But the forest is gradually emptying as more and more people leave to settle in villages, where they break their backs tilling the land to grow wheat for their “bread” (which Leemet has been told tastes horrible) and where they pray to a god very different from the spirits worshipped in the forest’s sacred grove. With lothario bears who wordlessly seduce women, a giant louse with a penchant for swimming, a legendary flying frog, and a young charismatic viper named Ints, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is a totally inventive novel for readers of David Mitchell, Sjón, and Terry Pratchett.

    Readers of J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace, Bernhard Schlink's The Reader and Kafka will be captivated by Brodeck.Forced into a brutal concentration camp during a great war, Brodeck returns to his village at the war’s end and takes up his old job of writing reports for a governmental bureau. One day a stranger comes to live in the village. His odd manner and habits arouse suspicions: His speech is formal, he takes long, solitary walks, and although he is unfailingly friendly and polite, he reveals nothing about himself. When the stranger produces drawings of the village and its inhabitants that are both unflattering and insightful, the villagers murder him. The authorities who witnessed the killing tell Brodeck to write a report that is essentially a whitewash of the incident. As Brodeck writes the official account, he sets down his version of the truth in a separate, parallel narrative. In measured, evocative prose, he weaves into the story of the stranger his own painful history and the dark secrets the villagers have fiercely kept hidden.

    Perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Rosanna Ley. Singapore in the 1970s. A handsome army officer falls in love with the young daughter of his captain. Although she is determined to become a ballerina, Fleur falls deeply for David and abandons her aspirations to become an army wife and mother. After their first blissfully happy years together, tragedy strikes and Fleur is left widowed with her young twin daughters, Nikki and Saffie. Grief-stricken, she prepares to take her daughters back to England – and then one of them mysteriously vanishes, without a trace.New Zealand, present day. Nikki Montrose, pregnant, is still haunted by the disappearance of her twin sister. Unable to reconcile with her mother, the ghosts of the past haunt her dreams. Fleur’s impending visit forces her to confront her fears. Then when her mother goes missing en route, Nikki must journey to Singapore and attempt a reconciliation. But what they discover back in Port Dickson will send shockwaves through the entire family.

    Then one day she glimpses a young man's face in the crowd that threatens to change everything. He's a heart-stopping reminder of a dreadful secret she believed she had banished to the past. As a young child, Lydia and her sister were sent to live with grandparents they'd never even met before. It was a cruel and loveless new world for them and it forced Lydia to grow up fast. She learned to keep secrets and to trust sparingly, and through it all she was shadowed by grief and guilt. Now, 28 years later, Lydia is persuaded to leave behind the safe new life she has created for herself and return to England to face the pastand maybe her future."

    She just never imagined they'd be the Hollywood ones…A hilarious romantic comedy for anyone who’s ever had their head in the clouds…Carly's living the dream. Almost. She has the kids, the husband, the lethargic sex life, and who cares if her novels aren't exactly bestsellers – pole-vaulting her ironing pile is excitement enough.Just when she's resigned to domestic mediocrity, a phone call from Hollywood changes everything. Carly is off to Tinseltown…As she arrives in LA, Carly knows life will be transformed…but she doesn't count on marital disaster, a career roller-coaster and an A-list movie star who wants to offer her more than just a friendly welcome.Carly Cooper is strutting along the Hollywood Walk of Fame but can she get to the end without falling flat on her face?

    I knew I could just as easily have been born a Baptist or a Mormon. So I spent the next six months reading and talking to priests and ministers to find out the differences between Catholics and Protestants. How did each of their teachings compare with the teaching of Jesus and the apostles?"This book is a kind of re-tracing of Ray's investigation, looking at the key issues which continue to divide Protestants and Catholics, and assessing them in light of the teaching of Scripture.A challenging and invaluable book for Protestants and Catholics alike.Chapter headings:» Growing up Catholic» Which Catholicism?» Christ and the Mass» The Bible and the Church» The way of salvation» It's just grace» Mary» It is finished» Appendix: The new Catholicism

    Sixty years later, after further violent rebellions and the city’s final destruction, Hadrian built the new city of Aelia Capitolina where Jerusalem had once stood. Jews were barred from entering its territory. They were taxed simply for being Jewish. They were forbidden to worship their god. They were wholly reviled.What brought about this conflict between the Romans and the subjects they had previously treated with tolerance? Martin Goodman—equally renowned in Jewish and in Roman studies—examines this conflict, its causes, and its consequences with unprecedented authority and thoroughness. He delineates the incompatibility between the cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices of the two peoples. He explains how Rome’s interests were served by a policy of brutality against the Jews. He makes clear how the original Christians first distanced themselves from their origins, and then became increasingly hostile toward Jews as Christian influence spread within the empire. The book thus also offers an exceptional account of the origins of anti-Semitism, the history of which reverberates still.An indispensable book.

