As he lay dying, his priest, family, and friends offered him a last chance to confess his mendacity, and Marco, it is said, replied "I have not told the half of what I saw and did." Now Gary Jennings has imagined the half that Marco left unsaid as even more elaborate and adventurous than the tall tales thought to be lies. From the palazzi and back streets of medieval Venice to the sumptuous court of Kublai Khan, from the perfumed sexuality of the Levant to the dangers and rigors of travel along the Silk Road, Marco meets all manner of people, survives all manner of danger, and, insatiably curious, becomes an almost compulsive collector of customs, languages and women.In more than two decades of travel, Marco was variously a merchant, a warrior, a lover, a spy, even a tax collector - but always a journeyer, unflagging in his appetite for new experiences, regretting only what he missed. Here - recreated and reimagined with all the splendor, the love of adventure, the zest for the rare and curious that are Jennings's hallmarks - is the epic account, at once magnificent and delightful, of the greatest real-life adventurer in human history.

    Rich, colorful and bursting with excitement, this remarkable story turns James Alexander Thom's power and passion for American history to the epic story of Tecumseh's life and give us a heart-thumping novel of one man's magnificent destiny--to unite his people in the struggle to save their land and their way of life from the relentless press of the white settlers.

    Across an ocean, through decades of danger and desire, this is Alexandria's life-the life of an indomitable woman who gives her tormented heart to two bold men, who travels to distant America in search of a dream and in flight from a love that would follow her to the end of her days, and who creates a dynasty in the years preceding the Civil War.

    This powerfully written book recreates the warm life of the family, the dangers of the battlefield, the grueling journeys across an untamed wilderness, and the soul-stirring Lewis and Clark Expedition. This mighty epic is a fitting tribute to the wisdom and courage of Ann Rogers Clark, her husband John, and the ten sons and daughters they nurtured and inspired.

    Now published for the first time in one volume.In Fire From Heaven a young Alexander unravels the mysteries of a violent adult world and discovers the divinity deep within him. Later, as he conquers ever eastwards, the love between him and Bagoas is immortalised in The Persian Boy. Then, as death comes to Alexander in Funeral Games, the human vultures gather round.

    When she returns in 1945, she finds a country and a family she neither understands nor likes, and vice versa.

    Scott Gandy has always been a gambling man, relying on his lazy Southern charm to smooth a way out of difficult situations. Hoping to make his fortune, he opens a saloon in Proffitt, Kansas. But he soon becomes a target of the prohibition movement, led by the owner of the hat shop next door to his establishment – the enchanting yet volatile Agatha Downing.The saloon keeper and the prim and proper milliner are hopeless adversaries… until the innocence of a child opens their eyes and hearts to each other.

    Take me back to Oxmoon and make it live again!"Oxmoon, the rambling old mansion on a sprawling estate in Wales, has been for generations, the dream, the downfall, and the destiny of the wealthy Godwin family. They are entranced by tales of glittering parties where young lovers waltzed beneath the chandeliers as the orchestra played "The Blue Danube Waltz". They are ensnared by the family legacy of madness, murder, and doomed romance --- the disastrous consequences of 19th-century Gwyneth Godwin's scandalous affair with sheep farmer Owen Bryn-Davies.

    Briac, is a man with a perfect life – bold, witty, and splendid to behold, he is the King of France’s trusted knight.But the day that captivating Aimée de Fleurance appears in the woods to interrupt a hunt, St. Briac’s life is turned on end. When she takes her sister’s place and joins the royal court to avoid an arranged marriage, St. Briac is drawn unwillingly into her impetuous scheme.To save Aimée from the king’s bed, St. Briac shocks them both by declaring that they are betrothed. After all, marriage is the last thing he wants, especially to this infuriating maiden…Journey back to the magical world of 16th century France and join Aimée and St. Briac for an adventure filled with enchantment, laughter, and sensuous passion!

    For this was Durham in the 1830's, when employers tended to regard the spread of education with suspicion. But now Seth Millican was dead and she was a widow with the need to find a home and a living for herself and her children.The chance of becoming a housekeeper didn't work out, but it led to Moor House and a scholarly recluse obsessed with that very book learning that could open so many doors and yet create so many problems; especially with her daughter, Biddy, who was not only bright, but witful...THE BLACK VELVET GOWN is the story of a mother and daughter, often at odds with each other, facing the need to challenge and fight the prejudice of an age—a narrative of great power and diversity that is one of Catherine Cookson's major achievements.

