Then Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce with England by marrying the English king's beloved, illegitimate daughter, Joanna. Reluctant to wed her father's bitter enemy, Joanna slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband who dreams of uniting Wales. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales--and Llewelyn--Joanna must decide to which of these powerful men she owes her loyalty and love.A sweeping novel of power and passion, loyalty and lives, this is the book that began the trilogy that includes FALLS THE SHADOW and THE RECKONING.

    This has resulted in some of their most unique contributions for a free and prosperous society becoming lost or misunderstood. Therefore, there has been a need to review the history and development of the making of America in order to recapture the brilliant precepts which made Americans the first free people in modern times.The Making of America provides a wealth of material on the Founding Father's intentions when drafting the American Constitution. It is one of the most thorough compilations of statements by the Framers relating to constitutional interpretation, and addresses the Constitution clause by clause -- providing resources on the Founder's intent of each clause. The National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation, was created in order to revive those original American concepts in all of their initial brilliance and vitality. The very fact that many of them are becoming obscure and misunderstood emphasizes the urgency of the task. The study for The Making of America extended over a period of nearly 40 years, and an organized effort to present this information in a published text was a concerted endeavor of nearly 14 years.It will be observed that many new insights are provided in the writings of the Founders for the solution to serious economic, political and social problems plaguing the world today. It is felt that a study of The Making of America can be of lasting value to all who have a serious concern for the general welfare of not only America but all mankind.

    Master storyteller Nigel Tranter tells the tale of the legendary warrior, and future King of Scots. Tutored and encouraged by William Wallace, Robert the Bruce determined to continue the fight for an independent Scotland, sustained by a passionate love for his land. This edition collects together Steps to the Empty Throne, Price of the King's Peaceand Path of the Hero King , from the master of Scottish historical fiction. Praise for Nigel Tranter:'One of Scotland's most prolific and respected writers' Times'Through his imaginative dialogue, he provides a voice for Scotland's heroes' Scotland on Sunday

    With a delicate wife and their unborn child, he has no choice but to leave Ireland and set out for England in search of work. But from the moment Patrick and Mary set foot in Liverpool, they are beset by new trials.After moving to York, they are forced to settle in the nightmarish slums of Walmgate. Yet the very poverty and hopelessness of their surroundings binds the small community together. Only stubborn determination survive tragedy can win them hopes of a better life….

    The Sheridan brothers pursue the pastimes of the rich and talented in the idyllic village of Tarrant Royal, unaware of the coming war that will test their courage and family loyalty to the limit. Roland, an aspiring surgeon, believes his duty lies in remaining as squire of his Dorset village. But charges of cowardice force him into a conflict his conscience cannot condone. Rex, a womanizer and daredevil aviator, dons the RFC uniform. As time passes and he becomes an ace over the skies of France he knows that one day soon his luck must run out. Chris, a brilliant scholar about to enter university, is driven to enlist by a scandal which shatters his golden future. Hopelessly unfitted for battle, he faces the carnage of Gallipoli not caring whether he lives or dies. In Elizabeth Darrell's richly detailed, mesmeric novel the Sheridans live, love and fight for survival like the sons of all families caught up in a savage war which changed the old ways forever. ‘Moving romance’ - Yorkshire Evening Post ‘A wonderful story, compellingly told…the authenticity - both historical and emotional - really shines through’ - Sarah Harrison Elizabeth Darrell served as an officer in the WRAC. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels, including ‘Concerto’, ‘And in the Morning’ and ‘We Will Remember’. Under the pen-name Emma Drummond she has written eleven historical novels. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

    She grew up learning the magic, spells, and nature religion of her people. Before Sam Houston became the father of Texas, he was a young man who had run away from his home in Tennessee to live among the Cherokee. He came to love Tiana. As the Cherokee would say, she walked in his soul. But Sam was a white man, and Tiana, a Cherokee. And the dreams each had for their land and their people were far apart . . .

