Gilles de Rais, an esteemed knight and the Marshall of France, who fought alongside Joan of Arc. Then he turned to the occult and tried to deal with the devil. Gilles isn’t remembered as a hero of France, instead he is remembered as a gruesome child murderer. Gilles de Rais would stop at nothing to keep his wealth and gain more. He tried Alchemy to turn matter into gold, which lead to sorcery and summoning demons. Through it all he was a vile child killer, who killed so many childr...

You've seen the award winning television show now read the history behind Pope Alexander VI, Lucretia and Cesare Borgias. The Borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th century. Today they are remembered for their corrupt rule, and the name Borgias has become a synonym for nepotism and treachery.The Borgias Collection contains the following three books:The Borgias by Alexandre DumasThere are dreadful -- perhaps scurrilous -- rumors ...

Jacques de Molay the 23rd and final Grand Master of The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, better know as The Knights Templar.The Knights Templar formed in 1119 and quickly rose in power and wealth. With help from the church they were able to amass a fortune in money and property. They were fierce warriors of God that set out to protect the Holy Land and Christian pilgrims.Lead by Jacques de Molay in the late 13th Century the Knights Templar were the ...

Courtly love is a medieval literary concept of love emphasizing nobility and chivalry. Stories of noble knights riding off on adventure for the love of a fair lady abound in the Middle Ages. "Love and Romance in the Middle Ages" captures the stories of courtly love, noble knights and fair maidens. Read the romantic love story of Tristan and Iseult, the romantic poems of Marie de France, The legend of King Arthur and Tannhauser. Love and Romance in the Middle Ages contains: ...

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read.This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter.- Reading time of the complete text: about 7 hours- Reading time of the summarized text: 26 minutes"The Black Tulip" is a historical novel and work of Romantic poetry written by Alexandre Dumas, père, and published in 1850. The story is set in 1672 during the tulip mania in the Netherlands. The protagonist, Cornelius Van Baerle,...

Alexander the Great was a king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II, to the throne at the age of twenty. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, until by the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into present-day Pakistan. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's mo...

Take a tour with the author round a courtly palace and see what the kitchens, the bakery, the laundry, the bedrooms, the gardens and the privvies were like. Everything you could wish to know is here, as the book describes the different lifestyles of the court, and the people who served them.

"Twenty Years After" is a historical novel written by Alexandre Dumas, père, and first serialized from January to August 1845. It is the sequel to his famous work "The Three Musketeers" and the second book in the "d'Artagnan Romances" series.The novel is set 20 years after the events of "The Three Musketeers" and continues the adventures of its main characters: d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The story takes place during the tumultuous period of the Fronde in France, a seri...

The Man in the Iron Mask continues the tale of our four heroes from The Three Musketeers, Dumas's wildly popular introduction to the mischievous Musketeers – D'Artagnan, Aramis, Porthos, and Athos. In this dark sequel, we track their lives many years after the prodigious moment when D'Artagnan receives a commission to be a lieutenant in the Musketeers. We find in The Man in the Iron Mask that things have changed quite a bit from the seeming happy days of swashbuckling adventures.Th...

Francis Barrett (born probably in London circa 1770-1780) was an English occultist. Barrett claimed himself to be a student of chemistry, metaphysics, and natural occult philosophy. He was known to be an extreme eccentric who gave lessons in the magical arts in his apartment and fastidiously translated Kabbalistic and other ancient texts into English. He was very enthusiastic about reviving interest in the occult arts, and published a magical textbook called The Magus. Few people, even tod...

The most handsome man of his era… yet also the most feared...Cesare Borgia was the most infamous member of history’s original crime family – the Borgias. Son of the scandalous Pope Alexander VI, and brother to the notorious Lucrezia Borgia, he rose above them all to become an icon of power. At the age of twenty-four, he was an accomplished murderer, at twenty-seven he had conquered most of Italy, and by thirty-one he lay dead on the battlefield. Described by some as ‘a rebel agains...

Amityville has become a name that evokes images of death and supernatural horror. In this book we look at the events that formed the legend and the paranormal investigators who believed that the truth behind the murders that happened there had a supernatural origin.