    The young would clash on the bloody battlefields of Bull Run and Fredericksburg, while in intrigue-ridden Washington and Richmond strong-willed men and beautiful women would defend their principles with their lives...or satisfy illicit cravings with schemes that could destroy friends and enemies alike. This surging drama is the second part of the trilogy that includes NORTH AND SOUTH and HEAVEN AND HELL. "Craftsmanship nears artistry....A coherent and penetrating vision of the seamy underside of war." (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

    In 1785 a runaway orphan joins a band of travelling players and, learning the tricks of their trade and of Madame Bonneville's child brothel, seeks the acceptance of the volatile, charming, mysterious showman, Jack.

    But when he laid her gently back against the buffalo robe in his tepee, she felt strangely safe. And when the handsome, bronzed savage began to explore her body with soft kisses and sensuous caresses, her senses reeled with undreamt-of pleasure. Forever left behind was the genteel Philadelphia society in which she had been raised, as she gave herself completely to forbidden ecstasy...SEASON OF LOVEWindhawk gave a gasp of surprise when he first set eyes on the lovely white woman Joanna. Her red gold hair was the color of the prairie sunset, her eves the purple of twilight. Though she feared him--fought him--he would take her for his wife. But when he cradled her in his arms, her soft moans were as rapturous, her kisses as urgent, as his own... and he knew that the heights of passion awaited them in the SAVAGE AUTUMN.

    No one has a good time on a pirate ship. No one, that is, but the pirates. Yet there she was, Merry Wilding - kidnapped in error, taken from a ship bound from New York to England, spirited away in a barrel and swept aboard the infamous Black Joke....There she was, trembling with pleasure in the arms of her achingly handsome, sensationally sensual, golden-haired captor - Devon. From the storm-tossed Atlantic to the languid waters of the Gulf Stream, from a smuggler's den to a gilded mansion, Merry struggled to escape...to escape the prison of her own reckless passions, the bondage of sweet, bold desire...

    It is a frosty April evening in occupied Belgium when a beautiful young woman finds herself on the run from the enemy. Also being pursued is Ned Scott, a British army major who has been badly injured. The pair find themselves at a hospital run by the famous Edith Cavell, who agrees to treat the major while offering them both refuge and a false identity - she names the young girl Anna.However it seems no one is safe, and as details of Anna's true identity emerge, the enemy's net tightens. Meanwhile, the major is torn between his desire to stand by brave Edith and the knowledge that he must escape.Closely watched wherever they go, is there anyone these three people can trust? And will love have the power to overcome the horrors of war?

    What right had this supercilious rake, Trevelyan de Villars, to incessantly force his attentions on her? Rebecca far preferred Trevelyan's charming friend, the noble Sir Peter Ward. Indeed, her dreams of handsome Sir Peter aimed straight for the altar!What Rebecca soon discovered duly horrified her. For her dear Sir Peter and the contemptible Trevelyan had formalized a bet--that Trevelyan could seduce the very proper widow within a month's time.Still, Trevelyan's attentions grew ever more passionate. And Rebecca found (to her horror!) that she thrilled to his touch. As her heart strove to resist this irresistible cad, she suddenly saw what he really was: A libertine no more--now at last and forever in love!

    In The Twelfth Transforming, Pauline Gedge tells the rich and dramatic story of Akhenaten's catastrophic rule -- and of the Empress Tiye, whose efforts to save her beloved country from her pharaoh son unwittingly bring a curse upon the land. In scene after scene, ancient Egypt comes vividly to life: the splendour of the imperial courts; the unrelenting heat of the desert; the misery wrought upon the land when the life-giving Nile fails in its annual inundation. The Twelfth Transforming is historical fiction at its finest, an epic of a ruler, a dynasty, and a people confronting their glorious and tragic destiny.

    The only nice thing that happened to him was Opal, the small, tough, Yorkshire beauty who married him. But by the time the 20s came, Edgar was on the dole, and Opal was pregnant for the second time. Bitterness began to corrode Edgar's spirit. But Opal was a fighter - she wasn't going to let the times, the drudgery, the poverty destroy her or her family. She started with a 'house shop', just sweets and cotton reels sold from the top of her sideboard, and from then on she didn't stop - for Opal's dream was her own department store and a grand life for all of them...

