And so he has decided to put his thoughts down on paper. In THE CROWN: TRUTH & FICTION, Vickers writes that he does not approve of THE CROWN because 'it depicts real life people in situations which are partly true and partly false, and unfortunately most viewers take it all as gospel truth.'  He accepts that fiction can be a device to illuminate true events, but points out that it can be used to create dangerous, and lasting, false impressions too. THE CROWN has been a highly successful series, watched with intense interest across the globe.  The settings and costumes are of high quality, the acting is good, and it all looks convincing.  Peter Morgan is an intelligent writer, author of the film THE QUEEN, and the stage production of THE AUDIENCE.  The real Queen has previously inspired great performances from actresses such as Prunella Scales and Helen Mirren, and Claire Foy portrays her beautifully. As Vickers writes, 'THE CROWN has done a great job in reminding a younger generation that the Queen and Prince Philip were once young themselves.' One of the devices used in Series 2 is to take two straightforward themes which did happen and clash them against each other to create something which did not.  For example, in Episode 8, yes, the Queen and Prince Philip entertained the Kennedys at Buckingham Palace (on 5 June 1961), and yes, the Queen visited Nkrumah in Ghana (between 9 and 20 November 1961), but the Queen did not go to Ghana for the trivial reason that she wished to pull one over on Mrs Kennedy – she went there to ensure that Ghana remained part of the Commonwealth. Much has been written about the massive budget for this series and the attention to detail.   THE CROWN: TRUTH & FICTION identifies quite a number of mistakes, especially in respect of Orders and decorations.  Having worked on films himself, Hugo Vickers knows how hard it is to make sure these details are correct, and how sometimes shortcuts have to be taken.  But it is not that difficult to get the details right, and so he points out some of these errors.  But these are trivial things in comparison to the things shown as having happened, when they did not. The cruelest and most undeserved victim of the series is Prince Philip, here portrayed as a fractious, bumptious Jack the Lad, very much the villain.  Watching the series, Hugo Vickers concludes that he failed to find the man who, in 1962, was advancing Anglo-German relations through remarks such as, ‘It may be difficult for people to see any virtue in forgiving one’s enemies, but let them reflect that it is much more likely to achieve a better future than stoking the fires of hatred and suspicion.’  This fictional Prince Philip is little more than a self-centred philanderer.  The real Prince Philip told his biographer, Tim Heald: ‘I certainly believe in the need for a “free” press, but there is a difference between freedom and licence and between the honest pursuit of the truth and the cynical pursuit of thoughtless – even vindictive sensationalism.’ THE CROWN: TRUTH & FICTION delivers a sharp message to filmwriters, producers, and their historical advisers: Fiction should help us understand the truth, not pervert it.

    A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world’s great literary treasures – as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, and explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate and freedom.

    We are born and raised to serve our lord and shogun. Our code dictates selflessness and death to be more honorable than failure, whether on the battlefield or even over the most insignificant dispute.In eighteenth-century Japan, the lord of a samurai clan is sentenced to death for an assault on castle grounds. As dictated by law, the clan must exact revenge on the one responsible for their lord’s death. However due to circumstances, the shogun forbids any such act, placing a band of masterless samurai at odds with themselves and the martial code by which they live and die. After much trial and hardship, the clan does the unthinkable and defies the shogun’s mandate in order to fulfill their duty to their late lord. In doing so, these legendary warriors will be forever remembered for inspiring the Way of the Warrior back into the hearts of their countrymen.If you like historical novels set in old Japan, martial arts action adventure stories or samurai films, discover 47 Ronin.

    A teenage girl disappears on her way home from Coatesville High School. A reputed witch turns up dead in Pottsville. A young woman seemingly helps solve her own murder after she dies in a Philadelphia park.True-crime author Tammy Mal digs up facts on four of Pennsylvania’s weirdest killings in her book Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania’s Most Bizarre—But Forgotten—Murders. These 1930s crimes have long fallen into obscurity, but Mal deftly revives them in stark detail, from discovery of the body and through the trial. Ghosts, witches, resentment, and sex factor into these crimes, giving them a chilling edge as Mal brings them back to life in her latest true-crime book. It’s a look into just what tortured minds can do, certain to convince you to lock your doors after dark.

    Ron Hubbard—begins in Brooklyn's working-class Bensonhurst neighborhood, where she was introduced to the religion by her mom. More than three decades later, Leah summoned the courage to leave the church—something few celebrities at her level of fame have ever done before and almost none have ever talked about. This People Spotlight Story explores Leah Remini and her escape from Scientology.

    When England's Sir Thomas More offers him the role of tutor to Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, he eagerly accepts.While publicly navigating life as a 'New Christian,' Vives is quickly drawn into the secretive and dangerous world of London's Jewish community. With a foot in each world, he is torn between the love of two women.Inside the Tudor court, the king and queen separately seek Vives's assistance to support their opposed demands. He must betray one to help the other, knowing his decision could cost him his life. Whom will he choose? Will his wily skills allow him to manipulate them both? Not only his survival but that of his family and his entire people hang in the balance.

    Guns are drawn, and in the ensuing hail of bullets, only the husband walks away. However, police soon find out, that what seems to be a robbery gone wrong is anything but. The Case of the Ragged Stranger, as the tabloids dubbed it, is a tale of deceit, betrayal, and depravity, a stranger-than-fiction mystery story whose shocking solution riveted the nation and made it one of the most sensational crimes of the Jazz Age.

