From New York Times–bestselling author Ross King, the storied rise and reign of the greatest empire and most influential civilization of the ancient Western world“For who is so indifferent or indolent as not to wish to know by what means the Romans succeeded in subjecting nearly the whole inhabited world to their sole government—a thing unique in history?”—Polybius, second century BCEAncient Rome gave rise to the Roman Empire, one ...

Discover the prodigious global influence of il bel paese in this star-studded retelling of Italy’s past—from a foremost author of historic Italy. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.“Each page brims with Bill Bryson-like trivia that is sure to delight.”—Booklist, starred reviewThe calendar. The Senate. The university. The piano, the heliocentric model, and the p...

In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The thirty-three-year-old Michelangelo had very little experience of the physically and technically taxing art of fresco; and, at twelve thousand square feet, the ceiling represented one of the largest such projects ever attempted.Nevertheless, for the next four years he and a hand-picked team of assistants laboured over the vast ceiling, making thousands of drawings and spending back-brea...

Even in an age of soaring skyscrapers and cavernous sports stadiums, the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence still retains a rare power to astonish. Yet the elegance of the building belies the tremendous labour, technical ingenuity and bitter personal strife involved in its creation. For over a century after work on the cathedral began in 1296, the proposed dome was regarded as all but impossible to build because of its enormous size. The greatest architectural puzzle of its age...

By the author of the acclaimed Brunelleschi's Dome.After meeting the mysterious and beautiful Lady Beauclair at a society ball, George Cautley, a hapless young artist adrift in the gilded world of 1770s London, paints her portrait. She, in turn, tells him the scandalous story of Tristano, a castrato singer in Handel's opera company fifty years before. But Cautley also meets the eminent painter Sir Endymion Starker that same evening and his mistress, Eleanora, who has anoth...

This is a comprehensive and detailed introductory Korean textbook and language learning package.Korean is now the 15th most popular language taught at American universities. This new edition of Elementary Korean, the most comprehensive and detailed introductory Korean textbook available, offers beginning learners of Korean everything they need to learn the language effectively. Perfect for a first-year university-level course use or for the independent language lea...

'A marvel of storytelling and a masterclass in the history of the book' WALL STREET JOURNALThe Renaissance in Florence conjures images of beautiful frescoes and elegant buildings - the dazzling handiwork of the city's artists and architects. But equally important were geniuses of another kind: Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars and booksellers. At a time where all books were made by hand, these people helped imagine a new and enlightened worl...

New York Times bestselling author Ross King's biography Machiavelli is "a convincing portrait of one of the most misunderstood thinkers of all time."*The author of The Prince—his controversial handbook on power, which is one of the most influential books ever written—Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was no prince himself. Born to an established middle-class family, Machiavelli worked as a courtier and diplomat for the Republic of Florence a...

For more than five centuries The Last Supper has been an artistic, religious and cultural icon. The art historian Kenneth Clark called it 'the keystone of European art', and for a century after its creation it was regarded as nothing less than a miraculous image. And yet there is a very human story behind this artistic 'miracle'. Ross King's Leonardo and the Last Supper is both a 'biography' of one of the most famous works of art ever painted and a record of Leonardo da V...

This is a complete and effective intermediate-level Korean textbook and Korean language learning packageIt is the next book in the Elementary Korean series and takes student's abilities to read comprehend Korean, speak Korean, read Korean, and write Korean to the next level. Continuing Korean is designed for learners who have achieved basic proficiency and wish to progress to the more complex structures of the Korean language. It offers a full ran...

'King's supreme ability is to imagine himself into the past. The scope of his knowledge is staggering' JOHN CAREY, SUNDAY TIMES At its largest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Irish Sea, from North Africa to central Europe. A fifth of the world's population were Roman citizens. Even after the empire's dramatic decline and fall, its legacy continued to shape politics and laws, language and numerals, calendars and architecture. But what was Rome, who were the R...

Responding to a cryptic summons to a remote country house, London bookseller Isaac Inchbold finds himself responsible for restoring a magnificent library pillaged during the English Civil War, and in the process slipping from the surface of 1660s London into an underworld of spies and smugglers, ciphers and forgeries. As he assembles the fragments of a complex historical mystery, Inchbold learns how Sir Ambrose Plessington, founder of the library, escaped from Bohemia on the eve of the Thi...