Empfehlungen basierend auf "100 Things You Should Know about Kings and Queens"

“Fascinating . . . Alison Weir does full justice to the subject.”—The Philadelphia InquirerAt his death in 1547, King Henry VIII left four heirs to the English throne: his only son, the nine-year-old Prince Edward; the Lady Mary, the adult daughter of his first wife Katherine of Aragon; the Lady Elizabeth, the teenage daughter of his second wife Anne Boleyn; and his young great-niece, the Lady Jane Grey. In this riveting account Alison Weir paints a unique portrait of these extraordinary rulers, examining their intricate relationships to each other and to history. She traces the tumult that followed Henry's death, from the brief intrigue-filled reigns of the boy king Edward VI and the fragile Lady Jane Grey, to the savagery of "Bloody Mary," and finally the accession of the politically adroit Elizabeth I.As always, Weir offers a fresh perspective on a period that has spawned many of the most enduring myths in English history, combining the best of the historian's and the biographer's art.“Like anthropology, history and biography can demonstrate unfamiliar ways of feeling and being. Alison Weir's sympathetic collective biography, The Children of Henry VIII does just that, reminding us that human nature has changed--and for the better. . . . Weir imparts movement and coherence while re-creating the suspense her characters endured and the suffering they inflicted.”—The New York Times Book Review

Beatrix Potter's books are adored by millions, but they were just one aspect of an extraordinary life. This captivating biography brings us the passionate, unconventional woman behind the beloved stories: a gifted artist and shrewd businesswoman; a pioneering scientific researcher; a powerful landowner who conserved acres of Lakeland countryside; a daughter who defied her parents with her first tragically short engagement and who, finally was given a second chance of love and happiness.

Long recognized as the outstanding reference on world literature, Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia is the one against which all others are measured, and is the single-most complete one-volume encyclopedia available for those with a serious interest in the subject.The entries explore all aspects of literature from around the world: biographies of poets and playwrights, novelists and belle trists; plot synopses and character sketches from important works; historical data on literary schools, movements, terms and awards; myths and legends; and more.Completely revised and updated, this fourth edition captures the diversity of today's canon, with greater attention to African-American, Eastern, Middle Eastern, African, South American, Eastern European and women's literature.For nearly 50 years, this unique single-volume encyclopedia of world literature has been hailed as the best available. Here are over 10,000 informative entries, covering everything a reader could wish to know: Biographies of poets, playwrights, novelists, essayists and belle trists from around the world and through the ages, from Aristophanes to Toni Morrison, from Chuang Tzu to Juan Rulfo. Plot summaries of important literary works, ranging from Beowulf to Wuthering Heights to Things Fall Apart. Sketches of principal characters from literature, from Salome to Leopold Bloom. Myth, legend and folklore, covering everything from Isis to the Midgard Serpentto to the paladins. Biographies of artists, musicians, philosophers and other historical personages ranging from Roman emperors to U.S. presidents who figure prominently in literature. Accounts of significant schools and movements in literature, such as the Bloomsbury Group and the Beat writers. Original titles, as well as the most familiar English titles, for works in languages other than English. Recipients of major literary awards, including Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners.And more...For nearly 50 years, William Rose Benet and the editors who succeeded him have upheld the level of quality that distinguished the original Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. Like its predecessors, this new edition will teach and delight, illuminate and expound, and enrich the pleasure of reading in countless ways.

Paperback. Pub Date :2013-12-11 Pages: 3052 Language: English Publisher: WW Norton & Company A best-seller for more than forty years. this is the survey of English literature from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century. With 274 authors. the Eighth Edition deepens its representation of essential works in all genres. ranging from Seamus Heaneys translation of Beowulf to global twentieth-century classics. Over 75 colour plates and thematic clusters of brief and historically significant texts bring to life the cultural concerns of each period. Concise glosses and annotations. period introductions. biographical headnotes. timelines and selected bibliographies help readers understand and enjoy the rich diversity of English literature.

