Book picks similar to
Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade: Part One by Christian Cameron
historical-fiction
historical
favorites
history
Hunter S. Thompson: The Playboy Interview
Hunter S. Thompson - 2012
It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the last half century.To celebrate the Interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have culled 50 of its most (in)famous Interviews and will publish them over the course of 50 weekdays (from September 4, 2012 to November 12, 2012) via Amazon’s Kindle Direct platform. Here is the interview with the journalist Hunter S. Thompson from the November 1974 issue.
Hornblower Addendum - Five Stories (Hornblower Saga)
C.S. Forester - 2011
These stories about daring exploits, compassion, and challenging discoveries were written outside the confines of books and were published by magazines. Here the author has given free reign to Hornblower - creating unique circumstances to further the development of his character. A potential mutiny thwarted, an Irish uprising out foxed, help to hundreds, managing a healthy sea voyage for an ailing monarch, and meeting once again Napoleon Bonaparte - very different insights into this complex man Hornblower.
Peace in Amber
Hugh Howey - 2014
In Peace in Amber, he examines the struggle to determine what to control, when to surrender, and how to discern those things we cannot change.
Lord of Darkness
Robert Silverberg - 1983
Andrew Battell is a buccaneer on a British ship when he is taken prisoner by Portuguese pirates. Injured and ailing, Andrew is brought to the west coast of Africa where his only solace is Dona Teresa, a young woman who nurses him back to health. Once his health is restored, AndrewOCOs only hope to return home is to first serve his Portuguese masters, but it is a hope that dwindles as he is pulled further and further into the interior of the continent, into the land of the JaqqaOCothe regionOCOs most fierce and feared cannibal tribeOCooverseen by the powerful Lord of Darkness. Survival means becoming one with the Jaqqa; if he can endure their gruesome rites and initiations. Originally published in 1984, this story by a master of science fiction and fantasy demonstrates the timelessness of any great adventure and will provoke thought in a new audience on the determination to persevere at any cost."
The Last Banquet
Jonathan Grimwood - 2013
Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover. And chef.This is his story.We meet Jean-Marie d’Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of a road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his frugal roots, and thanks to it and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.Passionate love, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean-Marie’s life, but his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf’s Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey toward the ultimate feast.But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the country is clamouring with hunger of a different kind.
Miramont's Ghost
Elizabeth Hall - 2015
Only one person knows the truth: Adrienne Beauvier, granddaughter of the Comte de Challembelles and cousin to the man who built the castle.Clairvoyant from the time she could talk, Adrienne’s visions show her the secrets of those around her. When her visions begin to reveal dark mysteries of her own aristocratic French family, Adrienne is confronted by her formidable Aunt Marie, who is determined to keep the young woman silent at any cost. Marie wrenches Adrienne from her home in France and takes her to America, to Miramont Castle, where she keeps the girl isolated and imprisoned. Surrounded by eerie premonitions, Adrienne is locked in a life-or-death struggle to learn the truth and escape her torment.Reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, this hauntingly atmospheric tale is inspired by historical research into the real-life Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Shadowplay
Joseph O'Connor - 2019
Three extraordinary people begin their life together, a life that will be full of drama, transformation, passionate and painful devotion to art and to one another. Henry Irving, the Chief, is the volcanic leading man and impresario; Ellen Terry is the most lauded and desired actress of her generation, outspoken and generous of heart; and ever following along behind them in the shadows is the unremarkable theatre manager, Bram Stoker. Fresh from life in Dublin as a clerk, Bram may seem the least colourful of the trio but he is wrestling with dark demons in a new city, in a new marriage, and with his own literary aspirations. As he walks the London streets at night, streets haunted by the Ripper and the gossip which swirls around his friend Oscar Wilde, he finds new inspiration. But the Chief is determined that nothing will get in the way of his manager's devotion to the Lyceum and to himself. And both men are enchanted by the beauty and boldness of the elusive Ellen. This exceptional novel explores the complexities of love that stands dangerously outside social convention, the restlessness of creativity, and the experiences that led to Dracula, the most iconic supernatural tale of all time.
Rally Cry
William R. Forstchen - 1990
But they also found themselves up against creatures who considered humans mere cattle to sacrifice!
Robert Jordan's New Spring #1
Chuck Dixon
However, while war among men boils forth, the Dark One once again grows powerful, and his minions begin to cast a wicked shadow over the land. New Spring is a graphical adaptation of the best-selling prequel to Robert Jordan's acclaimed fantasy series, The Wheel of Time!
