The mysterious history of Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar is revealed in this authoritative volume by a descendent of its first patrons.In the 15th century, William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness and Baron of Roslin, built a Catholic chapel in the Midlothian region of Scotland. Famous for its esoteric symbolism, this flamboyant Gothic church was of great importance to the Knights Templar, who formed a third Temple of Solomon with the patronage of the Sinclai...

This concise biography unravels Che's life, from his birth in 1928, the child of free-thinking radical Argentinian aristocrats, his development as a revolutionary in Guatemala, the Congo and in Cuba with Fidel Castro, to his untimely execution in Bolivia. Andrew Sinclair provides the reasons for Che's status as the most admired revolutionary of his time, and his enduring popularity.

A seven-foot-tall man washes up naked on the Scottish coast with no memory of his past and no clue to his identity except the words "Gog" and "Magog" tattooed on his knuckles. Knowing only that he must somehow get to London, he sets off on foot on a four hundred mile journey across Britain. As we accompany him on his surreal quest and share his strange adventures - by turns hilarious, horrific, bawdy, and bizarre - unexpected truths gradually emerge not only about his o...

"There are certain books we call great for want of a better term, that rise like monuments above the cemeteries of literature: Clarissa Harlowe, Great Expectations, Ulysses. The Rack to my mind is one of this company." - Graham Greene"A terrific book . . . a penetrating examination of the nature of suffering . . . to read it is in itself an experience." - Time and Tide"Quite possibly a masterpiece." - Irish Times"Book of the year if there ever was one." - V. S. Prit...

Useful for those interested in Che Guevara and the legacy he left behind, this book includes material which reveals how Ches death and example led to the revolutions of 1968, particularly in France, the UK and the USA. It also includes Fidel Castros speech on Ches death, along with Inti Peredos insistence that the struggle would continue.

Martin Eden, Jack London’s semiautobiographical novel about a struggling young writer, is considered by many to be the author’s most mature work. Personifying London’s own dreams of education and literary fame as a young man in San Francisco, Martin Eden’s impassioned but ultimately ineffective battle to overcome his bleak circumstances makes him one of the most memorable and poignant characters Jack London ever created. As Paul Berman points out in his Introduction, “In Martin, [...

If you know London primarily through novels like WHITE FANG, these stories will provide a new perspective. Full of intriguing characters and snippets of pidgin, they also highlight London's concern with social issues.

Though America is a new country by the standards of earlier civilisations, its history makes up in breadth, dynamism and sheer flamboyance what it lacks in actual duration; for only a few centuries ago the most powerful single nation in the world was nothing more than a network of trading-posts. In this acclaimed short survey, Andrew Sinclair concentrates on those qualities in the American people that made their country's rapid transition not only possible but inevitable. He combines aware...

Over the years, observers of American politics have noted the deleterious effects of party polarization in both the national and state legislatures. Reformers have tried to address this problem by changing primary election laws. A theory underlies these legal changes: the reformers tend to believe that 'more open' primary laws will produce more centrist, moderate, or pragmatic candidates. The 'top-two' primary, just implemented in California, represents the future of these antiparty effort...

A biography of the Empress of Austria—a tale of rebellion, scandal, and murder that paints a vivid, tragic picture of nineteenth-century European royalty.In 1898, anarchist Luigi Lucheni fatally stabbed Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, on Lake Geneva as she prepared to board a steamer from the Mont Blanc pier. Her life had been one of both profound sadness and inspiring perseverance, and in its course she set the style for the royal rebels who would follow her, includ...

Rosslyn Chapel is a deeply enigmatic 15th-century Gothic masterpiece, situated near Edinburgh. Although generally referred to as a 'chapel' and acting as a local parish church these days, Rosslyn is actually much more than either - and in fact most people who have studied the site in detail come to the conclusion that those who created the structure in the 15th century were not, in reality, intent on building a Christian church at all. In fact, nothing at Rosslyn is what it seems. With its...

Mystery surrounds virtually every aspect of the Templar story, from their origins in the aftermath of the First Crusade, through their rise to supreme wealth and power - dominating medieval Europe for nearly two centuries - to their abrupt and dramatic suppression. Ferociously punished for alleged heresy and depravity at the beginning of the 14th century, their story is believed to have ended there, merely an interesting historical footnote. But did they, as many now believe, survive in se...