Broke and under siege, the young queen sought to build new alliances with the great powers of the Muslim world. She sent an emissary to the Shah of Iran, wooed the king of Morocco, and entered into an unprecedented alliance with the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, with whom she shared a lively correspondence.The Sultan and the Queen tells the riveting and largely unknown story of the traders and adventurers who first went East to seek their fortunes--and reveals how Elizabeth's fruitful alignment with the Islamic world, financed by England's first joint stock companies, paved the way for its transformation into a global commercial empire.

    As Kassem returned home to his family, an Egyptian army sniper shot and killed him, leaving a woman widowed and a child fatherless. A Temporary Gift is a record of journal entries written by Kassem's widow, Asmaa Hussein, during the two years following his departure from this world. This book is about re-learning how to live in the face of immense trauma. It is a reminder that beyond the pain and darkness of loss there is still the potential of light in patience and constancy.