He describes the Arthurian Age as 'the starting point of future British history', for it saw the transition from Roman Britain to Great Britain, the establishment of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales from the collapse of the Pax Romana. In exploring political, social, economic, religious and cultural history from the fourth to the seventh century, his theme is one of continuity. That continuity is embodied in Arthur himself: 'in name he was the last Roman Emperor, but he ruled as the first medieval king.'

     Parry began recording and studying a live tradition of oral narrative poetry in order to find an answer to the age-old Homeric Question: How had the author of the Iliad and Odyssey composed these two monumental epic poems at the very start of Europe's literary tradition? Parry's, and with him Lord's, enduring contribution--set forth in Lord's The Singer of Tales--was to demonstrate the process by which oral poets compose. Now reissued with a new Introduction and an invaluable audio and visual record, this widely influential book is newly enriched to better serve everyone interested in the art and craft of oral literature.

    Booth argues for the relocation of ethics to the center of our engagement with literature.But the questions he asks are not confined to morality. Returning ethics to its root sense, Booth proposes that the ethical critic will be interested in any effect on the ethos, the total character or quality of tellers and listeners. Ethical criticism will risk talking about the quality of this particular encounter with this particular work. Yet it will give up the old hope for definitive judgments of "good" work and "bad." Rather it will be a conversation about many kinds of personal and social goods that fictions can serve or destroy. While not ignoring the consequences for conduct of engaging with powerful stories, it will attend to that more immediate topic, What happens to us as we read? Who am I, during the hours of reading or listening? What is the quality of the life I lead in the company of these would-be friends?Through a wide variety of periods and genres and scores of particular works, Booth pursues various metaphors for such engagements: "friendship with books," "the exchange of gifts," "the colonizing of worlds," "the constitution of commonwealths." He concludes with extended explorations of the ethical powers and potential dangers of works by Rabelais, D. H. Lawrence, Jane Austen, and Mark Twain.

    Comic-book artist Gil Kane illustrates Richard Wagner's four Ring operas in a graphic style which makes music all its own.

    A youth called Alric is captured and his brother, thirteen year old Jørren, decides to undertake the seemingly impossible task of rescuing him. Accompanied only by a slave not much older than he is, Jørren sets out to find Alric. His quest takes him into war-torn East Anglia and up through Northumbria as far as Hadrian’s Wall. On the way he gathers a rag-tag collection of orphans and welds them into a small, tightly-knit, warband. They play a small, but important, part in the struggle against the Vikings before eventually reaching Wessex, where Alfred has just become king. Now older and an experienced warrior, Jørren joins him and over subsequent years rises in status to become one of Wessex’s ealdormen. However, the Vikings are determined to defeat Alfred and complete their conquest of England. By 871 AD it is doubtful whether Jørren or Wessex itself can survive their onslaught. This first novel in the Saga of Wessex series will enthral all readers who have come to love H A Culley’s previous books set in early medieval Northumbria.

    This narrative history masterfully weaves together the sweeping events surrounding the so-called “Babylonian captivity” of the popes into the broader story of 14th-century Europe, a turbulent time of transition between Middle Ages and Renaissance when seven successive popes resided in Avignon in the south of France.

    and the North is in turmoil. King Harald Fairhair has died, leaving the High Seat of the realm to his murderous son, Erik Bloodaxe. To solidify his claim, Erik ruthlessly disposes of all claimants to his throne, save one: his youngest brother Hakon.Erik's surviving enemies send a ship to Wessex, where the Christian court of King Athelstan is raising Hakon. Unable to avoid his fate, he returns to the Viking North to face his brother and claim his birthright, only to discover that victory will demand sacrifices beyond his wildest nightmares.I was swept up in the action and enthralled by the descriptions of Hakon’s struggle. -Roundtable Reviews-I highly recommend this historical fiction novel, both for its entertaining story and historical information. -Historical Fiction Review-