    Travelling on the high seas to Savannah, Georgia, fiery beauty Kathleen Haley finds herself powerfully attracted to the dashing and dangerous Captain Reed Taylor, and when circumstances force them to marry, she must endure his brutal passions and his secret alliance with pirates, which prompts her s

    Still she longed to escape from Oregon . . . and the nightmares that left her shaking, screaming one man's name. Banner fled to the Washington Territory to accept position with Dr. Adam Corbin . . . arrogant, handsome and rumor said, violent. Although Banner respected his skills, she was unnerved by the very nearness of this moody, powerful man. His past was a mystery, that would challenge her to the utmost . . . for Banner was determined to win Adam Corbin's heart!

     Can Vicky foil the plans of a shameless fortune hunter? Regency England After breaking off her engagement, society belle Vicky Seymour decides to return to her childhood home in the countryside. On the way, she crosses paths with the menacing Andrew Massingham, who is about to elope with naïve young heiress Drucilla Hedgely. Believing Andrew to be an unscrupulous fortune hunter, Vicky decides to take Drucilla with her. Furious at the desertion, Andrew soon chases after them. But when disaster strikes, Andrew and Vicky are forced into uncomfortably close quarters. Each wilful and accustomed to having control, their personalities soon start to clash. And though Vicky believes herself incapable of falling in love, it may prove difficult to protect her heart… The Luckless Elopement by Dorothy Mack is a classic Regency Romance with a witty, spirited heroine.

    Some called her a healer, for her tenderness could gentle the wildest creature. Amid the thorny tangle of the War of the Roses, Lady Isabella Ashley grew to womanhood.Isabella soon learned that affairs of love were just as treacherous as intrigues of the court. Many clamored for her hand, but only one would claim her heart. For Isabella demanded nothing less than a man whose iron will matched her own, whose passion blazed as hot as the sun, and who was worthy enough to bring to blossom the . . .

    The story centres around two families and one woman. The families clash through years of class welfare, drama, heartache and love affairs, for in every way they stand opposed. The Richardsons are copper barons - lords of the Sweyn's Eye copper smelting industry, rich, powerful, facing only reluctantly the possibility that their wealth may be in jeopardy as the demand for copper wanes. The Llewelyns are a poor family, facing every day the prospect of unemployment and all its attendant miseries - too poor to afford more than a pauper's funeral when Mrs Llewelyn dies, too proud to allow the neighbours to know. Linking these two very different families is one fiery and determined woman - Mali Llewelyn. On her shoulders rest the burden of the family fortunes. When she is offered a job in the local laundry she takes it - determined to fight her way to prosperity as a businesswoman, while in secret she battles with her hopeless love for Sterling Richardson, heir to the copper kingdom of Sweyn's Eye.

    She was an Indian princess, a refined lady, a warrior, an enchantress. Fearless, independent, hauntingly beautiful, she was the most sought-after woman in the New Mexico territory. But no man had ever claimed her supple body or tamed her proud heart. Certainly not the handsome, arrogant, new Army officer who undressed her with his insolent silver gaze!From the moment he saw her, Major Kanen Benedict knew she would be his. No woman had ever refused him, certainly not this green-eyed, black-haired, buckskin clad temptress! He would use her, then forget her. But when at last he caressed her trembling flesh and molded her soft, yielding curves to his lean, hard strength, he knew he could never let her go. He would win her love and carry her with him to the enchanted wonderland of enchanted ecstasy.

    A novel of the life of Henry VIII’s last queen – Katherine Parr.

    Will Rising had dragged himself from humble beginnings to his own small tailoring business in Gloucester - and on the way he'd fallen violently in love with Florence, refined, delicate, and wanting something better for her children. March was the eldest girl, the least loved, the plain, unattractive one who, as the family grew, became more and more the household drudge. But March, a strange, intelligent, unhappy child, had inherited some of her mother's dreams. March Rising was determined to break out of the round of poverty and hard work, to find wealth, and love, and happiness.

    A strong, rebellious donkey with a checkered career is sold to a man named Joseph, and during a journey to Bethlehem proves a great help to him and his pregnant wife Mary.

    But they're headed west to California to find gold, and that's no place for a girl to be. So Caroline takes matters -- and scissors -- into her own hands. By cutting her hair and donning the clothes of a gold-hungry young boy, Caroline goes west. One of the young men traveling with her was handsome Dan Riddle, who treats her the way he would any young boy. But underneath the clothes of the boys pounds the heart a young woman, and while Caroline thinks her quest is for adventure, she finds that it is for love.