    Michener’s monumental saga chronicles the epic history of Texas, from its Spanish roots in the age of the conquistadors to its current reputation as one of America’s most affluent, diverse, and provocative states. Among his finely drawn cast of characters, emotional and political alliances are made and broken, as the loyalties established over the course of each turbulent age inevitably collapse under the weight of wealth and industry. With Michener as our guide, Texas is a tale of patriotism and statesmanship, growth and development, violence and betrayal—a stunning achievement by a literary master.  Praise for Texas   “Fascinating.”—Time   “A book about oil and water, rangers and outlaws, frontier and settlement, money and power . . . [James A. Michener] manages to make history vivid.”—The Boston Globe   “A sweeping panorama . . . [Michener] grapples earnestly with the Texas character in a way that Texas’s own writers often don’t.”—The Washington Post Book World  “Vast, sprawling, and eclectic in population and geography, the state has just the sort of larger-than-life history that lends itself to Mr. Michener’s taste for multigenerational epics.”—The New York Times

    Famous for his romantic conquests, Justin had never before let a woman touch his heart. But Abby was no ordinary woman. She was beautiful and she was brave. She was also young and terrfied of her brother, a religious fanatic and self-sworn enemy of all Royalists.When the rebel army unleashed its might on the castle, Justin fought tirelessly to break the siege. But even his closest friends did not know what tormented him. And Abby, as she sat with the rebel commanders at her brother's table, dreamed of a man she could not, must not love...

    Bent on revenge, she rode again through the fortress gates, disguised as a peasant...to seek aid from Geoffrey Berkley, the powerful baron who had routed the murderers. He heard her pleas, resisted her demands, and vowed to seduce his beautiful subject. Yet as Elizabeth fought the warrior's caresses, love flamed for this gallant man who must soon champion her cause...and capture her spirited heart!

     When Moss Tucker smelled danger he shot it. When he needed shelter he grabbed it. And when he wanted a woman's touch he bought it. But then he saw Amanda Boone's sparkling azure eyes—an innocent beauty like her would never get involved with a lawbreaking man like him. Chestnut-haired Amanda tried to keep her gaze on the vast frontier that flashed past her train window—but it kept straying to the buckskin-clad stranger. Every inch of him was virile and strong. She knew it was wrong to even think of his muscular arms crushing her soft curves in a fierce embrace. Yet she vowed that before the trip was through he would be the one to tame her savage desire with his wild and lawless love. "Bittner's characters spring to life...extraordinary for the depth of emotion with which they are portrayed."—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Time after time, Rosanne Bittner brings a full-blown portrait of the untamed West to readers. Her tapestry is woven with authenticity, colorful characters, intense emotions and love's power over every conceivable obstacle."—RT

    A golden-haired seducer, Nicholas has been hardened by a painful secret in his past. And now that he has besmirched Reggie's good name, the hot-tempered lady has vowed to wed him. Her fiery beauty stirs Nicholas as no woman ever has - and the rake arouses Reggie's passion to an unendurable level. Such uncontrolled desires can lead only to dangerous misunderstandings and, perhaps, to a love that can live only once in a lifetime.

    It makes her feel special, which is important when you're the middle child: not the smartest, or the best-looking, or a boy. The Depression years are hard ones, with her father out of work and the family struggling to make ends meet. But irrepressible Booky, with her big imagination and even bigger plans, can tackle anything. A sharp-eyed kid can find plenty to see and do without spending a cent. Even if it does get her into scrapes!

    Nancy Wake, a New Zealander who became one of the most highly decorated women of WW II, here she tells her own story.

    A celebrated philosopher, he was considered a cleric and forbidden to wed. Nevertheless they married clandestinely and Heloise secretly bore him a child. Discovered, they were forcibly separated and Abelard viciously punished by castration. Both then devoted themselves to contemplative lives. He became a monk and established a religious order; she founded a great convent, The Paraclete.

    The proud Colonial beauty, graced with silvergold hair and flashing eyes, hoped to be his bride. Then, swept into a growing storm of scandal, she was banished to Virginia. Captured by buccaneers on the high seas, Carolina became the Silver Wench of the Caribbean...and the defiant prisoner of the infamous Kells, a brooding man with insolent charm andd a mysterious past.On the island of Tortuga, where gentle winds caressed the perfumed nights and a lustrous moon whispered love's allure, Carolina must escape...to find Thomas again, and to flee Kells' passionate embrace, the rapturous temptation of his...LOVESONG

    Then Shadow and his people went away, and when he returned, it was as a handsome young Cheyenne brave. Hannah, now a beautiful young woman, had never forgotten her childhood friend—but the man who swept her into his powerful arms was no longer a child. He awakened in her a wild, erotic passion she had never known.But war was about to erupt in Dakota Territory, a war that would pit the settlers against the Indians. Both Hannah and Shadow knew they would have to choose between passion and duty, in a conflict that would test to the limit the steadfastness of their love.

    Berry Warfield is only 18 when she leaves the wagon train to find her father's claim in Missouri, vowing to let no one stop her from earning her fortune.

