Our tale of the Grail opens in the decidedly austere domain of a university archive but then expands to include a journey to far more exotic locations in Switzerland, Scotland, Ireland, Cuba, and finally the United States.Unlike some accounts of the Grail, this one adheres to a vision of the Grail as something quite tangible and real that has the potential to transform lives, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to comfort the weary. In this journey of discovery, an enigmatic financier fu...

From a psychiatric hospital, Peter Stonehouse, late of Sandhomen University, grapples with his family history as he edits a collection of manuscripts written during the last stages of the War of 1812. As he does so, he untangles his own experiences in Vietnam and those of his son in Iraq. Many characters both in history and in Peter's immediate experience retreat from life and from themselves. However, bands of roving pigs and well hidden hordes of unconventional treasure as well as simple...

The Knights Templar – Medieval Cult or Modern Nemesis? -- History of this famous group and the organizations that claim descent from them. Were they really destroyed in the fourteenth century or do they survive and even prosper to this day? Who are their descendants? Are there ties to the Nazis and the Mormon Church? A must-read for anyone interested in conspiracies or the occult.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A book in the best tradition of popular history—the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe. • The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift!Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and ...

Was medieval England full of knights on horseback rescuing fainting damsels in distress? Were the Middle Ages mired in superstition and ignorance? Why does nobody ever mention King Louis the First and Last? And, of course, those key questions: which monks were forbidden the delights of donning underpants... and did outlaws never wear trousers?Terry Jones and Alan Ereira are your guides to this most misrepresented and misunderstood period, and they point you to things that will surp...

Hearing that a young Yankee officer was being court-martialled for cowardice, Captain Dusty Fog felt that it was a matter of honor that he should challenge the charges. And, with their Southern sense of chivalry, the rest of the Texas Light Cavalry agreed. So Ole Devil Hardin arranged for Dusty to go behind enemy lines under a flag of truce to present his evidence at the trial. But Dusty soon made a shocking discovery—Union fanatics were experimenting with barbaric forms of warfare ... Sho...

A New York Times Notable Book and "thoroughly gripping" historical mystery: On a ship packed with Irish immigrants, one passenger is a killer ( People).In the bitter winter of 1847, leaving an Ireland torn by famine and injustice, the Star of the Sea sets sail for New York. On board are hundreds of refugees, some of them optimistic, many more of them desperate. Among them are a maid with a devastating secret, the bankrupt Lord Merridith accompanie...

It's history with the nasty bits left in! Want to know: · A genuine jester's joke? · Why chickens had their bottoms shaved? · What ten-year-old treacle was used for? Discover all the foul facts about the Measly Middle Ages - all the gore and more!

For many centuries it was accepted almost without discussion that the priesthood, and pastoral work more generally, was exclusively a male domain. Women had a role within the Christian Church, as nuns or lay workers, but the giving of the sacraments was seen as a male preserve. And yet for centuries rumours and legends have swirled about that one woman did get to be pope in Rome. The Catholic Church has always denied the stories, but they refuse to go away.It is now time to look ane...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Room comes a moving set of historical stories spanning centuries and continents.The fascinating characters that roam across the pages of Emma Donoghue's stories have all gone astray: they are emigrants, runaways, drifters, lovers old and new. They are gold miners and counterfeiters, attorneys and slaves. They cross other borders too: those of race, law, sex, and sanity. They travel for love or money, i...

The fifth installment of the "Odd True Tales" series… This volume focuses exclusively on the Inquisition, and is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. It's divided into four chapters: Profit & Pain, Cries in the Dark, A Miscellany of Madness, Letter from Hell…

How on earth did 'with bells on' come to express enthusiasm? What do chips on shoulders have to do with inferiority complexes? And who is the face that launched a thousand ships? Did you know that 'the rule of thumb' refers to the use of the thumb to make measurements, as the first joint of the average adult thumb measures one inch?Spilling the Beans on the Cat's Pyjamas provides us with the meanings of these well-worn and much-loved phrases by putting these linguistic quir...