Medieval English

The illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages are among the greatest works of European art and literature. We are dazzled by them and recognize their crucial role in the transmission of knowledge. However, we generally think much less about the countless men and women who made, collected and preserved them through the centuries, and to whom they owe their existence. This entrancing book describes some of the extraordinary people who have spent their lives among illuminated manuscripts over the last thousand years.

This book is a comprehensive guide to the Orsini family from its origins in the 1st century and into the 21st century. Two thousand years is far too much time to cover in two volumes, or even ten. However, this two-volume bookset manages to highlight most of the major events that surrounded the family during this period. Brief historical exposés parallel the Orsini legend to add a sense of perspective as to how their history meshed with that of the Roman world. Hundreds of sources, including books, websites, and Italian church and state archives were researched over a period of five years ...

An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House.

Can a historian sent back through time keep history from repeating itself? When Seona Kerrich tries to bury the Fire Sword in the ruins of Dun Lasair, it transports her directly to the MacRoss who place her in the dungeon. When she admits to being the last living descendant of their Carack enemies, War Master Taveon wants to imprison her indefinitely. But her knowledge of how the clans meet their bloody end prompts the MacRoss laird to send her under a flag of truce to her kin, accompanied by Taveon. Unfortunately Struan Carack doesn’t believe her. He begins his own set of counter plans, ...

A deadly killer stalks the rain-soaked streets of Shinbone, spreading panic and terror among the townsfolk. The authorities are baffled, partly because there hasn’t been a single crime in Shinbone for more than a hundred years but mostly because this particular deadly killer… …isn’t actually killing anyone. Enter Hieronymous Blush, master magician and the detective responsible for solving the mystery of The Lickspittle Leviathan. Can one man stand alone against the demonic threat of The Shinbone Shadowhunter? Of course not: he can’t even tie his own shoes. The race is on….

A respected and controversial scholar argues that the Crusades were a justified war waged against Muslim terror and aggression. This book takes on the current vogue in liberal thinking to argue that, in fact, the Crusades were not unprovoked. They were not the first round of European colonialism. They were not conducted for land, loot, or converts. The Crusaders were not barbarians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. They sincerely believed that they served in God’s Battalions.

The history of magic is as long as time and as wide as the world. In every culture, in every age, in every place and, probably, in every heart, there is magic. Harry Potter: A History of Magic reveals some of the hidden stories behind real-world magic and explores some of J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their folkloric, cultural and historical forebears.

A boundary dispute between two farmers leads to digging that uncovers an ancient settlement...with a recent corpse buried in it. Ela Longespée must find the killer and restore peace between warring neighbors, all while negotiating her hard-won new role as High sheriff of Wiltshire.

He is not a man. She is not prepared. And what begins as survival becomes something much darker. In the forgotten places of the world—deep within cursed labyrinths, ancient ruins, or alien prisons—monsters wait. They are not myths. Not legends. They are real, powerful, and bound by instincts older than time. When women fall into their domains, it is not rescue they find. It is possession. Control. Obsession. Each story follows a captive heroine and the beast who claims her—violent, primal creatures who protect what is theirs and destroy anything that threatens it. Survival is not ...

The Magna Carta is revered around the world as the founding document of Western liberty. Its principles - even its language - can be found in our Bill of Rights and in the Constitution. But what was this strange document and how did it gain such legendary status? Dan Jones takes us back to the turbulent year of 1215, when, beset by foreign crises and cornered by a growing domestic rebellion, King John reluctantly agreed to fix his seal to a document that would change the course of history.

Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king's attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about. Then one of the king's favorites, Hugues de Precy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed.

To escape her stalker, an artist travels back in time. Charlotte Walsh is so relieved to have survived a murderous attack in an alley that landing in a medieval Scottish hot spring is no big deal. But the massive highland warrior bathing there most definitely is. Chieftain Darach MacRoss has his hands full as head of the garrison, but when Charlotte literally drops into his life his priorities change. But as he becomes her protector, a series of accidents make it clear that someone wants him dead. When Charlotte recognizes the pattern of the attacks, she knows what she must do.

She set out to uncover what happened to her sister. She didn’t expect to lose her heart to a warlord from the past. When Sadie steps through a stone circle in the Scottish countryside, she doesn’t find answers. She finds danger—and a bristling, sword-wielding warrior who has no time for her questions. Thrust into the heart of ancient Dal Riada, she must rely on her wits, her stubbornness, and the one man who seems determined not to trust her. Ciaran has his hands full keeping the kingdom safe. The last thing he needs is a strange woman appearing out of nowhere with secrets of her own....

Set in the 14th century, the classic story of one boy's personal heroism when he loses the use of his legs.

Bernard Cornwell, the New York Times best-selling "reigning king of historical fiction" (USA Today), tackles his most thrilling, rich, and enthralling subject yet - the heroic tale of Agincourt. The epic battle immortalized by William Shakespeare in his classic Henry V is the background for this breathtaking tale of heroism, love, devotion, and duty from the legendary author of the Richard Sharpe novels and the Saxon Tales.

Lady Douglass de Clifford is reticent about marrying an English soldier who holds a Scottish castle for their king. Ater all, she doesn’t really believe the English should be battling the Scots for their own land. When she arrives in Dumfries, their party is unexpectedly ambushed. Besieged by rebel Scots, she is tossed from her horse, only to be saved by a Highland warrior who promises safety even as he absconds with her. She vows to run away, until his tender kiss makes her doubt everything she has ever known.

This famous work by Lucretius is a masterpiece of didactic poetry, and it still stands today as the finest exposition of Epicurean philosophy ever written. The poem was produced in the middle of first century B.C., a period that was to witness a flowering of Latin literature unequaled for beauty and intellectual power in subsequent ages. The Latin title, De Rerum Natura, translates literally to On the Nature of Things and is meant to impress the reader with the breadth and depth of Epicurean philosophy.

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.

He's a fearsome enforcer who can take the shape of a tiger. I'm the consort of a king who shifts into a swan. We couldn't be less alike or more likely to fail, but the passion between us is undeniable. As the Royal Consort to the Swan King, I'm bound by law to obey. When the King bids me sing, I sing; when he commands me to kneel, I kneel; and when he offers me to a stranger in exchange for a favor, I must agree to be his. But this stranger is a tiger-shifter of the Garin clan, at court to investigate three murders, and he's the most magnificent man I have ever met. From my first sight of ...

From bestselling author Tracie Peterson come three unique historical novels, rereleased for longtime and new fans alike. Liberty and love—even life itself—are fragile commodities for those living in medieval England. Will God’s love and power triumph in the lives of three courageous women? Find out in soul-searing historical novels of romance and suspense!