    A gripping story.MELBOURNE AGE: A tale of triumph against all oddsAustralia had to find a new name for men such as Aidan O'Brien: he had become too wealthy and too powerful to be called an ex-convict. This Irish-Australian classic has been published in six international editions and numerous reprints since it was first published by Pan McMillan in 1985. Following Aidan O'Brien from the age of five in County Clare in 1829, to the age of fifty-six in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales in 1879, The Emancipist covers fifty years of some of the most turbulent times in the history of Ireland and Australia. This Kindle edition is the first to contain material left out of the original publication, and reintroduces beloved characters to new generations of readers interested in Irish and Australian history and incidents that helped shape both nations.

    Her stuffy father and her opressive aunt Louisa allow her only one outlet: ballet. When a Russian ballet master comes to class searching for dancers to fill the corps of his ballet company before their South American tour, Harriet's world changes. Defying her father's wishes and narrowly escaping the clutches of the man who wishes to marry her, Harriet sneaks off to join the ballet on their journey to the Amazon. There, in the wild, lush jungle, they perform Swan Lake in grand opera houses for the wealthy and culture-deprived rubber barons, and Harriet meets Rom Verney, the handsome and mysterious British exile who owns the most ornate opera house. Utterly enchanted by both the exotic surroundings and by Rom's affections, Harriet is swept away by her new life, completely unaware that her father and would-be fiancé have begun to track her down...

    ONE MAGNIFICENT PASSION... SWEPT BY THE RAGING WINDS OF DESTINYIt was the last summer of paradise, an innocent time of picnics among the lush bluegrass and midnight balls under gaily painted Chinese lanterns. For Leigh Alexandra Travers, her Virginia plantation of Travers Hill was the only world she ever wanted. And then she met Neil Braedon...Captured by Comanches as a child, raised in their savage yet spiritual world, Neil had no use for the gentleman's role demanded by his proud Braedon birthright. Yet from the moment he held Leigh in his arms, he was possessed by her-a woman of such passion and power that no man could ever forget her.As the cruel specter of war rose across the divided land, Leigh fought relentlessly to preserve the faded shadows of her Southern past. But her future lay out West with Neil among the awesome, untamed wilderness... following a magnificent destiny that would unite two great families... triumphing in a love that would reawaken past splendors with a shining new glory.

    So the headstrong beauty set out for London and the Tudor court, the arena for the richest, most ambitious men, none more powerful than the four men who would claim her. None more dangerous than Princess Elizabeth, who made Bess friend, confidante, then lady-in-waiting in her own glittering court...Dangerously seductive, William Cavendish, the king's dashing financial adviser, vowed to have Bess at any cost. Frail, adoring Robert Barlow offered a marriage she couldn't refuse. Newly crowned Queen Elizabeth bade her marry courtly Sir William St. Loe. But reckless passion drove Bess into the arms of George Talbot, the devastating Earl of Shrewsbury, whose wicked daring ignited in Bess the passion of a lifetime--even as it sparked the jealous interest of the most perilous ally of all: the Virgin Queen....

    Now a shell of a man, he lives in a cheap Hong Kong hotel, scrounging for food and the occasional bar girl. The locals call him "Hiroshima Joe" with a mixture of pity and contempt. But Joe—haunted by the sounds and voices of his past, debilitated by illness, and shattered by his wartime ordeal—is a man whose compassion and will to survive define a clear-eyed and unexpected heroism. One of the most powerful novels about the experience of war, first published in 1985.

    90 color, 160 black-and-white photos.

    In twelfth-century England, Matilda de Risle Dungesey, receives a gift from her new husband--a wartime hideaway in the Fens--from which she must fight for her land and her own life.

    Trying to escape the Great Depression, Julie’s father buys The Alderton Sentinel, a small-town newspaper in flood-prone Alderton, Pennsylvania, and moves his family there. As flash floods ominously increase, Julie’s investigative reporting uncovers secrets that could endanger the entire community.Julie, the newspaper, and her family are thrown into a perilous standoff with the owners of the steel mills as they investigate the conditions of the steelworkers. Battle lines are drawn between the steel mill owners and their immigrant laborers. As The Sentinel and Julie take on a more aggressive role in reforming these conditions in their community, seething tensions come to a head.When a devastating tragedy follows a shocking revelation, Julie’s courage and strength are tested. Will truth and justice win, or will Julie lose everything she holds dear?

