In 1805, Lorenzo Da Ponte was the proprietor of a small grocery store in New York. But since his birth into an Italian Jewish family in 1749, he had already been a priest, a poet, the lover of many women, a scandalous Enlightenment thinker banned from teaching in Venice, the librettist for three of Mozart's most sublime operas, a collaborator with Salieri, a friend of Casanova, and a favorite of Emperor Joseph II. He would go on to establish New York City's first opera house and be the fir...

What if Christopher Marlowe staged his own death, fled to the Continent and went on to write the works we now attribute to Shakespeare?'About anyone so great as Shakespeare, it is probable that we can never be right; and if we can never be right, it is better that we should from time to time change our way of being wrong.' T. S. EliotMark Twain likened writing the biography of Shakespeare to reconstructing the skeleton of a brontosaurus – using 'nine bones and six hundred b...

"Bad behavior makes for entertaining history" in this bold history of Europe, the Middle East, and the men who ruled them in the early sixteenth century ( Kirkus Reviews).John Julius Norwich—"the very model of a popular historian"—is acclaimed for his distinctive ability to weave together a fascinating narrative through vivid detail, colorful anecdotes, and captivating characters. Here, he explores four leaders—Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, and Suleima...

Quest for Eternal Sunshine chronicles the triumphant, true story of Mendek Rubin, a brilliant inventor who overcame both the trauma of the Holocaust and decades of unrelenting depression to live a life of deep peace and boundless joy.Born into a Hassidic Jewish family in Poland in 1924, Mendek grew up surrounded by extreme anti-Semitism. Armed with an ingenious mind, he survived three horrific years in Nazi slave-labor concentration camps while virtually his entire family ...

"A masterful account of the Cold War by a distinguished historian in full stride." —G. John Ikenberry, Foreign AffairsTo the amazement of the public, pundits, and even the policymakers themselves, the ideological and political battles that endangered the world for half a century came to an end in 1990. How did that happen? What caused the cold war in the first place, and why did it last as long as it did?To answer these questions, Melvyn P. Leffler h...

The overwhelming victory of Henry V's English army at Agincourt in October 1415 has passed into myth as one of the defining events of the Hundred Years War against France, as a feat of arms outshining the previous famous English victories at Crcy and Poitiers, and as a milestone in English medieval history. This epic story of how an exhausted, outnumbered army, commanded by an inspirational leader, crushed a huge French force on French soil has given rise to legends and misconceptions that...

This "taut narrative" of the fourteenth-century conflict between England and France offers "a detailed, climactic account of a legendary battle" ( Publishers Weekly).The epic fourteenth-century Battle of Poitiers marked a major turn in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Prince Edward, known to all as the Black Prince, not only won a surprising victory in his first campaign as commander, but managed the nearly impossible feat of taking the F...

The history and impact of one of the most heinous acts of colonial repression suffered in British India—a massacre that continues to divide opinion today.The shocking massacre of 379 unarmed Indians in the enclosed Jallianwala Bagh park on the command of a British army officer on April 13th, 1919 is considered a brutal example of colonial abuse. Immediately afterwards martial law was established with harsh penalties and punishments. Often considered as the darkest ...

A fascinating history of the intricate web of trade routes connecting ancient Rome to Eastern civilizations, including its powerful rival, the Han Empire.The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian Empire of ancient Persia, and the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan), laying claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the devel...

You will undoubtedly recognize quite a few of the products featured in this book—the Coca-Cola bottle, the Wester & Co pocket knife, the Kitchen Aid mixer, the Le Creuset Dutch oven, the Weber grill, the Bic cristal pen, the Rolodex address file, Kikkoman soy sauce bottles, the Kodak Instamatic, the Polaroid SX-70, the SONY Walkman, the Apple MacIntosh, and the Dyson air-multiplier.Maybe they were part of your childhood or represent your ideal in design; certainly,...

This royal historian's "lively study of the four Georges who sat on the English throne for over a century is a joy" (Jane Austen's Regency World).For over one hundred years of turmoil, upheaval, and scandal, Great Britain was a Georgian land. From the day the German-speaking George I stepped off the boat from Hanover to the night that George IV, bloated and diseased, breathed his last at Windsor, the four kings had presided over a changing nation.Kings of G...

What would it be like if you were transported back to Athens 420 BCE? This time-traveler's guide is a fascinating way to find out . . .Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Greece and you had to start a new life there. What would you see? How would the people around you think and believe? How would you fit in? Where would you live? What would you eat? What work would be available, and what help could you get if you got sick?All these question...