Ancient Biography

“This in-depth, beautifully illustrated biography of Mary Anning sings with the passion and perseverance of the woman herself, who from girlhood on scoured the shifting cliffs of her native Dorset to dig out prehistoric mysteries and make sense of them—altering forever our view of the past...

Néron : l'excellence de ses conseillers (Sénèque et Tacite) n'a pas suffi à empêcher l'émergence d'un empereur fou, criminel et pervers. Il fit assassiner sa propre mère, et causa la mort de sa femme Poppée ; il ordonna qu'on torture et exécute ses rivaux ; après l'incendie de Rome, il sut aussi dévier la colère du peuple en lui offrant un autre objet de suspicion : les chrétiens. Leur persécution fut épouvantable : jetés aux lions, ou crucifiés et brûlés vifs en guise de flambeaux, ils furent le bouc émissaire de tout un peuple.

Socrates was not a teacher. He wasn’t a guru, a prophet, or a preacher. He was a barefoot stonecutter who wandered the streets of Athens asking uncomfortable questions — and refusing to stop when the answers didn’t make sense. This is the story of the philosopher who left no writings behind but changed the trajectory of human thought forever. From his youth in the bustling Agora to his final moments with the hemlock cup in hand, this book follows the man, the method, and the madness of Socratic philosophy — not as a subject of study, but as a way of life.

Authored by the most influential Indian President yet, this book delves into the obstacles that are preventing India from rising up to the challenge of development. India has unmatched talent and ambition with an inherent tendency to work hard, then what is it that keeps India from overtaking...

William Butler Yeats remains one of the most popular poets of the 20th century.

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree," "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," "Down by the Salley Gardens," "The Secret Rose": these are just a few of the poems that made William Butler Yeats an international figure. Born in Dublin in 1865, Yeats drew strength from the Irish tradition, as can be seen in this special audiobook, which presents the most important poems in the context of his life and ambitions.

Francine Prose delves into ancient Greek and Roman literary sources, as well as modern representations of Cleopatra in art, theater, and film. She challenges the common narratives driven by orientalism and misogyny and offers a new interpretation of Cleopatra’s history from the lens of our own era.

Constantine the Great is a complex figure surrounded by controversies and contradictions. The sources of history left for us to read are often biased one way or the other as he is the first Christian Roman emperor. His own propaganda paints a bright picture of his actions and his personality, while on the other side, we have his political enemies who paint him in much darker colors. All of the sources available to us either fully support Constantine or are strictly against him.

From one of China’s most acclaimed and decorated writers comes a powerful first-person account of life in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak. On January 25, 2020, after the central government imposed a lockdown in Wuhan, acclaimed Chinese writer Fang Fang began publishing an online diary. In...

A true-life adventure sure to shock as well as inspire. AK47s, masked thugs, and brutal urgency erupt from Roy Hallums' account of his abduction in Iraq, shredding through those frequently sterile cable news reports revealing that another "American contractor is being held hostage . . ." Hallums...

It may be the twenty-first century but religious tensions and conflicts continue all across the world. Even today, religion continues to play an unparalleled role in the lives of individuals and nations with people and leaders pitting one religious identity against another. But the question that...

The final volume in A History of the Plantagenets covers the century from 1377 to 1485 when civil war ravaged England, rebellious peasants marched on London and wandering preachers sowed dissent in the credulous poor. The last Plantagenet monarchs governed in violence and confusion. Kings came...

The remarkable true story of the miraculous journey that made the Dalai Lama into the man he is today and sparked the fight for Tibetan freedom “A hair-raising tale of daring and escape.”—The Washington Post In the early weeks of 1959, a bloody uprising gripped the streets of the...

Despite the fact that Marius’ achievements, both personally and as a leading statesman, far outweigh the vast majority of Rome’s emperors, Marius is not a well-known figure outside academic circles. Gaius Marius: The Life and Legacy of the General Who Reformed the Roman Army chronicles how Marius rose through the ranks, his reforms of the military, and his lasting legacy.

From the author of the “sophisticated and erudite” Peculiar Ground (Boston Globe), comes a collection of classic, witty fables, elegantly updated for our modern times. It's in the nature of myth to be infinitely adaptable. Each of these startlingly original stories is set in modern Britain...

The life of a princess isn’t all fun-filled travel, magnificent banquets, handsome princes, and beautiful clothes. It’s also devotion to duty, sacrifice for your people, and a lot of just plain hard work. And if your country happens to suffer two world wars and a Communist takeover in your lifetime, it means danger and suffering, exile and heartache as well.

The instant New York Times bestseller interpreting the controversial long-lost gospel The recently unearthed Gospel of Judas is a source of fascination for biblical scholars and lay Christians alike. Now two leading experts on the Gnostic gospels tackle the important questions posed by its...

In this succinct portrait of Alexander the Great, distinguished scholar and historian Norman Cantor draws on the major writings of Alexander's contemporaries, as well as the most recent psychological and cultural studies to illuminate this most legendary of men - a great figure in the ancient world whose puzzling personality greatly fueled his military accomplishments.

History records few individuals as brilliant, powerful, and ruthless as Julius Caesar. Born into the Roman aristocracy, he surpassed the reputation of his family and altered the history of Rome and the Mediterranean world. When Caesar was born in 100 B.B., Rome was a city-state with a republican form of government. When he died in 44 B.C., Rome was on its way to becoming an empire. In those short 56 years, Caesar conquered the Gauls, began the Roman conquest of Britain, and campaigned from Spain to Egypt.

Few mixtures are as toxic as absolute power and insanity. When nothing stands between a leader's delusion whims and seeing them carried them out, all sorts of bizarre outcomes are possible. Whatever their background, these rulers show that dynastic politics made sure that a rightful heir always got on the throne - despite that heir's mental condition - and that power can destroy a mind worse than any mental illness.

Marcus Licinius Crassus (115-53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome's first modern political financier. Instead, Crassus and his son led an army on an unprovoked campaign against Parthia into what are now the borderlands of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, losing a battle at Carrhae which scarred Roman minds for generations.