Book picks similar to
Lost Worlds by Leonard Cottrell


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City of Dreams


Harriet Steel - 2014
    Married life and the social scene in the most fashionable city on earth is everything Anna hoped it would be, but when Emile vanishes without trace and she is evicted, Anna is forced to discover the city’s poverty-stricken dark side of harsh streets and squalid tenements, where the temptation for a penniless young lady to become a kept woman is overwhelming. To make matters worse, war with Prussia looms and Anna and the city she loves will both struggle to survive.

The Moghul


Thomas Hoover - 1983
    An immediate European bestseller, optioned by Indian/German producers who commissioned a six-hour mini-series, then Canadian producers with BBC.Based on real people (ca. 1620), THE MOGHUL begins in a rip-roaring sea battle north of Bombay in which the vastly out-gunned adventurer, Brian Hawksworth, ship's captain and emissary of King James, blows away a flotilla of Portuguese galleons to gain access to an Indian port. He's come to open trade for “barbaric” England and squeeze out the Portuguese, who try to kill him at every turn. But once on land, he’s captive: the beauty and romance of the exquisite Moghul Empire seduce him from his material goals to a new quest – of supreme sensuality in music, visions, and sacred lovemaking. India, ruled by the son of great Akbar, is about to pass to one of his sons. Hawksworth must choose sides, but will he choose right? The future of England, and of India, depend on it. Assailed by intrigue and assassination, tormented by a forbidden love, enthralled by a mystic poet, Hawksworth engages war elephants, tiger hunts, the harem of the Red Fort of Agra, the Rajput warriors at Udaipur, becomes intimate champion to Shah Jahan, (builder of the Taj Mahal), and, in his supreme test, plays the sitar with a touch that elicits from the great Shah – “Finally, my English friend – you understand.”

Eugénie: The Empress and Her Empire


Desmond Seward - 2004
    Empress of the French, she shared the Second Empire with her husband, Napoleon III, so impressing the Prussian Chancellor Bismarck that he called her 'the only man in Paris'. In the first biography of her for many years, Desmond Seward recreates the nerve-racking politics and glittering social world of her empire, and gives an often startling reassessment of an extraordinary life that began in a tent at Granada during an earthquake.This biography charts the dramatic rise and fall of the Second Empire and of the fascinating woman at its heart. It will be a captivating read for anyone interested in the history of France or in women's history.

The Erie Canal


Ralph K. Andrist - 1964
    Even President Thomas Jefferson, usually ahead of his time, believed that it could not be built for at least a century, and yet, the Erie Canal came to be just as its planners had thought it would. For the first time in the history of the United States, a cheap, fast route ran through the Appalachians, the mountains that had so effectively divided the West from the East of early America. With the canal, the country's fertile interior became accessible and its great inland lakes were linked to all the seas of the world. Here, from award-winning historian Ralph K. Andrist, is the canal's dramatic and little-told story.

The Venetians: A New History: From Marco Polo to Casanova


Paul Strathern - 2012
    This golden period only drew to an end with the Republic’s eventual surrender to Napoleon.The Venetians illuminates the character of the Republic during these illustrious years by shining a light on some of the most celebrated personalities of European history—Petrarch, Marco Polo, Galileo, Titian, Vivaldi, Casanova. Frequently, though, these emblems of the city found themselves at odds with the Venetian authorities who prized stability above all else, and were notoriously suspicious of any "cult of personality." Was this very tension perhaps the engine for the Republic’s unprecedented rise?Rich with biographies of some of the most exalted characters who have ever lived, The Venetians is a refreshing and authoritative new look at the history of the most evocative of city states.

The Art of Tough: Fearless Facing Politics and Life


Barbara Boxer - 2016
    It takes what I call the Art of Tough and I've had to do it all my life." -- Senator Barbara Boxer Barbara Boxer has made her mark, combining compassionate advocacy with scrappiness in a political career spanning more than three decades. Now, retiring from the Senate, she continues the work to which she's dedicated 30 years in Congress. Her memoir, The Art of Tough, shares her provocative and touching recollections of service, and cements her commitment to the fight for women, families, quality, environmental protection, all in a peaceful world. Sometimes lauded, sometimes vilified, but always standing tough, Boxer has fought for what is right even when her personal convictions conflicted with her party or the majority rule.

