Travel to the world of the Balkans with Mystical Emona: Soul's Journey and discover the secret lives of samovili (Veelas). You've met these wondrous, mysterious creatures in different books. Now let Mystical Emona introduce you to samovili as legend portrays them. Carina, the most enchanting maiden in all of Thrace, is ravished on her wedding day her ring cursed. It will bring happiness to none but her. The curse will be broken only when the ring guides her true love back to her. Every spring she goes to "the other side of the moon" to await the return of her soul mate. After centuries, the ring flashes like a beacon to guide a handsome man named Stefan to Emona. Stefan is a widowed artist from Boston, Mass, with a young daughter. He hopes moving to a secluded village on the Black Sea coast will ease his pain, and the wild, untamed beauty of this surrounding will inspire him to take up his art once again. He meets a mysterious woman and his life changes. He is drawn to her by some unknown bond, but cannot give his heart to her fully because his memories refuse to release their hold on him. Then the dreams begin. Some delightful. Others terrifying. Take the journey to Mystical Emona and find out if the lovers reunite. The book is sure to enchant you with its perfect blend of history, legends, rituals, and romance.

    When his bride-to-be is abducted the night before his wedding, Ivan Gelski takes to the hills and turns to banditry to seek revenge. But a chance encounter with a travelling guitarist, and the bloodshed that follows, set him on a musical journey through fame, martyrdom and legend. In this remarkable reinvention of the tale of Orpheus, Will Buckingham plunges us into the music and folklore of Bulgaria, in a parable about storytelling, sainthood and myth-making.

    It will take you to fresh climatic heights, unveiling new fascinating landscapes of human bigotry.The book offers a unique view on otherwise trivial subjects like the Spanish Reconquista and its incestuous but God-fearing masterminds Isabella and Ferdinand, the transatlantic voyages of a racist xenophobe called Christopher Columbus, the passion for ridiculous hats of an Ottoman sultan, the love affair between Charlemagne and Pope Leo III, and the discovery of America by Scandinavian socialists known as the Vikings.You will also find out that virtuous men, like Alexander the Great, only commit mistakes when they listen to women; what’s the difference between the author’s grandmother and Amelia Earhart; how many mummies did Europeans eat during the Renaissance; and why unicorns, who love the company of virgins, got extinct in the early 17th Century, never to be seen again.In the moments when it doesn’t reinvent history, the book offers a stomach-cramping map of horrible European food, a guide for dividing the Old Continent, a prophecy about the aftermath of the coming Blitzjihad, and a world map according to Facebook users.

    The fully updated guide includes unique cutaways, floorplans and reconstructions of the must-see sites, plus street-by-street maps of all the fascinating cities and towns. The new-look guide is also packed with photographs and illustrations leading you straight to the best attractions on offer.The uniquely visual DK Eyewitness Travel guide will help you to discover everything region-by-region; from local festivals and markets to day trips around the countryside. Detailed listings will guide you to the best hotels, restaurants, bars and shops for all budgets, whilst detailed practical information will help you to get around, whether by train, bus or car. Plus, DK's excellent insider tips and essential local information will help you explore every corner of Bulgaria effortlessly.DK Eyewitness Bulgaria Travel Guide - showing you what others only tell you.

    It will reveal the stupefying amalgam of superstition and paranoia of the Middle Ages. It will expose the pious madness of the Spanish Reconquista and its incestuous but God-fearing masterminds Isabella and Ferdinand. It will follow the voyages of a racist xenophobe called Christopher Columbus, study the genetic defects of the greatest Habsburg emperor, explore the competing eccentricity between the Roman popes and the Ottoman sultans, exhume the megalomaniac ambitions of Charlemagne, and examine the discovery of America by a reckless bunch of Scandinavian socialists known as the Vikings.You will also find out that scapegoats were the first domesticated animals; that virtuous men, like Alexander the Great, only commit mistakes when they listen to women; that most Egyptian mummies were eaten by enlightened Europeans during the Renaissance; and -- last but not least -- that unicorns, who reportedly love the company of virgins, got extinct in the early 17th Century, never to be seen again.The essays in this book are collected from the best-selling illustrated Atlas of Prejudice series by visual artist and writer Yanko Tsvetkov, developed for his world-renown Mapping Stereotypes project.