    Roma recounts the tragedy of the hero-traitor Coriolanus, the capture of the city by the Gauls, the invasion of Hannibal, the bitter political struggles of the patricians and plebeians, and the ultimate death of Rome’s republic with the triumph, and assassination, of Julius Caesar.     Witnessing this history, and sometimes playing key roles, are the descendents of two of Rome’s first families, the Potitius and Pinarius clans:  One is the confidant of Romulus. One is born a slave and tempts a Vestal virgin to break her vows. One becomes a mass murderer. And one becomes the heir of Julius Caesar. Linking the generations is a mysterious talisman as ancient as the city itself.     Epic in every sense of the word, Roma is a panoramic historical saga and Saylor’s finest achievement to date.

    And the only hope the elves have of defeating the vile daemonfey hordes is to once again return to the lands of Faerûn, to the forests of Cormanthor, and to the demon-haunted ruins of Myth Drannor.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Occasionally there was so much on display that the show lasted two or three days.A radical reexamination of this most extraordinary of ancient ceremonies, this book explores the magnificence of the Roman triumph--but also its darker side. What did it mean when the axle broke under Julius Caesar's chariot? Or when Pompey's elephants got stuck trying to squeeze through an arch? Or when exotic or pathetic prisoners stole the general's show? And what are the implications of the Roman triumph, as a celebration of imperialism and military might, for questions about military power and "victory" in our own day? The triumph, Mary Beard contends, prompted the Romans to question as well as celebrate military glory.Her richly illustrated work is a testament to the profound importance of the triumph in Roman culture--and for monarchs, dynasts and generals ever since. But how can we re-create the ceremony as it was celebrated in Rome? How can we piece together its elusive traces in art and literature? Beard addresses these questions, opening a window on the intriguing process of sifting through and making sense of what constitutes "history."

    You need only pack your imagination and a toothbrush - this guide provides the rest, describing all the best places to stay and shop, what to do, and what to avoid.

    She was shocked when they were suspended from school for smoking cannabis; but this was just the start of a terrible, unimaginable journey - culminating in the knock on the door in the early hours by the police. They gave her the devastating news that her son Nick had killed himself in despair at his heroin addiction.Since his death, Elizabeth has campaigned tirelessly to make parents aware of the pain and suffering caused to families by drug addiction; and her surviving twin, Simon, now drug-free, has contributed his own thoughts to this inspiring and moving book.

    Her spirituality of unity has the ultimate goal of contributing to the unity for which Jesus prayed to his Father: May they all be one (Jn 17:21). This volume gathers her essential writings and for the first time presents them in a systematic fashion. It is a summa of the charism of unity, which will lead readers to ponder, understand and experience a spirituality particularly suited to the era in which we live."The history of the Church has seen many radicalisms of love ... that of Francis of Assisi, of Ignatius of Loyola. There is also Chiaras radicalism ... which seeks to make this love victorious in every circumstance." Pope John Paul II

    Sweeping away centuries of myth and confusion, John Romer describes for the first time exactly how the Great Pyramid was designed and built. He argues that the pyramid makers worked from a single plan whose existence has long been doubted and even denied by scholars. Moreover, the Great Pyramid's unique architecture is integral to the way it was built, and for its builders the tasks of construction and design were not separate as they are now. By placing this awesome monument in its genuine contemporary context, this book underlines the extraordinary talents and the originality of the ancient Egyptians at the time of King Khufu.

    So the two boys challenge each other to a duel. Whoever solves the next case is the winner. The loser has to quit detective work for good!

    The opening third of the book looks at Egyptian beliefs concerning burial, the social context of tomds, their construction and their decoration. The majority of the book is then dedicated to a chronological survey of Egyptian tombs, noting changes in design and function and relating them to their historical background, from simple early burials to the Pyramids, the Valley of the Kings and the simpler tombs of the Greco-Roman era. The book also reaches out beyond the obvious royal tombs to examine wider burial pratice, although the nature of the evidence means the focus is still very much on the aristocracy.

    Despite possessing few startegic advantages, Rome mastered Italy, and then looked outward. At its height, the Empire encompassed territories from the Rhineland to Egypt, Britain to Armenia. Over two million square miles fell within Rome's orbit.