    Destiny decreed that one day he would lead the great Khan's army across China and Russia to the very shores of the Danube and the threshold of Christian Europe. A fast-paced adventure reminiscent of James Clavell.

    Conceived within the Druid mists, at the Pool of Pendragon and as prophesied by a Druid Priestess, she grew into womanhood, and became the most powerful knight the world had ever seen. When Miles Delong, Earl of Radstock and military adviser to King Richard first saw her, he was lost to her beauty and might. He taught her the art of war, but it was Gwendolyn, who taught Sir Miles the art of love. Together, Gwendolyn and Myles fought their enemies both at home and in the Holy Land. But it was not until Sir Miles was treacherously given over to Saladin, the King of the Moors, that Gwendolyn left England's Druid Groves and went to the Holy Land, not as Gwendolyn Delong, wife of the Earl of Radstock, but as Sir Eldwin of Radstock, where she led the fight through the bloody Crusades and into to the very Court of Saladin, that the Queen of Knights became a legend.

    Just when things are looking up for thirteen-year-old Ronnie, her father dies, creating a void she and her mother have trouble filling.

    A storm was raging, visibility was zero, and the currents had turned wildly unpredictable. With only unreliable soundings to guide them across the jagged ocean floor, all three vessels ran aground on the sheer rock coast of Newfoundland.Attempts to carry lifelines ashore were thwarted by heavy surf, cold, oil slicks, and floating wreckage. A few sailors, however, overcame the odds and managed to reach the coast where the communities of Lawn and St. Lawrence effected a superhuman rescue operation.Two hundred and three American sailors died as the Wilkes, the Pollux, and the Truxtun were battered against the icy shore by the treacherous North Atlantic. And those who survived would return home to receive not a hero's welcome but the harsh interrogation of their naval superiors.

    Stung by a scorpion, bones broken in a fall from a camel, waterless in over 120°F, exhausted by his efforts to avoid sand dunes over a thousand feet high, and given up for dead by the BBC team awaiting his arrival, Ted Edwards finally struggled into Oualata,four stone lighter than where he set off from Araouane.His story, characterized by his determination and sense of humour, graphically recreates the moment-to-moment experiences of his perilous, record-breaking journey.

    But on the boundary between childhood and womanhood, Maggie discovers it is not her father who stands in the way of her happiness -- it is her own tightly held bitterness. Drawn to a man quietly struggling to overcome his past, Maggie must learn to let go of hatred and embrace divine love and forgiveness. In The Heather Hills of Stonewycke two best-selling authors begin a glorious series about hearts and minds being opened to God. Davina Porter’s wonderful narration captures all the sweep and grandeur of this panoramic saga.

    Henry Holmes, one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, who in the late 1800's, murdered no less than 133 people. A fascinating view of this highly dangerous person from the time of his first murder, when he is only 12 years old, to his adult years when he built a huge, 105-room mansion in Chicago, with most of the space devoted to chambers for torture and death. But then an incredible chase begins, involving kidnapping and more murders when a detective gets on his trail.

    Full-color illustrations.

    (the forerunner of the C.I.A.) during World War II. Colonel Sage's first assignment was to organize behind-the-lines operations against Erwin Rommel in North Africa. After being captured and brutally interrogated, he was sent to the P.O.W. camp Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany. As an O.S.S. officer, Sage would have been executed had his identity been known. But at the time he was captured, Sage jettisoned his O.S.S. hardware and claimed he was a shot-down flier. His true identity was never discovered by his Nazi captors. While a prisoner of war, Sage conducted classes in silent killing with a hand-picked group of Americans. He also worked for fifteen months on the huge, three-tunnel project known in book and movie as "The Great Escape" and was in charge of hiding over 200,000 pounds of golden sand from the German "ferrets." Sage is a vivid, personal account of O.S.S. training under "Wild Bill" Donovan and of the subversive activities conducted in North Africa. It recalls the Nazi interrogations and treatment of Allied prisoners, the vicious reprisals reserved for those prisoners who tried to escape and the extraordinary resourcefulness of the men inside the camps. It is the testimony of a unique individual with the faith, courage, and indomitable will to serve his country and pursue the cause of freedom.

    Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge and Alice Chetwynd Ley. A young English Baroness encounters romance and peril in Imperial Vienna. When Grand Prince Adolphus of Gellenstadt realises he is dying, he turns to his loyal friend, Baroness Lottie Raimund for help. The Prince is concerned about the ambitions of his scheming younger brother, Prince Paul, and for the future of his small principality. Adolphus asks Lottie to travel to Vienna, as his eyes and ears at an important Congress of European powers. While there, she will also introduce his heir, Crown Princess Sophia, to society. Two very different men are to play a part in Lottie and Sophia's lives. Can Max Annesley, heir of the Earl of Stanton, win Lottie's heart? And are she and Sophia in danger when Prince Paul follows them to the Austrian capital? Amid the political games of the Congress and the breathtaking spectacle of Viennese society, Lottie must understand where her heart lies, and in whom she can trust. Otherwise, both Sophia and Gellenstadt could be at grave risk. Another traditional, clean Regency Romance from the award winning author.

    This first of a two-volume work on The Great Enterprise of the Manchus is the first scholarly narrative in any language relating their conquest of China during the seventeenth century.(This book was originally published as a boxed two-volume set. It is now available as separate volumes with a plain hardcover. The page numbering continues from the first volume to the second.)

    Remarkable for clarity, definition and detail, the prints comprise a richly evocative portrait of turn-of-the-century life — street scenes, parks, restaurants, commercial interiors, Easter Parade, Blizzard of '99, Coney Island, a dinner for Mark Twain, etc. Informative text.

    Some said "Bloody Claver'se" was in league with the devil - but Hugh was determined to follow the dashing soldier anywhere. Joining Claverhouse - Bonnie Dundee - meant turning against his own family, religious rebels called Covenanters, who were terrorizing the land. It meant fighting battles that would decide the fate of his king and country - and that were more harrowing than he could have imagined. Most of all it meant leaving Darklis, the beautiful, mysterious girl who shared his secrets - and his love. [close]

    Includes correspondence between the two.

    international high society... eccentric behavior... bitter anger...Murder.What sounds like the basis of a best-selling novel isn't fiction at all.It's fact.And it happened in Natchez - and episode that shocked the world.

    The story begins in the early part of the seventeenth century with Reb Mendel and Sarah Pulichever embarking on a journey of hope to Krakow and reaches its starting climax over thirty years later with a return to Krakow for a dramatic and memorable confrontation affecting the Jewish population of the entire region. The Promised Child is a work of fiction. The city of Pulichev, the Pulichever family, and the events in this book are fictitious, although it was certainly not uncommon for a Jewish child to disappear into a monastery and never be heard from again. To a certain extent, however, many of the episodes in this entire series are based on actual events. The historical background relating to the Jewish community and the political situation in Poland is authentic.

    

    First published by J. M. Dent in 1985, Thomas's Collected Letters received exceptional reviews, both for the scholarship of the editor, and for the quality of the collection. This new edition will bring the letters back into print at a time when interest is renewed in the life of this exceptional writer. The letters begin in the poet's schooldays, and end just before his death in New York at the age of 39. In between, he loved, wrote, drank, begged and borrowed his way through a flamboyant life. He was an enthusiastic critic of other writers' work and the letters are full of his thoughts on his own work and on his friends, as well as unguarded and certainly unpolitical comments on the work of his contemporaries - T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden and Stephen Spender among others. ('Spender should be kicked...Day-Lewis hissed in public and have his balls beaten with a toffee hammer') More than a hundred new letters have been added since Paul Ferris edited the first edition of the Collected Letters in 1985. They cast Thomas's adolescence in Swansea and his love affair with Caitlin into sharper focus. Thomas's letters tell a remarkable story, each letter taking the reader a little further along the path of the poet's self-destruction, but written with such verve and lyricism that somehow the reader's sympathies never quite abandon him.

    

    Nordeen has completely updated his 1985 chronicle of military aviation's evolving role in warfare, now covering the major conflicts of the past four decades through the addition of chapters on the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, and the Bosnia-Kosovo conflict, and new material concerning past and recent actions in Afghanistan. He presents the historical and political background of each conflict and includes in-depth discussions of the aircraft, weapons, tactics, training, new systems, and other factors that influenced the outcome of each war. New and existing chapters have been enhanced with information based on recently declassified material--especially regarding Vietnam--and new sources in Egypt, Israel, and the former Soviet Union. As "smart" bombs have become more successful in reducing the risks for pilots and frontline troops, air-missile warfare has become the central player in military conflicts. Air Warfare in the Missile Age, Second Edition, is a valuable resource for understanding the evolution of modern air warfare.

    

    Numbered among its parade of colorful characters are hardened explorers, seasoned woodsmen, remarkable women, famous soldiers, powerful politicians, violent men, and gifted visionaries.

