In October 1942, Britain and its allies were in real difficulties: Germany and its Axis partners seemed to be triumphant everywhere—in Europe, in Russia, in the Atlantic and were now poised to take the Suez Canal. It was in North Africa that the stand was made, that the tide of World War II began to turn. It was a battle of strong characters: the famous battle commander Rommel and the relatively untested new British commander, Montgomery, leading men who fought through an extraordinary eleven day battle, in an unforgiving terrain, amid the swirling sandstorms and the desert winds.

    The Babylonian worldview is centered on the supremacy of Marduk, and contributes the belief that mankind exists to service god. This Babylonian creation epic was first discovered by modern scholars in the ruins of an early library in Mosul, Iraq and its seven translated clay tablets are provided to you here in the form of a paperback book.

    But the woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was, in fact, a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told…When her father dies suddenly, Theodora and her sisters face starvation on the streets. Determined to survive, Theodora makes a living any way she can—first on her back with every man who will have her, then on the stage of the city’s infamous amphitheater in a scandalous dramatization of her own invention. When her daring performance grants her a back-door entry into the halls of power, she seizes the chance to win a wealthy protector—only to face heartbreak and betrayal. Ever resilient, Theodora rises above such trials and by a twist of fate, meets her most passionate admirer yet: the Emperor’s nephew. She will thrive as his confidant and courtesan, but many challenges lie ahead. For one day, this man will hand her a crown. And all the empire will wonder—is she bold enough, shrewd enough, and strong enough to keep it?

    Then her uncle dies, leaving her the family’s Revolutionary-era home and, she believes, an escape from her chaotic marriage. But one afternoon, while searching for a rake, she discovers a man in her garden shed — and a free fall through the centuries. As her life spins wildly out of control, Kathleen finds her heart and in the process, her own place in time.

    To impress them forever he orders a great wall to be built, driving his people to exhaustion and despair so that they cry to the Sun God for help. In answer, another kind of man, Enkidu, is sent to earth to live among the animals and learn kindness from them. He falls in love with Shamhat, a singer from the temple, and he follows her back to Uruk. There, Enkidu, the “uncivilized” beast from the forest, shows the evil Gilgamesh through friendship what it means to be human.

    Stephan Grundy -- whose stunning retellings of timeless legends have earned him resounding international acclaim-now reawakens a peerless hero as old as human memory and celebrates once more his mighty deeds and magical destiny.GILGAMESH"I am Ensi of Erech, son ofLugalbanda and Rimsat-Ninsun,two-thirds god and one-third man."A warrior, impetuous and proud, an insatiable lover, and a man of restless, violent spirit, Gilgamesh has been chosen to guide his kingdom in times of war and peace. His strength and courage are unsurpassed, yet his reckless heart threatens the land and the people who are dependent upon his sober, benevolent rule. He has spurned the gods with his arrogant refusal to take part in a sacred ritual. And they, in turn, have responded by creating one who is his equal -- a beast-man, lord of his own feral domain -- who will lead Gilgamesh on a remarkable quest of accomplishment and discovery, and hasten the destruction of a tragically flawed hero's realm and legend.Moving across a richly evoked Mesopotamian landscape and written in a style that brilliantly and faithfully recalls the great epics throughout history, Stephen Grundy's Gilgamesh is an extraordinary achievement: a sweeping saga of gods, magic, adventure, and poignantly imperfect humanity that is at once compelling, original, and relevant to any epoch.

    Pius and idealistic, the young Sophie shed her cloak of innocence to become Catherine The Great. At the urging of her ambitious mother, Johanna, Sophie married Peter III, the only grandson of Russian legend, Peter I. After scandalous love affairs and the mysterious sudden death of her husband, Peter III, Catherine ascended the Russian throne. The most intriguing aspect of the story is the fact that Catherine had no moral or legal right to the Russian throne. During that era, the laws of succession were rigidly enforced. In Russia, there were three living heirs, each with a legitimate right to the throne; one of those heirs was her husband, Peter III, the grandson of Peter I, a giant in Russian history, known affectionately as The Father of Russia. Catherine was cautioned repeatedly that she would not be able to sidestep her husband, Peter III and Ivan VI (who was living but in prison), while at the same time ignoring the rights of her own son, Paul I. Highly placed members of the Russian aristocracy warned Catherine that the Russian people would take up arms against her solely for the fact that she was German, not Russian. The fact that Catherine was able to overcome so many obstacles to ascend the throne of Russia is a monument to her brilliance, strength and determination. Not only was she crowned Empress, her rule would last thirty years. Catherine's extraordinary success as a ruler has made her a legend in her own right.

    This is the story of a time when brother fought brother and Christian fought Christian. Power was all and Spain was riven by strife which was political, religious and familial! One man came from the harsh land of Castile to make one land and one state. Spain truly began with Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Campeador, El Cid. His story is told through the eyes of the warrior who spent his life at his side. William Redbeard came from humble origins but he was destined for greatness too as he walked in the seemingly endless shadow of El Cid. This first instalment in the Chronicles tells of Rodrigo’s rise to prominence when he became the champion of Prince Sancho of Castile. This is but the beginning of a tale which still stirs the blood a millennium after it began.

