphic examples, he shows how siege warfare could ruin the lives of the soldiers - and the civilians - caught up in it. He examines in detail a dozen sieges, using a combination of eyewitness accounts, other contemporary sources, archaeological surveys, and other modern research. His study provides a detailed and vivid reconstruction of these often neglected episodes of civil war history.

    The Moravian Church, or Unity of the Brethren, was the first Western church to make separation of church and state a matter of doctrine and policy. The Unity's vision for social and educational reform also sets it apart. Its theology centers on the key concepts of faith, love, and hope. The Unity--the heartbeat of the so-called Czech Reformation--was engaged with society and with other churches and did not retreat to isolationism, as did several movements in the Radical Reformation. Rather, the Unity continued to evolve as political and theological climates changed.

    Convinced she has nothing to offer, she is surprised to attract the honourable attentions of Squire Bolsover - and astounded to attract the dishonourable attentions of Lord Kit Malory.

    There were many acts of courage—from the heroic death of Captain Browning to the anonymous apprentice boys who played signal roles in the defense of the city. The book examines how the Jacobites might have achieved success, and the far reaching impact of the siege as a crucial event in the second British civil war. This is a military study of one of the most iconic episodes in Irish history, based on contemporary accounts, official records of the day, and published works on the siege. With an understanding of seventeenth-century warfare, especially siege craft, the author probes many of the myths that have grown up around the siege and sets it in its proper context.