    But its fortunes fell violently, irrevocably, on Margaret Garden Tradd's scandalous wedding day.To the wild razzle-dazzle of the jazz age....From an ugly duckling love child, Garden Tradd became the glorious belle her mother, Margaret, had longed to be. Garden's marriage to the dashing Yankee, Sky Harris, was a triumph -- the match of a decade.With breathtaking abandon and dazzling innocence, she danced through Paris, London, and New York as the twenties roared...until betrayal turned the glitter to bitter ash....until vengeful secrets of the past sent her home to Charleston--a city waiting to embrace its own or exact its own very special revenge.

    Ibbotson concentrates on the infinite variety of Great Love--its discovery, development, recognition, loss, and denouement. Her characters, males and females of all ages and professions, are frequently seen during the Christmas season and in prewar Vienna and Russia. In many stories, people find and lose each other--often with an O. Henry twist. Ibbotson, a winner of the Romantic Novelists Association award, writes charmingly about love, forgiveness, loss, and happiness.

    

    In this scholarly yet entertaining book, James D. Bratt takes a look at the Dutch in America from the late 19th century to the present. A comprehensive study of an ethnic subculture, the book is in large part a study of the group's religious history as well, since, as Bratt points out, the contours of the Dutch presence in America have been overwhelmingly shaped by the church and its subsidiary organizations Although the book is extensively and scrupulously documented, Bratt infused his scholarship with a considerable amount of anecdote that is by turns poignant and tragic and hilarious In Bratt's analysis of the fitful progress of Americanization that this close-knit religious community has undergone, we are treated to the sharp insights of a bemused and sometimes disaffected insider. Included is a chapter on novelists Arnold Mulder, David Cornel DeJong, Frederick Manfred, and Peter DeVries - four sons of the Dutch who fled the subculture only to reflect upon it almost obsessively from the outside Well written, scholarly, and highly readable, Dutch Calvinism in Modern America will have wide appeal among both academic and general readers.

    A masterful fantasy about four children who escape a dull summer via a magical window that allows them to travel through space and time.

    

    Book is in Very good condition throughout. Set In 1838,Adam Begins His Brave And Secret Mission In Texas

    

    Original.

    

    

    

    The wars began in 1972 with Geraldo Rivera's televised raid on the Willowbrook State School. They continued for three years in a federal courtroom, with civil libertarian lawyers persuading a conservative and conscience-stricken judge to expand the rights of the disabled, and they culminated in a 1975 consent decree, with the state of New York pledging to accomplish the unprecedented assignment in six years.From 1975 to 1982, David and Sheila Rothman observed this remarkable chapter in American reform of mental disabilities care. Would the state live up to its agreement without "dumping" residents into other nightmarish institutions? Would the lawyers prove as interested in meeting client needs as in securing client rights? Could a tradition-bound bureaucracy create a new network of community services? And finally, would a governor and a legislature tolerate such outside intervention, and if so, for how long? In answering these questions,The Willowbrook Wars takes us behind the scenes to clarify the role of the judiciary, the fate of the underprivileged, and the potential for social justice. In their new afterword, the authors bring the story up to date, describing the results of the closing of the institution in 1987 from the experiences of integrating the former residents into communities to the legal battles between the state of New York and advocates for the mentally handicapped.

    You'll have everything. I'll have you dripping in diamonds, I promise."It was a time of great hope for the men who sweated in the Oklahoma oil fields where the precious black gold gushed from the earth. It was a time of promise for:AMANTHA CARMODYBeautiful, spirited, she came from England to be with her husband, unprepared for the crudeness of the oil world...unprepared to be rich beyond dreams.DAVID CARMODY...He had only one passion. Oil. He had no time for love...only lust.CHARLIE FORBES...David's partner. He was always there for Amantha. From the moment he met her he loved her--loved her in silence for years. He did not dare to hope--until...

    It diagnoses the problems and shortcomings of their popular social philosophy through a study of the conception of the hero image among Malay populace.Are the great acts, feats and deeds of traditional Malay heroes always pure in motive? Is there an awareness that there are conflicts between certain fundamental traditional values? Are these values fettered by the feudal past? These are but some of the questions answered by the author.Reactions from the public to Shaharuddin bin Maaruf's theses may differ; ut, in all, readers will certainly attain a better understanding of Malay politics and cultural life. A book for all thinking Malaysians.

    Julian Stretton, Lord Meriden, wounded in the war and now home to assume family responsibilities is unexpectedly assisted by a practical young lady who is a distant relation.

    Castles is a collection of stunning photographs of some of the many different types of castle throughout the ages, highlighting some of the best surviving examples from across the globe.

