A radical reinterpretation of da Gama's pioneering voyages, revealing their role as a decisive turning point in the struggle between Christianity & Islam.In 1498 a young captain sailed from Portugal, circumnavigated Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean, and discovered the sea route to the Indies and, with it, access to the fabled wealth of the East. It was the longest voyage known in history. The little ships were pushed beyond their limits, and their crews were racked ...

"A rousing, well-researched biography" of the Texan piano prodigy who crossed the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War ( Kirkus, starred review).A National Book Critic's Circle FinalistIn 1958, an unheralded young pianist named Van Cliburn traveled to Moscow to compete in the First International Tchaikovsky Competition. The Soviets had no intention of bestowing their coveted prize on an unknown American; a Russian pianist had a...

A sparkling new translation of one of the greatest travel books ever written: Marco Polo's seminal account of his journeys in the east, in a collectible clothbound edition.Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kublai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book...

With psychological insight and sparkling wit, Jane Austen paints an irresistibly lifelike portrait of shifting values and split loyalties in Mansfield Park.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics bound in real cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Gorgeously illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, this edition also includes ...

Complete and unabridged.Teeming with ideas and imagery, and with its extraordinary intensity sustained by mischievous irony and moments of exquisite beauty, Moby-Dick is both a great American epic and a profoundly imaginative literary creation.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a tre...

Written by the award-winning creator of the global board game sensation, Catan is a new adventure perfect for longtime fans and new readers alike.Norway, 860.Half-brothers Thorolf, Yngvi, and Digur have conspired to help Asla—daughter of Halldor, a powerful Viking chieftain—to escape her father’s oppressive rule. However, when they are discovered the chieftain’s revenge is swift and mighty. Pillaging his way through the realms of his daughter’s lib...

**"Ambitious... With meticulous research and in lively style, Jones presents us with the man beyond the Shakespeare character."—The New York Times“The best biography yet of England’s greatest king."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs and JerusalemThe New York Times bestselling author returns with a biography examining the dramatic life and unparalleled leadership of England's greatest medieval king**Henry V reigned ove...

How, over the course of five centuries, one particular god and one particular Christianity came to dominate late Roman imperial politics and pietyThe ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity—or rather, of early Chris...

A billion years in the future, humanity is extinct.But Shakespeare remains.A machine civilization, so far advanced that it has the power to recreate lost civilizations, stumbles upon the works of the playwright, William Shakespeare.With only those plays to represent humanity, the machines must decide whether humanity is worth resurrecting or not.The only way to know the plays is to stage them.Enter J-9, although she ...

**In this gripping sequel to his bestselling 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the story of what happened after the Bronze Age collapsed—why some civilizations endured, why some gave way to new ones, and why some disappeared forever“A landmark book: lucid, deep, and insightful. . . . You cannot understand human civilization and self-organization without studying what happened on, before, and after 1177 B.C.”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author of The Black Swan**

Book 1 - Imperial SunsetHumanity’s thousand-year-old interstellar empire has been rotting from the inside for over a century, thanks to venal, corrupt, and power-hungry sovereigns from a dynasty many consider illegitimate. The latest in that lineage, an increasingly psychotic empress, is pushing her realm toward catastrophic collapse as admirals and generals rebel against her rule. That rebellion quickly drags the once mighty Imperial Fleet into a devastat...

The 'Defenestration of Prague', the coup d'etat staged by Protestant Bohemian nobles against officials of the Hapsburg Emperor triggered the Thirty Years War. When Habsburg Spain intervened in support of their Holy Roman Emperor relative, what had started as a localised political and religious dispute in Germany, transformed into a European and global conflict. In seeking to exploit the Bohemian revolt, Spanish Habsburg revanchist ambitions directed by the Spanish Count of Olivarez at the ...