     In this vivid and compelling account, Robert Jackson describes how the beleaguered city was supplied from the air in a remarkable operation hardly rivalled in history — a vital lifeline which the people of Berlin have never forgotten. Fly into Berlin’s spartan but modern Tegel airport today and it is difficult to imagine the mud and confusion that attended its opening in 1948 as an addition to Gatow and Tempelhof in the race to provide food and other vital necessities for the city’s starving population. It was nightfall on 2 May 1945 when the Russian occupation of Berlin became complete. Then, after three years of uneasy confrontation, all road and rail links between the city and the West were severed by the Soviets and the Berlin Airlift had begun. For ten months, it was only the efforts of the Royal Air Force, the United States Air Force and a variety of civil airline contractors which enabled the Western-occupied sectors of the city to survive. Enormous tonnages of food, fuel and other supplies were flown into the beleaguered city in an endless stream of aircraft operating around the clock in all weathers. They were constantly harassed by Russian fighters and 54 aircrew gave their lives — something Berliners have never forgotten. The final Dakota touched down in September 1949, its nose bearing the words ‘Positively the last load from Lübeck, 73,705 tons’; the Russian blockade had failed and a political solution was quick to follow. In this graphic account, former RAFVR Squadron Leader Robert Jackson recreates vividly those tense days forty years ago as the ‘Iron Curtain’ came down with a vengeance. Taking the story from the Russian occupation right through to the lifting of the blockade and its aftermath, the book concludes with appendices of aircraft and crew casualties, lists of monthly tonnages and tables of some of the remarkable individual aircraft performances. It is a story of courage and ingenuity in the face of adversity hardly rivalled in history. Robert Jackson (b. 1941) is a prolific author of military and aviation history, having become a full time writer in 1969. As an active serviceman in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve he flew a wide range of aircraft, ranging from jets to gliders.

    Harriet Harvey Wood’s original and fascinating book tells a story that few of us know. She shows that, rather than bringing culture and enlightenment to England, the Normans’ aggressive and illegal invasion destroyed a long-established and highly developed civilization, far ahead of other European societies in the sophistication of its political institutions, art and literature. Harvey Wood explores the background and lead-up to the invasion and the motives of the leading players, the state of warfare in England and Normandy in 1066, and the battle itself. Judged before the event, King Harold ought to have won the Battle of Hastings without difficulty and to have enjoyed a peaceful and enlightened reign. That he did not was largely a matter of sheer bad luck. This gripping and entertaining book shows how he came to be defeated, and what England lost as a result of his defeat and death.

    He is both feared and scorned by those under his command. But under his harsh exterior lies a tortured soul, haunted by a tragic past...Cassia is a peasant healer, with a secret admiration for the fearsome lord Gisborne. When fate thrusts him into her hands, she soon finds he lives up to his fearsome reputation. But she also learns there is more to him than meets the eye...Soon they are drawn into a passionate but dangerous affair. Will they find true love...or be destroyed by it?

    Her life changes when she finds a golden horn in the ruins of a Roman Villa. Soon an ugly dwarf, a beautiful sorceress and even her own people are after her.What powers does the horn have and why does everyone want it?And why is Anna the only one who can get a note out of it?Shield Maiden is the first book in The Nine Worlds series in which the historical world of Anglo-Saxon England meets the mysterious world of myths and legends, gods and monsters our ancestors believed in.This is the world as it might have been had those stories been true…

    And two brothers are turning on each other in a fight that will determine the fate of a nation.The mighty Roman Empire is on the wane.Under attack from its enemies, it is losing interest in its far-flung colony - Britannia.The Saxons are threatening the land.Unless the native tribes come to together to create a united Britain they will be crushed by a fresh invader.‘Since the Empire will not defend us, we must defend ourselves,' goes the cry of the British warriors. 'We Britons no longer need Rome. We need only each other.’Maximus has returned to his tribe. With his father, Severus, old and feeble, he is ready to take back his seat as the prodigal son, next in line to lead the Catuvalluni tribe.However, his drunkard younger brother, Dye, ruled by his cruel and manipulative wife, Calista, has set his sights on the title and is ready to challenge Maximus for their father’s position.With his family torn apart and his right to rule undermined, does Maximus have any hope of recovering the legendary Great Torc - a revered symbol of peace and unity - to bring the British tribes together against the ruthless Romans and blood-thirsty Saxons?And can the 'Spears of Britannia' ever be turned on the real enemy?Description from Amazon.com

    

    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.

    Using translation as his lens, David Bellos shows how much we can learn about ourselves by exploring the ways we use translation, from the historical roots of written language to the stylistic choices of Ingmar Bergman, from the United Nations General Assembly to the significance of James Cameron's Avatar.Is That a Fish in Your Ear? ranges across human experience to describe why translation sits deep within us all, and why we need it in so many situations, from the spread of religion to our appreciation of literature; indeed, Bellos claims that all writers are by definition translators. Written with joie de vivre, reveling both in misunderstanding and communication, littered with wonderful asides, it promises any reader new eyes through which to understand the world. In the words of Bellos: "The practice of translation rests on two presuppositions. The first is that we are all different: we speak different tongues, and see the world in ways that are deeply influenced by the particular features of the tongue that we speak. The second is that we are all the same—that we can share the same broad and narrow kinds of feelings, information, understandings, and so forth. Without both of these suppositions, translation could not exist. Nor could anything we would like to call social life. Translation is another name for the human condition."