Here, historian Alexander Ivanov reveals their fears and betrayals, privilege and debauchery, conspiracies and rivalries, love and tragedy as they forged Russia into one of the world's greatest empires. No ruler in history has embodied the oppressive domination of these rulers more vividly than Alexander Ivanov's opening subject, Tsar Ivan IV, the first of all the Russian tsars, known to history as Ivan the Terrible. Although a gifted ruler who did much to unite and improve the conditions in his primitive country, Ivan was also a notorious sadist who delighted in torturing and murdering anyone who displeased him. Ivan's death in 1584 ushered in the Time of Troubles, thirty-five years of famine, plague, and war that crippled the nation. A series of rulers attempted to cope with the devastation, beginning with Ivan's successor Boris Godunov. Finally, grasping for stability, Russia's nobles begged young Michael Romanov, the great-nephew of Ivan's beloved wife Anastasia, to take the throne. Michael successfully united the war-torn and ravaged nation and founded a dynasty that would rule for 300 years. The Romanov line produced Russia's most brilliant yet most unconventional sovereign: Peter the Great, a towering figure of a man whose restless, creative mind led him on an inexorable quest to modernize and civilize the still backward nation. The reforms he enacted so enraged nobles and peasants alike that Peter had to quash a series of rebellions to keep his crown. Ruthlessly stifling dissent and massacring rebels, he ultimately cowed the Russian people into submission, achieving a legacy that nearly equaled his ambitions. It was left to a woman - and a foreigner, at that - to lead the nation further out of the darkness. German princess Sophie Friederike Auguste of Anhalt-Zerbst, known to the world as Catherine the Great, absorbed the principles of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment and applied them to a country built on the backs of millions of serfs. However ineffective some of her policies, in the end, she made Russia a major player on the European stage. Serfdom was finally abolished in the nineteenth century, but it would be decades before Russian peasants could own land of their own and learn to farm it productively. The boyars and tsars clung to power until the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. The sad fate of the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family, marked the end of the absolute power that Ivan the Terrible had so exploited. The abuses would continue but under a new and drastically different form of government.

    As a postgraduate she moved to London and worked as a researcher at Amnesty International among other jobs. She started writing the Harry Potter series during a delayed Manchester to London King’s Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel.Jo then moved to northern Portugal, where she taught English as a foreign language. She married in October 1992 and gave birth to a daughter in 1993. When the marriage ended, she and Jessica returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, where Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone was eventually completed. The book was first published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in June 1997, under the name J K Rowling. The “K”, for Kathleen, her paternal grandmother’s name was added at her publisher’s request who thought that a woman’s name would not appeal to the target audience of young boys.The second title in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and was No. 1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts for a month after publication. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published on 8th July 1999 to worldwide acclaim and spent four weeks at No.1 in the UK adult hardback bestseller charts. The fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8th July 2000 with a record first print run of 1 million copies for the UK. It quickly broke all records for the greatest number of books sold on the first day of publication in the UK. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was published in Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia on 21st June 2003 and broke the records set by Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire as the fastest selling book in history. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published in the UK, US and other English-speaking countries on 16th July 2005 and also achieved record sales.The seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published in the UK, US and other English speaking countries in 2007. J K Rowling has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry’s school books within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages were published in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of the Children’s High Level Group (now Lumos).As well as an OBE for services to children’s literature, J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees including the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and she has been a Commencement Speaker at Harvard University USA. She supports a wide number of charitable causes through her charitable trust Volant, and is the founder of Lumos, a charity working to transform the lives of disadvantaged children.J.K. Rowling lives in Edinburgh with her husband and three children.

    

    But he’s called away to deal with a crisis in Hong Kong and she’s left to settle into a new country on her own. One by one, her three grown-up children need help with major life problems and there’s only her to help them, because as usual, Paul puts his job first. Then she finds out that her husband's been unfaithful for years, and it’s the final blow to their marriage, especially as she’s met another man she finds attractive and kind. Her confidence grows as she wins acclaim as an embroidery artist and then she comes into an inheritance. Will her loyalty keep her with her husband, as it has before, or will Paul get more than he’d bargained for with the new, independent Rosalind?

    Yet, he knew deep down that if he ever had to make that hurtful decision again, the outcome would remain the same. Life must go on, money has to be made and only the strong will survive. Tiffany has spent the last four years of her life regretting the day she fell in love with Travon. Back then, she was too naïve to realize that everything in life comes with a price and unfortunately for her, the price she paid was her freedom. Will Tiffany ever have a chance to make Travon pay for ruining her life?