    Heiress of one empire and prisoner of another, it is up to the daughter of Cleopatra to save her brothers and reclaim what is rightfully hers... To Isis worshippers, Princess Selene and her twin brother Helios embody the divine celestial pair who will bring about a Golden Age. But when Selene's parents are vanquished by Rome, her auspicious birth becomes a curse.Trapped in an empire that reviles her heritage and suspects her faith, the young messianic princess struggles for survival in a Roman court of intrigue. She can't hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her hands, nor can she stop the emperor from using her powers for his own ends.Faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined to resurrect her mother's dreams and succeed where she failed. But in a treacherous political game where the only rule is win or die, there's no telling what success will cost her...

    a time when countrymen battled for their freedom and usurpers sought crowns. At the novel's center is a love story of breathtaking scope: a man and a woman - enemies from birth - know from the moment they meet that they will lie in each other's arms someday. But their love, for centuries forbidden, comes at the most dangerous of times. Lady of the Glen tells of Catriona Campbell's enduring love for Alasdair Og MacDonald, the second-born son of her clan's most powerful enemy, the Laird of Glencoe. It is MacDonald who alone shows the young Catriona kindness in a harsh and violent world. As the years pass, the heart proves stronger than the sword, and they boldly pledge their love ... to handfast forever. While the Dutch King William conspires against the Scottish rebels who seek to return the exiled James Stuart to the throne, Catriona and Alasdair share a passion that joins them forever - although the lovers become pawns of war ... and of history.

    He chronicles the rise and fall of dynastic power during this period; he examines its numerous material, social and cultural innovations and inventions: The wheel, civil, engineering, building bricks, the centralized state, the division of labour, organised religion, sculpture, education, mathematics, law and monumental building.At the heart of Kriwaczek's magisterial account, though, is the glory of Babylon - 'gateway to the gods' - which rose to glorious prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi, who unified Babylonia between 1800 and 1750 BC. While Babylonian power would rise and fall over the ensuing centuries, it retained its importance as a cultural, religious and political centre until its fall to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BC.

    . .So begins The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes, a page-turning novel from a new voice on the thriller scene. With the violent theft leaving thirteen Israeli soldiers and policemen dead, and the Palestinians up in arms over the desecration of sacred grounds, the tension between the two groups is dangerously high. Jerusalem is a stick of dynamite and the fuse has been lit. . . .Across the Mediterranean in Italy, American forensic scientist Charlotte Hennesey has been hired by the Vatican to examine the contents of a newly discovered archeological treasure: a two-thousand-year-old ossuary containing the bones of an unidentified, crucified man—the first complete skeleton of a crucifixion victim ever found. Together with Italian anthropologist Giovanni Bersei, Charlotte makes startling forensic and genetic discoveries that lead her to wonder—could these be the bones of Jesus Christ?With the situation in Jerusalem veering out of control and the malevolent eye of Vatican security expert Salvatore Conte watching her every step, Charlotte puts two and two together. She knows that if the mortal remains of Christ are indeed in the burial box, the implications—for history and science, for religion and the Church—are frighteningly vast. And even more immediate is the question of whether the Vatican will allow the information—and Charlotte—to see the light of day.Fast-paced and intelligent, blending historical fact with persuasive fiction, The Sacred Bones reads like a CSI episode penned by The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown. From a conspiracy stretching back to the days of the Templar Knights to the shifting alliances of contemporary Middle Eastern politics, The Sacred Bones is an addictively compelling thriller that calls into question many of modern religion's deepest-held beliefs about Judaism, Jesus Christ and early Christianity, and Islam . . . with stunning results.

    Orphaned as an infant, he’s taken into a Sufi order, where he meets an assortment of dervishes and embarks on a path toward spiritual awakening.Along the way, Nouri will find himself in the sumptuous court of a sultan, a barren farm in the hills of Spain, a bustling city on the north coast of Africa, and a monastery perched high in the mountains. He will fall in love—and encounteran adversary who will try to destroy that love.As Nouri stumbles from one experience to the next, he grows into manhood. Each trial he endures will shatter another obstacle within—and lead him toward transcendence.Michael Golding’s previous work has been described as “brilliant” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) and “so lavish and so colorful, it’s like a meal in the open air, laid out on brocade” (Los Angeles Times). With this new novel, seven years in the writing, he has created a gripping tale that deals with many of life’s deepest questions. A Poet of the Invisible World will astonish readers as it awakens them to the poetry inside themselves.

    Violante's father bankrolled the manipulative Rodrigo Borgia into the Vatican, and in return Violante becomes lady in waiting to the new pope's scandalous daughter, Lucrezia, now Duchess of Ferrara. Flattered by Lucrezia's favor, seduced by the friendship of the Duchess's cousin Angela, and swept off her feet by the mysterious and seductive Cesare Borgia, Violante is drawn deep into intrigue and deceit. Her extraordinary journey will test her heart to its utmost and leave her the guardian of secrets she must carry to her grave.

    It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair...1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America once again. But this was a new kind of war, fought on a lawless frontier where the blue and gray battled not only each other but the Apache, the outlaw, the French, and the English. As Confederate General Stonewall Jackson again demonstrated his military expertise, the North struggled to find a leader who could prove his equal. In the Second War Between the States, the times, the stakes, and the battle lines had changed--and so would history...