    Nurse Sarah Thane has already lost her brother and boyfriend to the war. Dare she love again? "Arguably the best of all writers of hospital fiction." Nursing Times Sarah is a staff nurse at St Martha's in London, doing her best to cope with hospital life while Hitler's V2 rockets cause death and destruction around her. Captain Charles Bradley is on sick leave when a disaster means his old hospital colleagues need his help more than ever before. Sarah grows close to the handsome and kind captain. As her feelings deepen, she wonders if she can fall in love, and risk loss and heartache, again. The staff and patients of Alex Ward remain brave and good-humoured as they face an uncertain future. They, along with Sarah and Charles, can only hope for an end to the war, and for the lights of London to be turned on once again. A moving wartime hospital romance, set during the second world war, with all of the trademark sensitivity and realism of a medical story by Lucilla Andrews. The Lights of London is the twenty third novel by the bestselling hospital fiction author Lucilla Andrews. For the first time, Lucilla's novels are now available as ebooks. More at www.lucillaandrews.com Perfect for fans of Donna Douglas and her Nightingales series, Jean Fullerton, Maggie Hope and Nadine Dorries.

    Book

    

    

    Buckley, Jr. called him "one of the most superb and original political analysts of the 20th century," but even Buckley shook his head at what appeared to be Kendall's "baffling optimism."During the 60's, Kendall stood apart from the mainstream conservative movement which he accused of being anti-populist and of "storming American public opinion from without" by wrongly assuming that the American people were essentially corrupt and "always ready to sell thier votes to the highest bidder."  Kendall believed that Americans would come to actively realize the conservatism which they had always actually lived.  Seventeen years after his death in 1967, Kendall's predictions come to fruition.

    Yet, since working on the essays to collect them in this book, I see that these changes have really been taking place all my life. It has been important for me to put essays in chronological order, introduce each with the context out of which it grew, to discover for myself first, and then to reveal publicity, what these changes have been.

    Penniless and dispirited, she almost embraces the genteel boredom of life as a poor relation in her cousin's household. But gradually Lally's old spirit begins to reassert itself - to the dismay of her family and the occasional consternation of her two very different suitors.

    

    But when she was captured by the victorious--and ruthless--Crusaders she had to decide who she really was, Karin or Alisandre? Muslim or Christian? Her captor's wife, or the woman who could destroy the LORD OF DARKNESS?

    Recipes for Traditional Jamaican Cookery

    Working side by side with the shapely wench, Matt couldn't help but notice her alluring curves, her velvet flesh, her shimmering hair. Soon he had her wanton and willing beneath him and the cowboy planned to wed her and keep her forever. But when he heard Regina was trying to trap him in marriage to make sure she kept her very best foreman, Matt considered his obligation over a left the scheming fox to fend for herself!LIVING HELLEven though she inherited the vast "Black Diamond", all emerald-eyed Regina ever really wanted was a man by her side and a ring on her finger. Then when she saw Matt, she instantly knew she'd leave her property in a flash to follow him to the ends of the earth. His tanned muscled frame would feel so good moving over her; his big strong hands would work magic on her skin. But when he coldly left without a word, the innocent heiress had to choose between swallowing her pride to get him back -- or suffering the long lonely nights of unfulfilled ecstasy and LOVING TORMENT

    In Speaking of Soap Operas, Robert Allen undertakes a reexamination of the production and consumption of soap operas through the use of a unique investigatory model based on contemporary poetics and reader-response theory.Although a considerable amount of research has been conducted on these programs, Allen argues that soap operas remain a phenomenon about which much is said but little is known. Soap operas are different from most other media programming -- they appear formless, refuse to end, require little work on the part of the viewer, and bear no recognizable marks of authorship. For these and other reasons, soap operas resist explanation from both traditional aesthetic and empiricist social science perspectives.The daytime dramatic serials generate nearly a billion dollars in revenue each year for the three commercial networks. Allen discusses in detail the economic and institutional functions of these programs in addition to the context of their production. He also considers the historical development of the soap opera as advertising vehicle, narrative structure and "women's fiction."Speaking of Soap Operas is based on the author's own experiences as a soap opera viewer; extensive interviews with soap opera writers, producers, and actors; and the papers of Irna Phillips, creator of dozens of successful ratio and television soap operas. Drawing also upon trade publications, popular periodicals, and broadcast archives, this work is an important contribution to the field of mass communication.

    

    Lots of photos. [women][music][culture]