    At 18, he leaves his family for a home in the forest, learning to live off the land rather than his family's wealth. Elena flees a house of blood and mayhem, taking refuge in a monastery and later in the rustic village of Riviere-aux-Oies. One day, while walking in the woods, Elena hears the melody of a clarinet and comes across Roman, who calls himself Starling and whom Elena later renames Douglas, for the strongest and most spectacular of trees. Later a child named Rose is born. Fade to black. When the story takes up again, Douglas has returned to the forest, Rose is in the village under the care of others, and Elena is gone. From these disparate threads, Christine Eddie tenderly weaves a fable for our time and for all times. As the years pass, the story broadens to capture others in its elegant web - a doctor with a bruised heart, a pharmacist who may be a witch, and a teacher with dark secrets. Together they raise this child with the mysterious heritage, transforming this story into an ode to friendship and family, a sonnet on our relationship with nature, and an elegy to love and passion. The Douglas Notebooks was originally published in French as Les carnets de Douglas. This edition was translated by Sheila Fischman.

    The music consists of simple yet beautiful Gregorian-based modes composed for the Psalter. Developed at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, the Psalter is designed for use by priests, deacons, religious, and laity, making singing the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours easier for all.

    Death revealed the true patriot, the genuine philosopher, even, perhaps, the great artist—and certainly the faithful Christian. Catharine Edwards draws on the many and richly varied accounts of death in the writings of Roman historians, poets, and philosophers, including Cicero, Lucretius, Virgil, Seneca, Petronius, Tacitus, Tertullian, and Augustine, to investigate the complex significance of dying in the Roman world.Death in the Roman world was largely understood and often literally viewed as a spectacle. Those deaths that figured in recorded history were almost invariably violent—murders, executions, suicides—and yet the most admired figures met their ends with exemplary calm, their last words set down for posterity. From noble deaths in civil war, mortal combat between gladiators, political execution and suicide, to the deathly dinner of Domitian, the harrowing deaths of women such as the mythical Lucretia and Nero’s mother Agrippina, as well as instances of Christian martyrdom, Edwards engagingly explores the culture of death in Roman literature and history.

    THE RING is the famous novel that spawned the big-budget blockbuster US horror movie of the same name.Asakawa is a hardworking journalist who has climbed his way up from local-news beat reporter to writer for his newspaper’s weekly magazine. A chronic workaholic, he doesn’t take much notice when his seventeen-year-old niece dies suddenly – until a chance conversation reveals that another healthy teenager died at exactly the same time, in chillingly similar circumstances.Sensing a story, Asakawa begins to investigate, and soon discovers that this strange simultaneous sudden-death syndrome also affected another two teenagers. Exactly one week before their mysterious deaths the four teenagers all spent the night at a leisure resort in the same log cabin.When Asakawa visits the resort, the mystery only deepens. A comment made in the guest book by one of the teenagers leads him to a particular vidoetape with a portentous message at the end: those who have viewed these images are fated to die at this exact hour one week from now.Asakawa soon finds himself in a race against time – he has only seven days to find the cause of the teenagers’ deaths before it finds him. The hunt puts him on the trail of an apocalytpic power that will force Asakawa to choose between saving his family and saving civilization.

    

    79 and the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder. The text includes a brief description of the eruption of the volcano, concise biographies of Tacitus and of both Plinys, and a summary of how the texts of the two letters have survived until today.

    A full account of the works as well as the lives of the Greek and Roman writers is included. Painters, sculptors, and architects are treated at considerable length and an account is given of all their works extant or of which there is any record in the ancient writers. Care has been taken to separate articles on mythological subjects from those of an historical nature. Greek divinities are given under their Greek names and Italian divinities are given under their Latin names.The final volume contains chronological tables of Greek and Roman history, genealogical tables and a list of kings.The dictionary is especially useful for the lives of lesser-known writers. With contributors drawn from among the most distinguished scholars of the day the reissue of these volumes makes available once more an important and valuable work of classical scholarship.

    Though this is the first time it’s been published in America, it has been a best seller in Germany for the last five years. It’s become one of my favorites.It’s the story of Alexandra Curran, a girl born into unbelievable wealth and social prestige in the early part of the twentieth century. Her socially conscious mother wants the one thing America can’t offer. Royalty. So she manages to talk Alex into a loveless marriage with a young British duke who needs money, not only to refurbish the once famous Castle Carlisle, but to live in a lifestyle that impresses the older woman he loves.Based in great part on the history of the times and of life in England between the two World Wars, this is the sprawling story of a woman who will make a difference to the whole world and will find fulfillment in ways of which she has never dreamt.This is the story of how a seemingly defeated woman can take hold of life and raise herself and those around her to heroic actions, of how she awakens love in those who thought themselves without love.Yet it is the story of any woman, of a woman who can take charge of her own life when she sees little hope, and carves out for herself a life that affects others, even those thousands whom she never sees. Though there is pain and regret, a sense of hopelessness and despair, Alex – little by little – reaches out for help and to help, and grows as a result to find a life of reward and hope.