Dublin Murder Squad Series 6 Books Collection Set by Tana French (In The Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbour, Secret Place & The Trespasser)
Tana French - 2019
He never saw them again. Their bodies were never found, and Adam himself was discovered with his back pressed against an oak tree and his shoes filled with blood. The Likeness: Still traumatised by her brush with a psychopath, Detective Cassie Maddox transfers out of the Murder squad and starts a relationship with fellow detective Sam O'Neill. When he calls her to the scene of his new case, she is shocked to find that the murdered girl is her double. Faithful Place: The course of Frank Mackey's life was set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Broken Harbour: In Broken Harbour, a ghost estate outside Dublin - half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned - two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder squad's star detective. The Secret Place: Even in her exclusive boarding school, in the graceful golden world that Stephen has always longed for, bad things happen and people have secrets. The previous year, Christopher Harper, from the neighbouring boys' school, was found murdered on the grounds. The Trespasser: Being on the Dublin Murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed. Her working life is a stream of thankless cases and harassment. Antoinette is tough, but she's getting close to the breaking point.
Captain Nemo
Kevin J. Anderson - 2002
But what if Nemo was a real man, whose actual life was more fantastic and adventurous than all the fictions it inspired?Here is the tale of Andre Nemo, the man behind the myth. The free-spirited and inventive son of a French shipbuilder, Nemo goes to sea as a cabin boy, faces marauding pirates and bloodthirsty sharks, is marooned for years on a mysterious island, battles prehistoric monsters long believed extinct, journeys to the center of the Earth, balloons across Africa, escapes from Arab slavers, discovers the fabled city of Timbuktu, endures a plague of locusts, survives the Charge of the Light Brigade, tends to the wounded with Florence Nightingale, is pressed into service by the ruthless Robert the Conqueror, and, ultimately, wages war on War itself as the captain of his greatest creation: the legendary underwater vessel known as the Nautilus.Captain Nemo is also the story of Nemo’s childhood friend, Jules Verne, who would bestow immortality upon the captain’s exploits, and of the remarkable woman they both loved to the very end.
Daisy's War
Shayne Parkinson - 2012
A cherished only child with an adored older cousin, and surrounded by a sprawling extended family, her world seems a warm and safe one. But the Great War is casting its long shadow over New Zealand. Daisy watches in growing fear as more and more of the men leave to fight in Europe, and the War strikes ever closer to the heart of her family. "Daisy's War" opens five years after the end of "A Second Chance". The settings and many of the characters from the earlier books are revisited, while a new generation is introduced: that of Amy's grandchildren.
A Thief in Time
Cidney Swanson - 2016
She can't let him go.Halley, stuck covering house-sitting jobs for her self-absorbed mom, has Hollywood dreams but no real life. Until the day covering for her mom leads to a tumble back to London, 1598, where Halley meets a hot, rich earl named Edmund. And accidentally brings him to the 21st century.Her dull summer just got a whole lot more interesting as she tells Edmund to keep his hands off tech he doesn't understand and a deadly sword he can't use in public brawls. All while trying to keep from falling for him, which definitely can't happen.Now Halley's job is to get Edmund back where he belongs--while preventing a very scary scientist from suspecting she messed with his time machine. If the evil scientist finds out about Edmund, Edmund's as good as dead. And what might that do to history? Not to mention, Halley would be next in line ...Summer's not boring anymore.Halley just needs to keep from getting killed, save Edmund (and history) before it's too late, and not fall for a guy who can't stick around.No matter how much she want him to.A THIEF IN TIME is a sweet, clean, time-travel romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers, packed with danger and historical detail.
Salammbô
Gustave Flaubert - 1862
The action takes place before and during the Mercenary Revolt, an uprising of mercenaries in the employ of Carthage in the 3rd century BC. --- An unfinished opera by Modest Mussorgsky, a silent film by Pierre Marodon and a play by Charles Ludlam are among the many adaptations of Flaubert's novel. --- Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), famous French novelist, known for his endless search for "le mot juste" (the precise word); author of Madame Bovary (1857). In 1858, in order to gather material for Salammbo, Flaubert paid a visit to Carthage.
Daughters of the Night Sky
Aimie K. Runyan - 2018
Katya Ivanova is a young pilot in a far-flung military academy in the Ural Mountains. From childhood, she’s dreamed of taking to the skies to escape her bleak mountain life. With the Nazis on the march across Europe, she is called on to use her wings to serve her country in its darkest hour. Not even the entreaties of her new husband—a sensitive artist who fears for her safety—can dissuade her from doing her part as a proud daughter of Russia.After years of arduous training, Katya is assigned to the 588th Night Bomber Regiment—one of the only Soviet air units composed entirely of women. The Germans quickly learn to fear nocturnal raids by the daring fliers they call “Night Witches.” But the brutal campaign will exact a bitter toll on Katya and her sisters-in-arms. When the smoke of war clears, nothing will ever be the same—and one of Russia’s most decorated military heroines will face the most agonizing choice of all.