    Immediately he swept her away, setting sail for his home in South Carolina. On board ship, Katherine soon discovered that her new husband was not the foppish Julian, but Julian's younger brother, Kit, the virile captain of a privateer whose mission was to prevent British soldiers and arms from reaching the embattled Colonies.Though shocked at Kit's deception, Katherine could not resist his fiery touch, giving her heart completely to the dashing impostor, though she feared he did not reciprocate her love.But Charleston held even greater torment for Katherine, when she met the real Julian Warwick --- and Rachel, Kit's ravishing fiance!

    

    Strikingly parallel to Le Sueur's city novel The Girl, I Hear Men Talking was written primarily in the 1930s, depicting life in rural Iowa during the Depression.In the novel the girl Penelope runs about the town, visiting its principal actors and recovering their stories: the ruined Mr. Littlefield recalls his bygone days of eloquence; the self-deceived Miss Shelly provides a mystery for Penelope to unravel; the farmers talking behind the closed doors of their houses stir up a fresh brew of revolt. Penelope's mother Mona and grandmother Gee recall the author's own family in troubled times.In this revised edition the novel stands alone. Linda Ray Pratt has carefully re-edited the manuscript and provides a new introduction. In an afterword written in 1984, Meridel Le Sueur considers her reasons for publishing the work: The artist's duty now is to recreate a new image of the world, to return to the people their need and vision . . . . of a new birth of abundance and equality.

    One vibrant way women have spoken out is through quilts, and in the pages of Homage to Amanda the voice of more than six generations of American women can be heard. Originally created as a catalog to accompany a quilt exhibit sponsored by the San Diego Museum of Art and taken on tour by the Smithsonian Institution, Homage to Amanda chronicles the growth of American quilting from colonial days to the twentieth century. Seventy-two color plates illustrate the development of the American quilting tradition, examining ways in which the pastime has grown from necessity to art.

    

    Through their compelling story looms a sense of a whole nation's tragedy during the Great Depression.Reviews of The Bones of Plenty: "It is possible . . .that literary historians of the future will decide that The Bones of Plenty was the farm novel of the Great Drought of the 1920s and 1930s and the Great Depression. Better than any other novel of the period with which I am familiar, Lois Phillips Hudson's story presents, with intelligence and rare understanding, the frightful disaster that closed thousands of rural banks and drove farmers off their farms, the hopes and savings of a lifetime in ruins about them."--New York Times Book Review"Hudson does a superb job of revealing the physical texture of farm life on the prairie--its sounds, smells, colors, sensations. Then she goes further, examining the spiritual texture as well. Her characters are bound to each other and to their land in a kind of harsh intimacy from which there is no relief. Weather, poverty, anger, and pride are the forces that drive them and ultimately wear them down. . . Like the best books of any era, it convinces us of its characters' enduring humanity, and surprises us, again and again, with the depth of emotion it makes us feel."--Minneapolis Star Tribune"At her best, Lois Phillips Hudson can make the American Ordeal of the 1930s so real that you can all but feel the gritty dust in your teeth."--Omaha World-Herald

    Walter Martin calls it the "most comprehensive biblical study of the subject in the last half century!" A valuable study of what the Bible says about the afterlife.

    Rianna Alava of Madrid was driven from Spain to discover a great civilization in a savage land...and to find her refuge in Shalikuchima, a fabled warrior fighting to save his people. She first appeared to him in a vision. Then she appeared in the flesh — the woman meant to ignite his spirit, to capture his heart and soul.

    A man's world and no place for the weak. When her beloved father deserted them, she and her mother were left with nothing. Her mother could not cope with this new and harsh reality, but Lisa swore her revenge.

    Yet from the moment she met Bryce Fowler in Key West, her heart was his. He claimed her in a forbidden night of ecstasy, only to have treachery threaten to part them forever.

    While some men got in on the action, and some got out of the way, one group of settlers was making a stand-and holding up the railway. Turning to Alan Pinkerton's Chicago detective agency, the railroad robber barons hired the perfect agent to penetrate the settler's organization, a man who had learned a spy's trade in the Civil War. Tall, debonair, and pleasure-loving Ash Tallman can fight when he has to, lie when he needs to, and make love when he wants the right kind of woman on his side. But as Tallman enters the lush San Joaquin Valley in the company of a risk-taking beauty, he finds a fight with no clear battle lines, no sure enemies, and only one way out-by hunting the killers who are hunting him...

    

    

    This title reveals much of the history and mystique as well as giving technical advice on methods of grading and relative values of previous stones.