For the first time in decades, here, in a single volume, is a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty, comprising some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. Acclaimed historian G. J. Meyer reveals the flesh-and-bone reality in all its wild excess. In 1485, young Henry Tudor, whose claim to the throne was so weak as to be almost laughable, crossed the English Channel from France at the head of a ragtag little army and took the crown from the family that had ruled England for almost four hundred years. Half a century later his son, Henry VIII, desperate to rid himself of his first wife in order to marry a second, launched a reign of terror aimed at taking powers no previous monarch had even dreamed of possessing. In the process he plunged his kingdom into generations of division and disorder, creating a legacy of blood and betrayal that would blight the lives of his children and the destiny of his country. The boy king Edward VI, a fervent believer in reforming the English church, died before bringing to fruition his dream of a second English Reformation. Mary I, the disgraced daughter of Catherine of Aragon, tried and failed to reestablish the Catholic Church and produce an heir. And finally came Elizabeth I, who devoted her life to creating an image of herself as Gloriana the Virgin Queen but, behind that mask, sacrificed all chance of personal happiness in order to survive.    The Tudorsweaves together all the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes, that reveal the Tudor era to be, in its enthralling, notorious truth, as momentous and as fascinating as the fictions audiences have come to love.

A renowned scholar brings to life medieval England’s most celebrated knight, William Marshal—providing an unprecedented and intimate view of this age and the legendary warrior class that shaped it.Caught on the wrong side of an English civil war and condemned by his father to the gallows at age five, William Marshal defied all odds to become one of England’s most celebrated knights. Thomas Asbridge’s rousing narrative chronicles William’s rise, using his life as a prism to view the origins, experiences, and influence of the knight in British history.In William’s day, the brutish realities of war and politics collided with romanticized myths about an Arthurian “golden age,” giving rise to a new chivalric ideal. Asbridge details the training rituals, weaponry, and battle tactics of knighthood, and explores the codes of chivalry and courtliness that shaped their daily lives. These skills were essential to survive one of the most turbulent periods in English history—an era of striking transformation, as the West emerged from the Dark Ages.A leading retainer of five English kings, Marshal served the great figures of this age, from Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine to Richard the Lionheart and his infamous brother John, and was involved in some of the most critical phases of medieval history, from the Magna Carta to the survival of the Angevin/Plantagenet dynasty. Asbridge introduces this storied knight to modern readers and places him firmly in the context of the majesty, passion, and bloody intrigue of the Middle Ages.The Greatest Knight features 16 pages of black-and-white and color illustrations.

The full scripts of award-winning Downton Abbey, season two including previously unseen commentary from Julian FellowesOpening in 1916, as the First World War rages across Europe, Season Two is the next dramatic installment of the much-loved, award-winning drama. The Crawley family and their servants play their parts on the front line and back at home as their lives are intensified by the strains of war.The shooting scripts give a fascinating view of how Julian Fellowes weaves his storylines of love, loss, and betrayal to captivate the audience. With key insights into the research and creative processes, this will appeal to fans and students alike.

From Back Day by day, almost hour by hour, C.V. Wedgwood describes the hour uneasy years that were to explode into civil war--a devastation that cost King Charles his life and won the rebels their revolution.

A generous and varied selection–the only hardcover edition available–of the literary and political writings of one of the greatest essayists of the twentieth century. Although best known as the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell left an even more lastingly significant achievement in his voluminous essays, which dealt with all the great social, political, and literary questions of the day and exemplified an incisive prose style that is still universally admired. Included among the more than 240 essays in this volume are Orwell’s famous discussion of pacifism, “My Country Right or Left”; his scathingly complicated views on the dirty work of imperialism in “Shooting an Elephant”; and his very firm opinion on how to make “A Nice Cup of Tea.” In his essays, Orwell elevated political writing to the level of art, and his motivating ideas–his desire for social justice, his belief in universal freedom and equality, and his concern for truth in language–are as enduringly relevant now, a hundred years after his birth, as ever.

Spine faded, cover creased, page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.