A Sip of Murder


Blythe Baker - 2018
    She’s got ex-husband troubles, a mother-in-law feud, and a cantankerous parrot to contend with. But just as old doors close, a new one opens, beginning with the sudden death of Maddie’s grandmother and an unexpected inheritance. Moving to a new town, Maddie rolls up her sleeves and prepares to revive a run-down tourist attraction that could one day be returned to its former glory as a Japanese tea garden.But getting the tea garden up and running won’t be easy, not with someone trying to sabotage her efforts. Worse still, there’s a murderer on the loose and corpses are popping up like daisies in the tea garden! Can Maddie capture the killer before they strike again? Or will her life, along with her freshly brewed new business opportunity, get sucked down the drain?

Brides of Legend: A Medieval Romance Collection


Kathryn Le Veque - 2019
    Over a thousand pages of Medieval Pageantry written by a critically acclaimed author - purchase this limited edition set or read for free in KINDLE UNLIMITED! Where Romance and Legend meet among the gently rolling hills of England, romance is born. Powerful men and their legendary brides come together in a limited-edition bundle that is a must-have for your Le Veque library. Delight in the drama and passion of these highly rated Medieval romances, including: The Legend – A legendary knight lays down his sword because of a terrible accident. Will his unexpected wife heal his heart? (Voted a reader favorite!) Beast – One of Le Veque’s most highly acclaimed books, the jailer of Joan d’Arc settles back in England after the death of Joan only to discover his relation to her is a deadly curse. Will his wife agree? Lord of Winter - The mentor to many great Le Veque knights conquers his great challenge in Bowes Castle… and the woman who lives there. The Iron Knight – A seasoned knight meets an older widow with a daughter… and an unexpected love story blooms. **Bonus book: Of Love and Legend – An outlaw known as the Greenhead Ghost meets his match in a lady sheriff. Pick up your copy of some of Le Veque's best books to date - it's knights and their legendary brides from the #1 bestselling Medieval Romance author! Note: These are previously published novels, bundled into one limited edition collection at a special low price.

A Viking Odyssey: Around the World 1,000 Years Ago


John Man - 2015
     When Leif the Lucky and his Viking explorers linked Europe and America with their settlement at Vinland it marked a profound change in the world. Suddenly, almost every region on earth was in touch with its neighbours, spanning continents and oceans. For a few years, it was in theory possible to send a message all the way round the world. At the time, no one could possibly have known this, or what it would lead to. But in hindsight the early 11th century gives us a brief hint of today’s global unity. But what was the world like 1,000 years ago? What would a traveller have seen as they ventured across the continents? John Man circles the globe at the turn of the millennium to explore its major cultures, revealing many surprises. Islam was confident and curious, Europe was just awakening after its dark-age slumber, and Asia was home to the world’s most refined civilizations, while some aboriginal peoples were modifying age-old ways in Australia, Africa and the Americas. A Viking Odyssey is a fascinating and sumptuous account of the world in the year 1,000, bringing to life the diversity of human cultures, from hunter-gatherers to sophisticated city-dwellers, and the links between them. This book is a revised edition of Atlas of the Year 1,000, with new contributions from John Man. “A splendidly conceived and executed idea.” Dr. John Roberts, The New Penguin History of the World. “Just brilliant. A real contribution to world history.” Prof. Robert Moore, University of Newcastle. “A splendid accomplishment.” Dean R. Snow, Professor and Head of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University. “A wealth of fascinating information.” Ray Inskeep, formerly Professor of Archaeology, University of Cape Town. “A fascinating snapshot of all corners of the world at the dawn of the global age” David Northrup, Dept of History, Boston College, USA. “A fresh look at the world at the dawn of the past millennium”. Science News. “The most original of all the spate of books that came out during the millennium.” Michael Palin. JOHN MAN is a bestselling historian and traveller specializing in Central Asia (in particular Mongolia). Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection is a best-seller in 21 languages. His other books include Attila the Hun, Kublai Khan, The Terracotta Army, and The Great Wall. In 2014, Xanadu was published in the US as Marco Polo, to accompany the Netflix TV series. His most recent book, Saladin, appeared in April 2015. Endeavour Press is 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.

Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric


Michael Kulikowski - 2006
    The Gothic commander was Alaric, a Roman general and barbarian chieftain. Leading an army that was short of food and potentially mutinous, sacking Rome was his only way forward. The old heart of Rome's empire fell to a conqueror's sword for the first time in eight hundred years. For three days, Alaric's Goths sacked the eternal city. In the words of a contemporary, the mother of the world had been murdered. Alaric's story is the culmination of a long historical journey by which the Goths came to be a part of the Roman world. Whether as friends or foes of the Roman empire, the Goths and their history are entwined with the larger history of Rome in the third and fourth centuries. Rome's Gothic Wars explains how the Goths came into existence on the margins of the Roman world, how different Gothic groups dealt with the enormous power of Rome just beyond their lands, and how, in two traumatic years, thousands of Goths entered the imperial provinces and destroyed the army that was sent to suppress them, leaving the emperor of the eternal city dead on the field of battle. Unlike other histories of the barbarians, Rome's Gothic Wars shows exactly how and why modern historians understand the Goths the way they do - and why our understanding is so controversial. Michael Kulikowski is associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. A recipient of the Solmsen Fellowship at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he is the author of Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, which was awarded an Honorable Mention in Classics and Archaeology from the Association of American University Presses. His scholarly articles have appeared in Early Medieval Europe, Britannia, Phoenix, and Byzantium, and he has appeared on the History Channel's Barbarians series.

Dog Days of Voodoo


G.A. Chase - 2017
    Kendell Summer, lead guitarist for Polly Urethane and the Strippers, has always been interested in the unexplained. So when she sets off on a paranormal research romp with Myles, a former classmate, to explore his skills in psychometry, she’s ready for a little adventure. But she gets more than she bargained for when her Lhasa apso, Cheesecake, is dognapped. Kendell will do whatever it takes to get her dog back. While rescuing the pup, Kendell and Myles learn that the touristy glitz of New Orleans’ voodoo shops hides a dark history few understand—a truth that some in the city plan to use for their own gain. Soon they uncover more than they ever wanted to know about New Orleans’ unsavory past and a curse that threatens to change everything. Only Kendell can prevent the evil they’ve uncovered from doing more damage, but she’ll need Myles’s support and psychometric abilities—and the vigilance of the ever-watchful Cheesecake.

Life in the Middle Ages


Richard Winston - 2016
    In both countryside and towns, from peasants to the bourgeoisie to nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