    Years ago, her affair with Frank Anderson, the very handsome but very married lead news anchor, had taken her body, soul, and career to new heights. But Kai’s thrill ride with Frank ended in an unspeakable tragedy. Now, she avoids his advances, despite the deep feelings she still has for him. Anxious to move on, Kai initiates a summer fling with Deandre Grant, a sexy NBA player with mind-blowing bedroom skills. Soon, Kai finds herself hungering for more than a casual relationship, and she’s overjoyed when Deandre confesses that he feels the same way. Unfortunately, their beautiful beginning is tainted when their relationship hits two major roadblocks: Kai’s sister, LaNaya, a video vixen and exotic dancer, who gets caught up in a sexy webcam operation with dangerous consequences; and Janice, Deandre’s deranged baby-mama.On a business trip to Atlanta, Kai discovers something about Frank, her former flame, that changes her perspective on the past. Will this new information open the door for reconciliation with him, or will she go all the way with Deandre? Kai reports the news every day, but there is much more drama off the air, when it comes to her own life. This novel is a tale of fate, desire and the unexpected.EXCERPT:Although Deandre hadn’t popped the question yet, all signs point to us jumping the broom. He had been to three Sunday dinners in a row at Mama’s house, and we would be flying, first-class, to Atlanta together the following weekend. He’d even invited me to training camp to watch him work out. I sat in the bleachers, cheering him on, along with all the other basketball wives and girlfriends. Most of them were half a decade younger than me, with bodies sculpted by a plastic surgeon’s scalpel, but the passionate way Deandre kissed my lips at the end of practice made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the arena.Now, I sat on the couch next to him as he popped open a bottle of champagne and poured us each a glass.He handed one to me and said, “I’d like to make a toast…to the smartest, sexiest, most passionate woman I’ve ever known.”I smiled as we clinked glasses. “Wow! You’re gonna give me a big head talking like that.”“Reese’s, you’ve got everything a man needs. Plus, you make your own money. I’m always worried about gold-diggers, but I know that’s not something I have to worry about with you. That’s one of the reasons why I love you.”I blinked at him, wondering if I’d heard him right. I had waited for months to hear those three words. I was so excited I could scream.He stroked my face. “I’ve been waiting a long time to tell you how I feel, Reese’s. Yes, I love you. It’s been so hard to keep it inside.”Joyful tears filled my eyes. “Oh, Deandre! I love you too!”He kissed me with so much emotion that my whole body trembled. Minutes later, we were in his king-sized bed and I did something between the sheets that shocked us both...

    There are many more magical beings on Earth, and they live amongst us as humans that are in touch with a side of them that makes them powerful.
 Surreal’s parents give him the life that every kid dreams of. He grows up with friends that look at him as if he is a brother. He doesn’t like the title because of the big secret that he has kept from them, a secret that brings out too many questions that can’t be answered without putting them in danger. He gets away with it for years, until a pool party ends in a blood bath with most of his peers as the victims. With the secret out, he has to travel with a group of friends to get to the Olympian Stadium to connect with the primary source of his power to defend himself from the sons of Hades. Surreal is looking forward to the tough journey ahead. What he doesn’t count on is the new company of a human woman… so he thinks.
 Nova has been on her own since she was thirteen. She notices how different she is and decides to travel the road alone. Nova never knows where she is going until she gets to her destination. It is a pull that she can’t escape that draws her to a stranger that was walking across the street. When they touch accidentally, she feels something different, something that she has never felt before. The stranger promises her the comfort that she doesn’t know to exist. Being on the opposite end of people’s anger makes it hard to trust him. That all changes when she learns of the common trait they hold as a secret.
 Once upon a time, the world was ruled by the gods of lightning and of the seas. It would be their descendant that will protect them from the one dangerous enemy they couldn’t seem to kill.

    With only a snap of his fingers he is able to command thousands of men, and have his every desire fall at his feet. The only thing that this master is missing is true love in his life. At the brink of a drug war and rebellion from potential business partners, Zeus finds it impossible to trust anyone he brings close, let alone finding someone he would be able to love and give his all too, or share his very own empire with. When a broken Rumor Sandavo waltzes into his life on business, he finds himself balancing everything on his plate and schedule accordingly, as well as trying to get closer to the young woman. After longing for love for quite some time, Zeus failed to realize that love can weaken you or make you more vulnerable. Will Rumor accept Zeus as the man of her life once she finds out what he's capable of? Or will she be the one and only reason he is stripped of his title as "Beast Of The Cartel" and loses the war that the rebellion has brought upon him?