    Madden launches the first of a two-part series on the medieval world. This all-encompassing investigation of a highly influential time period includes the major events of the era and informative discussion of empire, papacy, the Crusades, and the fall of Constantinople. During the course of these lectures, Professor Madden also addresses the rise of Islam, reform movements, and schisms in the church. In so doing, Professor Madden underscores the significance and grand scale of an age that continues to hold an undeniable fascination for people today. Course SyllabusLecture 1 The End of an Empire and the Beginning of the WorldLecture 2 The Empire Strikes Back: Justinian I and the Reconquest of the WestLecture 3 Storm in the East: The Rise of IslamLecture 4 The New Masters of Rome: The PopesLecture 5 A New Empire: The CarolingiansLecture 6 Devastation Again: The New Invasions of EuropeLecture 7 To Reform and Rebuild: The Eleventh-Century Reform MovementLecture 8 The Clash of Church and State: The Investiture ControversyLecture 9 The CrusadesLecture 10 Growing Kingdoms: England and FranceLecture 11 The Rise and Fall of the Papal MonarchyLecture 12 Europe Asunder: The Avignon Papacy and the Great SchismLecture 13 The Hundred Years WarLecture 14 Europe Stands Alone: The Fall of Constantinople

    THE DE RUSSE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION contains The Dark One: Dark Knight, The White Lord of Wellesbourne, Lord of War: Black Angel, and The Falls of Erith. Get all of the passion, romance, majesty, adventure, and politics of the High Middle Ages in one collection as the de Russe Family, one of Le Veque's premier houses, find their way in the brutal struggles of England's history. This is a collection for true Medieval Fiction or Medieval Romance lovers. The Dark One: Dark Knight - A knight who betrayed Richard III at Bosworth finds love and salvation in a wounded lady. The White Lord of Wellesbourne - A knight, his lady, and the ultimate battlefield sacrifice. Lord of War: Black Angel - The Black Prince's premier knight weds a lady out of convenience in what becomes a passionate love story. The Falls of Erith - A mercenary knight weds a destitute lady with a terrible family secret.

    The great city of Constantinople, last remnant of the once-mighty Roman Empire, falls to the Ottoman armies of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. An English knight named Sir John Page is taken prisoner by the Ottomans, and forced to entertain the Sultan with tales of the West. Page chooses to tell the story of his own long career as a soldier of fortune in France, Bohemia and the Italian city-states. Page’s tale begins in the year of Agincourt, Henry V’s famous victory over the French. As the bastard son of Thomas Page, a famous mercenary captain known as The Half-Hanged Man or The Wolf of Burgundy, Page soon acquires the nickname of The Wolf Cub. After slaying his cousin in a duel, Page flees his home and joins a band of outlaws in the forests of Sussex. At last - tired of the brutality of his companions - he decides to leave England and join the English army in Normandy. There he endures brutal sieges, vicious combats, torture, betrayal and imprisonment, all to win glory and redeem his father's name. Trapped in the Sultan’s prison, Page must hope his story is enough to save him from the executioner’s blade....at least for another three days...

    Combining the best of what Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures had to offer, al-Andalus and its successors influenced the rest of Europe in dramatic ways, from the death of liturgical Latin and the spread of secular poetry, to remarkable feats in architecture, science, and technology. The glory of the Andalusian kingdoms endured until the Renaissance, when Christian monarchs forcibly converted, executed, or expelled non-Catholics from Spain. In this wonderful book, we can finally explore the lost history whose legacy is still with us in countless ways. Author Biography: María Rosa Menocal is R. Selden Rose Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and head of the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University. She lives in New Haven, CT.

    His dream of a united kingdom of all England will stand or fall on one field—on the passage of a single day.At his side is the priest Dunstan of Glastonbury, full of ambition and wit (perhaps enough to damn his soul). His talents will take him from the villages of Wessex to the royal court, to the hills of Rome—from exile to exaltation. Through Dunstan's vision, by his guiding hand, England will either come together as one great country or fall back into anarchy and misrule . . .From one of our finest historical writers, The Abbott’s Tale is an intimate portrait of a priest and performer, a visionary, a traitor and confessor to kings—the man who can change the fate of England.

    He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father’s land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea.This thrilling adventure—based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell’s ancestors—depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.

    As a commentary on the texts, Fitchett inserts his own criticism and analysis of parts of four biographies.Each of these men were eyewitnesses to the major events of Wellington’s Peninsula Campaign, and write critically about their own experiences in vivid prose that takes us directly back to the battlefields of Europe.They are the “actual human documents, with the salt of truth, of sincerity, and of reality in every syllable,” as Fitchett writes.‘Wellington’s Men’ is a fascinating history of the Napoleonic Wars as told by the men who saw it.W.H. Fitchett (1841-1928) was a minister, educator and writer, who wrote a column for the Spectator magazine. He published works of fiction and non-fiction, including a four-volume collection How England Saved Europe in 1909.Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

    Keep the family together, that's what her old mum always said. Put up and shut up. And that's what everyone else did around there. Essex, 1959. Flo earns her money as a scrubber, cleaning the cruise ships and dreaming of a day when she might sail away from her life in the Dwellings, the squalid tenements of Tilbury docks. Then the Blundell family are evicted from their home.Fred, Flo's husband, finds work at Monday's, a utopian factory town. Suddenly, it seems like everything is on the up for Flo Blundell and her children. Even Jeanie, Flo's sulking teenage daughter, seems to be thawing a little in her shiny new surroundings. But when Flo's abusive husband Fred starts drinking again, he jeopardises the family's chance to escape poverty for good.Flo is faced with a terrible decision. Must she fight to keep her family together? Or could she strive for the life of her dreams - the kind of life she could have when her ship comes in?