Best of
17th-Century

2021

The Poison Keeper


Deborah Swift - 2021
    Three drops to kill.Giulia Tofana longs for more responsibility in her mother’s apothecary business, but Mamma has always been secretive and refuses to tell her the hidden keys to her success. But the day Mamma is arrested for the poisoning of the powerful Duke de Verdi, Giulia is shocked to uncover the darker side of her trade.Giulia must run for her life, and escapes to Naples, under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, to the home of her Aunt Isabetta, a famous courtesan. But when Giulia hears that her mother has been executed, and the cruel manner of her death, she swears she will wreak revenge on the Duke de Verdi.The trouble is, Naples is in the grip of Domenico, the Duke’s brother, who controls the city with the ‘Camorra’, the mafia. Worse, her Aunt Isabetta, under his thrall, insists that she should be consort to him.Based on the legendary life of Giulia Tofana, this is a story of hidden family secrets, and how courage and love can overcome vengeance.

The Swift and the Harrier


Minette Walters - 2021
    England is on the cusp of civil war.Jayne Swift, a daughter of the Dorset gentry, has resisted all offers of marriage and instead trained as a physician, using her skills to tend to her Royalist father's tenants and the local population. When civil war sweeps England she vows to remain neutral and aid the injured whether they be Royalist or Parliamentarian.William Harrier is first introduced to Jayne as footman to Lacy Alice, a Dorchester parliamentarian, but every time she encounters him, he seems to be in a different guise, and it's not always clear which side of the war he's fighting for.As the battles continue to rage, bringing pain and suffering to both sides, Jayne never wavers in her vow of neutrality. Throughout it all, from the terrifying siege of Lyme Regis, to the execution of the King, she always seems to find herself drawn back to William. But what does she really know of him? His past is a mystery, and his future seems uncertain.The Swift and the Harrier is a sweeping tale of adventure and loss, sacrifice and love with a unique and unforgettable heroine at its heart.

Salem Witch Trials: A History from Beginning to End


Hourly History - 2021
    During the bitter winter of 1692/93, a group of Puritan young women in the colonial town of Salem, Massachusetts, accused more than two hundred of their neighbors and fellow townspeople of using witchcraft to injure and torment them. This was an incredibly serious allegation that led to sensational court proceedings and ended with the execution of nineteen people. Since then, it has been the subject of many works of literature and other entertainment. Uncover this dark story which is still shrouded in mystery to this day.Discover a plethora of topics such asThe Puritans of the MayflowerThe Accusations BeginMass Hysteria in SalemThe First ExecutionsCorey’s Death by PressingThe Legacy of Witchcraft in SalemAnd much more!

Now and Then Stab (Francis Bacon Mystery, #7)


Anna Castle - 2021
    

The Wrecking Storm (Thomas Tallant, #2)


Michael Ward - 2021
    

James Buchanan: A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of US Presidents)


Hourly History - 2021
    He would later leave the farm for law school and, after that, politics. Buchanan’s ascent to the presidency was a careful and steady rise; he checked all of the requisite boxes and took all of the necessary steps he believed the office required, but nevertheless, when Buchanan was inaugurated president in March of 1857, he had inherited a powder keg that was just waiting to explode into the turmoil that was the American Civil War.James Buchanan has since been lambasted as being the great appeaser who placated the South enough to embolden them to secede from the Union. He is frequently listed as one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States. Buchanan himself, however, always held out the hope that history would vindicate him and the role he played. In this book, we explore James Buchanan’s life—before, during, and after the American Civil War—in full.Discover a plethora of topics such asLife, Love, and LossA Man of Manifest DestinyBuchanan in BritainPresident Buchanan: The Early YearsThe Outbreak of the Civil WarLife after the PresidencyAnd much more!

Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic


Jennifer L. Morgan - 2021
    Morgan draws on the lived experiences of enslaved African women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to reveal the contours of early modern notions of trade, race, and commodification in the Black Atlantic. From capture to transport to sale to childbirth, these women were demographically counted as commodities during the Middle Passage, vulnerable to rape, separated from their kin at slave markets, and subject to laws that enslaved their children upon birth. In this way, they were central to the binding of reproductive labor with kinship, racial hierarchy, and the economics of slavery. Throughout this groundbreaking study, Morgan demonstrates that the development of Western notions of value and race occurred simultaneously. In so doing, she illustrates how racial capitalism denied the enslaved their kinship and affective ties while simultaneously relying on kinship to reproduce and enforce slavery through enslaved female bodies.

Bitter Magic


Nancy Hayes Kilgore - 2021
    But Scotland is aflame with wars over religion and "correct" belief-English against Scots, Catholics against Protestants-and in the Scottish Highlands, the witch craze is at its height. When Margaret starts to meet with Isobel to learn magic, Isobel is accused of witchcraft, and Margaret becomes a suspect, too. Can Margaret's tutor, Katharine, a Christian mystic, affect the outcome?

Winds of Change


Dionne Haynes - 2021
    This is a story about her life in Leyden and why she made the voyage to America.This story introduces Desire Minter, a character from Dionne Haynes' novel "Running With The Wind".

The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe


Gábor Ágoston - 2021
    The Last Muslim Conquest transforms our understanding of the Ottoman Empire, showing how Ottoman statecraft was far more pragmatic and sophisticated than previously acknowledged, and how the Ottoman dynasty was a crucial player in the power struggles of early modern Europe.In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Gábor Ágoston captures the grand sweep of Ottoman history, from the dynasty's stunning rise to power at the turn of the fourteenth century to the Siege of Vienna in 1683, which brought an end to Ottoman incursions into central Europe. He discusses how the Ottoman wars of conquest gave rise to the imperial rivalry with the Habsburgs, and brings vividly to life the intrigues of sultans, kings, popes, and spies. Ágoston examines the subtler methods of Ottoman conquest, such as dynastic marriages and the incorporation of conquered peoples into the Ottoman administration, and argues that while the Ottoman Empire was shaped by Turkish, Iranian, and Islamic influences, it was also an integral part of Europe and was, in many ways, a European empire.Rich in narrative detail, The Last Muslim Conquest looks at Ottoman military capabilities, frontier management, law, diplomacy, and intelligence, offering new perspectives on the gradual shift in power between the Ottomans and their European rivals and reframing the old story of Ottoman decline.