    DJ feels he can't trust anybody...not his right hand man, not his down ass bitch, not even his little brother, who wants nothing more than to follow in his very footsteps. DJ, like most gangstas, runs his empire with death at the end of his trigga finger, taking no shorts and no slips. Even though JJ is the cause of him being on top, envy and ill feelings in his heart, towards his baby brother influences him to just enough to justify his actions. Didi, DJ's main chick, does everything in her power to get DJ's ass to reach back for JJ, who's now homeless, living on the streets of Waterloo, Iowa, as a bum at the age of fourteen. Hate, envy, and pride, set in his eyes, blinding him of seeing past DJ's wants; and his wants only. JJ, refusing to ask for his brother's help, takes it upon himself and jumps into the drug game, learning as he comes up. No matter what JJ does, he can't hide his rapid come up from his brother. DJ, having so much hate and envy in his heart towards JJ, he puts his focus more on keeping JJ broke, than running his own empire, which crumbles, right beneath his feet. What will the end of such an ordeal bring?

    Entangled is a love story between a major drug trafficker and a history teacher. The subplots include a black DEA agent with divided loyalty. He wants to do his job and rid the streets of drugs but on the other hand he knows that the system is corrupt and it targets minorities, this story has all the elements of a major motion picture.

    ONE REASON TO LIVE. THREE WAYS TO DIE. Trill Johnson has five years of jail time under his belt, two women trying to get inside his pants, and one mission: Get the suckers who sold him out. And get ’em good. Sunni James will do anything for Trill. Lie, cheat, steal. Even risk losing her successful beauty salon to save him from the mean streets of Richmond. Precious Pay will do anything for Trill, too. She cribbed his kid while he did his time; now she wants Trill to pay for the leg she lost in a robbery gone wrong. But when love is a lie, who do you trust? When the deals turn dirty, who do you betray? And when the guns start blazing, who’s going down?

    When Geneva, Crystal, Chevy, and Noah get hot and bothered, they get way more than they ever bargained for…Geneva is busy caring for her daughter—and robbing the cradle with her son’s business manager. Chevy is working for a diva who requires assistance that’s way too personal for Chevy’s liking. Crystal is in for the surprise of her life when her mom (!) conspires to get Crystal’s engine purring like a kitten again. And Noah hears everyone’s secrets, miles away in London, but with these friends, secrets don’t stay secret for long! After all, what are friends for?So slip into something slinky and get ready to catch the Fever!

    With these characters William will make us laugh and cry. And never again will we think that someone is just a regular bloke - everyone can be a king or a queen in their own suburb.

    Blue–acclaimed author of Harlem Girl Lost and A Street Girl Named Desire–is back with a heartbreaking urban love story of two star-crossed lovers up against the dirtiest dealer Harlem has ever seen.Knocked up by a Southern preacher, Keyshia is sent to live with her aunt in New York, but after a horrific act of violence, the timid young woman becomes ice-cold–turning tricks and finding comfort in a crack vial.Clyde and his two brothers find themselves living with a family friend after their mother is shot by their own father–leaving her institutionalized and unable to communicate, and him behind bars. Clyde’s older brother leads a decent life, working as a bank manager and trying to keep Clyde off the streets, but Clyde’s younger bro is the coldest killer in Harlem and takes every opportunity to involve Clyde in his infamous robberies-turned-blood baths.When Keyshia and Clyde meet, they are instantly drawn to each other. Forced to pay back a large sum of cash to one nasty Harlem kingpin or risk the lethal consequences, Keyshia and Clyde use their tight game and their loyalty to pull off the impossible. And when Clyde is falsely accused of a bank hit, Keyshia vows to stick by her man–no matter the cost.Praise for Treasure E. Blue’s A Street Girl Named Desire:“Treasure Blue continues and solidifies his position as the true heir to Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines. A book full of gritty realism, violence, drug abuse, and hope; the book is simply off the damn hook!”–African American Literary Book Club “Drenched in drama, drugs, vengeance, power, pain, envy, love and hope . . . all the elements needed to satisfy [the] desire for a good read.”–Urban Reviews

    Multibillionaire Goddard Moss has a vision: a city rising tall on the South Dakota prairie dedicated to Art. Not art of the staid, traditional, edifying, entertaining variety, but the Modern—modern painting, modern theater, modern sculpture, modern dance, all as obscure, pretentious, and offensive as its creators can make it (and with luck, government-funded). As Culture City rises from the grassy fields, playwrights, performers, and artists prepare for the gala opening week. Gregory Lubin's expansive stage re-creation of the Tower of Babel story is awaited with particular anticipation. But revolution is brewing just yards beyond the city walls and as far away as rural Maine. Despite the money being lavished on it, it becomes doubtful that "the Artland in the Heartland" will survive past its premiere.