    The Romans under Scipio Africanus won a bloody, decisive victory over Hannibal's Carthaginians. Scipio's victory signalled a shift in the balance of power in the ancient world. Thereafter, Rome became the dominant civilization of the Mediterranean. Zama also saw the eclipse of one legendary commander, Hannibal, the scourge of Rome and the preeminent general of the Second Punic War, by Scipio, one of the greatest leaders Rome ever produced. Brian Todd Carey's compelling, original reconstruction of the battle, the grueling skirmishes that led up to it, and its aftermath—including Hannibal's exile and suicide, Scipio's triumph, and the epic Roman siege that destroyed Carthage forever as a Mediterranean power— gives a fascinating insight into the Carthaginian and Roman methods of waging war. In addition to discussing the military organization and equipment and the tactics the armies employed, the book examines the lives and military careers of Hannibal and Scipio and offers critical assessment of their contrasting leadership styles. Carey's concise account of this climactic confrontation at Zama—a pivotal episode in ancient warfare—is complemented by the detailed maps of cartographers Joshua B. Allfree and John Cairns. Hannibal's Last Battle: Zama and the Fall of Carthage will appeal to readers of military history and is an essential text for all students of the classical period.BRIAN TODD CAREY teaches history at the American Military University. He is author of Warfare in the Ancient World and Warfare in the Medieval World

    But until now, students of the Inferno have lacked a suitable resource to guide their reading.Welcome to Danteworlds, the first substantial guide to the Inferno in English. Guy P. Raffa takes readers on a geographic journey through Dante’s underworld circle by circle—from the Dark Wood down to the ninth circle of Hell—in much the same way Dante and Virgil proceed in their infernal descent. Each chapter—or “region”—of the book begins with a summary of the action, followed by detailed entries, significant verses, and useful study questions. The entries, based on a close examination of the poet’s biblical, classical, and medieval sources, help locate the characters and creatures Dante encounters and assist in decoding the poem’s vast array of references to religion, philosophy, history, politics, and other works of literature.Written by an established Dante scholar and tested in the fire of extensive classroom experience, Danteworlds will be heralded by readers at all levels of expertise, from students and general readers to teachers and scholars.

    It is 1958, and the family is celebrating her father's fiftieth birthday at a lavish ball. The celebratory night ends in death and tragedy, however, and young Celestria learns that the family may lose Pendrift Hall. Her grandfather urges Celestria to play detective, to solve the mysteries surrounding the night's events, and to save the ancient mansion if at all possible. Her quest takes her to Italy's rugged and beautiful Puglia, and into the dark, cool cloisters of the Convento di Santa Maria del Mare. Here Celestria meets an enigmatic stranger and confronts unwelcome truths about her family—and herself. Sea of Lost Love is Santa Montefiore at her very best—sensitive, sensual, and complex.

    Picón and seven chapters that reflect the scope of the collection: the Neolithic and the Aegean Bronze Age, Geometric and Archaic Greece, Classical Greece, the Hellenistic Age, Cyprus, Etruria, and the Roman Empire. Notable are such treasures as a Cycladic figure of about 4500–4000 B.C., a fascinating and meticulously restored bronze and ivory Etruscan chariot from the sixth century B.C., and a number of well-preserved Roman wall paintings. An entry section includes an informative text about each object, along with a map for each chapter and a selection of drawings and details.

    to the early fourth century A.D.from the most famous to some with new significance resulting from new information. Themes such as religion, urbanism, war, imperial expansion, funerary practices, intellectual life, and family are vividly represented in mosaics, frescoes, bronze and terracotta statuettes, monumental sculptures, sarcophagi, reliefs, and glass and metal vessels. The catalogue also covers the careful procedures of cleaning and repair that took place during the collection's restoration. The resulting reincarnation of the Louvre's pieces transforms the contemporary view of early Roman public and private life, conveying a novel perspective and understanding of these ancient masterpieces. With comprehensive essays by a team of scholars on emperorship, citizenship, archit

    While the tension between Gerard and his fellow recruits exerts such pressure on him that he is forced into unpracticed roles of leadership and decisiveness, he also experiences flashbacks of his past relationships with women and a thawing of the suppressed memory of his baby sister's death in Belgium when he was seven years old.

    Laballe is the perfect tour guide providing unique trip ideas like "The Art & Architecture Tour," "The La Costa Verde Tour," and "The Best Way to Explore Spain in 21-Days." Packed with information on dining, transportation, and accommodations, Moon Spain has lots of options for a range of travel budgets. Every Moon guidebook includes recommendations for must-see sights and many regional, area, and city-centered maps. Providing endless ideas for travelers like attending a bullfight in Granada or hiking the Camino de Santiago, Moon Spain gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience. With expert writers, first-rate strategic advice, and an essential dose of humor, Moon guidebooks are the cure for the common trip.