Gettysburg, 1913: The Complete Novel of the Great Reunion


Alan Simon - 2014
    What became of so many of those veterans - Union and Confederate alike - fifty years after the end of that terrible war?GETTYSBURG, 1913: THE COMPLETE NOVEL OF THE GREAT REUNION (originally published as a 3-part serialized novel; now available in one complete volume) July 1-3, 1863: The famed Battle of Gettysburg turns the tide of the Civil War, but not before approximately 50,000 soldiers from both sides become casualties during those three terrible days of carnage.June 29-July 4, 1913: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Battle of Gettysburg, more than 50,000 Civil War Veterans ranging in age from 61 to more than 100 years old converge on the scene of that titanic battle half a century earlier in an occasion of healing that was known as The Great Reunion.Abraham Lincoln had incorrectly surmised in his famed Gettysburg Address that "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here" four months after the battle itself, but those very words could well be said about The Great Reunion that occurred half a century later. Though at the time the 1913 gathering was a widely anticipated, momentous commemoration with 50,000 spectators joining the 50,000 veterans, the grandest of all gatherings of Civil War veterans has been all but forgotten in the nearly 100 years since that occasion.Until now.GETTYSBURG, 1913: THE COMPLETE NOVEL OF THE GREAT REUNION_______Travel back in time to spend the Great Reunion in the company of these unforgettable characters (and others) in this meticulously researched tale:Doctor Samuel Chambers, a young unmarried Philadelphia physician thrust into great responsibility as Pennsylvania's chief planner of medical and aid facilities for more than 50,000 Civil War veterans, averaging 70 years of age...all of whom will be spending the duration of The Great Reunion encamped in outdoor tents under temperatures expected to approach or even exceed 100 degrees.Louisa May Sterling, a Gettysburg nurse and the young widow of a West Point-educated Army officer whose untimely death from typhoid left her alone with only her son Randall for companionship...but for whom The Great Reunion opens up an unexpected second chance at happiness when she meets Samuel Chambers.Angus Findlay, now just past his 85th birthday but during the Battle of Gettysburg a dashing cavalry officer serving with the Army of Northern Virginia directly under the legendary J.E.B. Stuart...and who became a leading figure in Virginia politics during Reconstruction.Chester Morrison, a classic Gilded Age Titan of Industry (and recent widower) from Philadelphia who decades earlier had been a green private facing battle for the first time at Gettysburg.Edgar and Johnny Sullivan, brothers from Illinois who had been members of the Union Cavalry Division that arrived at Gettysburg the day before the battle began. Years later, the Sullivans became allies of the Earp brothers in Tombstone and were first-hand witnesses to the evolution of Arizona from Old West to the early 20th century.Ned Tomlinson, a Confederate veteran from Norfolk, Virginia who lost his left leg during the ill-fated assault known ever since as Pickett's Charge before being taken prisoner by the Yankees.John K. Tener, the real-life Governor of Pennsylvania - born in County Tyrone, Ireland, only weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg - who was a former Major League baseball player and under whose leadership The Great Reunion was planned and held.

Oh, the Things I Know!: A Guide to Success, Or, Failing That, Happiness


Al Franken - 2002
    Al Franken, as he prefers to be called, has written the first truly indispensable book of the new millennium. Filled with wisdom, observations, and practical tips you can put to work right away, Oh, the Things I Know! is a cradle-to-grave guide to living, an easy-to-follow user's manual for human existence.What does a megasuccess like Al Franken--bestselling author, Emmy-award winning television star, sitting U.S. Senator, and honorary Ph.D.--have to say to ordinary people like you? Well, as Dr. Al himself says, There's no point in getting advice from hopeless failures.Join Mr. Franken--sorry, Dr. Franken--on a journey that will take you from your first job (Oh, Are You Going to Hate Your First Job!), through the perils and pitfalls of your twenties and thirties (Oh, the Person of Your Dreams vs. the Person You Can Actually Attract!), into the joys of marriage and parenthood (Oh, Just Looking at Your Spouse Will Make Your Skin Crawl!), all the way to the golden years of senior citizenship (Oh, the Nursing Home You'll Wind Up In!). Don't travel life's lonesome highway by yourself. Take Al Franken along, if not as an infallible guide, then at least as a friend who will make you laugh.

Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution's Lost Hero


Christian Di Spigna - 2018
    Joseph Warren, an architect of the colonial rebellion, and a man who might have led the country as Washington or Jefferson did had he not been martyred at Bunker Hill in 1775. Warren was involved in almost every major insurrectionary act in the Boston area for a decade, from the Stamp Act protests to the Boston Massacre to the Boston Tea Party, and his incendiary writings included the famous Suffolk Resolves, which helped unite the colonies against Britain and inspired the Declaration of Independence. Yet after his death, his life and legend faded, leaving his contemporaries to rise to fame in his place and obscuring his essential role in bringing America to independence.Christian Di Spigna's definitive new biography of Warren is a loving work of historical excavation, the product of two decades of research and scores of newly unearthed primary-source documents that have given us this forgotten Founding Father anew. Following Warren from his farming childhood and years at Harvard through his professional success and political radicalization to his role in sparking the rebellion, Di Spigna's thoughtful, judicious retelling not only restores Warren to his rightful place in the pantheon of Revolutionary greats, it deepens our understanding of the nation's dramatic beginnings.