English Renaissance

If you want to discover the captivating history of the Middle Ages, then pay attention...One of the least understood periods of European history occurred between the 6th century and the 14th or 15th century (depending on which historian you ask). Commonly called the Middle Ages, this was a time period of extreme change for Europe, beginning with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. To a continent that had seen a drastic shift in the power structure, the world seemed to be particularly harsh. Rome had been a major player across Europe for well over a millennium. Then it was gone.

From the inimitable bestselling author Thomas Cahill, another popular history—this one focusing on how the innovations of the Renaissance and the Reformation changed the Western world. A truly revolutionary book. In Volume VI of his acclaimed Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill guides...

Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late 30s took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic by Lucretius—a beautiful poem containing the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles.

In this groundbreaking biography of Queen Anne Boleyn, learn how the ill-fated second wife of Renaissance England's Henry XVIII met her downfall–and how she came to be so vilified and misunderstood. Anne Boleyn has mesmerized the general public for centuries. Her tragic execution at the Tower...

Present day: When thirty-six-year-old Robyn Willoughby discovers an exquisite yet blood-stained Tudor map in her father’s antique map shop, desperate for a distraction from her problems, she decides to investigate. But as Robyn delves into the mystery, she finds herself caught up in a centuries-old secret—one that will change her life forever.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable Book From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner: an emotional powerhouse of a novel about a modern Odysseus returning to a 1950s America mined with lethal pitfalls for an unwary Black man "Powerful. . . . Jaw-dropping in its beauty and audacity...

What had previously been a European powerhouse for centuries had become a fractured mess of diverse territories. In the late 18th century, each of these states had fallen under heavy influence from both the French and Austrian nations. Discover the events which took place, including constant suppression from Metternich and the Austrians, three wars for Italian Independence, the attempted assassination of Emperor Napoleon III of the French Empire, and the sensational story of Garibaldi and the thousand.

Mary Boleyn was the mistress of two kings, Francois I of France and Henry VIII of England, and sister to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. In this astonishing and riveting biography, Alison Weir’s extensive research gives a new and detailed portrayal, in which she recounts that, contrary to popular belief, Mary was entirely undeserving of her posthumous notoriety as a great whore.

This book is not a museum of doctrines or a dry catalog of names and dates. It is a journey through the restless spirit of European thought—from Petrarch’s anxious letters to the ancients, to Pico della Mirandola’s vision of human dignity, from Ficino’s hymns to harmony, to Bruno’s infinite cosmos, from Machiavelli’s stark realism to Montaigne’s gentle skepticism, from Bacon’s call for experience to Descartes’s radical doubt and Spinoza’s infinite substance.

Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased. Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea, a woman knowledgeable in reading the "triumph cards", the predecessor of modern-day Tarot.

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time...

Enter the world of Renaissance Venice, where the competition for fame and fortune can mean life or death… Artists flock here, not just for wealth and fame, but for revolutionary color. Yet artist Giorgione “Zorzo” Barbarelli’s career hangs in the balance. Competition is fierce, and his...

Mia Caiozzi is determined to discover her destiny by studying the science of astronomy. But her stepmother Giulia forbids her to engage in this dangerous occupation, fearing it will lead her into trouble. The ideas of Galileo are banned by the Inquisition, so Mia must study in secret.

Niccolò Rising, book one of the series, finds us in Bruges, 1460. Jousting is the genteel pastime, and successful merchants are, of necessity, polyglot. Street smart, brilliant at figures, adept at the subtleties of diplomacy and the well-timed untruth, Dunnett's hero rises from wastrel to prodigy in a breathless adventure that wins him the hand of the strongest woman in Bruges and the hatred of two powerful enemies.

Written in the winter of 1849, The Scarlet Letter unfolds the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman branded as an adulteress in the harsh Puritan world of 17th-century New England. As Hester calls on her inner strength to transcend her shame, the scarlet letter ceases to be a stigma and finally becomes Hester's symbol of self-affirmation. This dramatic reading heightens the sense of lyric poetry that permeates every line of Nathaniel Hawthorne's great novel.

Noah Galloway is a celebrity photographer involved with one of his pop star clients, Z-Rae. As a favor to a friend, he agrees to shoot the Georgia Renaissance Festival. There, he meets Fay, a young woman from Ireland who is one of the festival's ambassadors and dressed as a fairy. Both feel a strong attraction and share a night of passion, but Noah awakes alone.

How did 2.3 billion people become overweight? How did heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases become the leading causes of death worldwide? Our ancestors, especially our distant, Paleolithic ancestors, before the advent of agricultural, enjoyed remarkably robust health. What went wrong?

England. 1535. Jane Seymour is 27 years old and increasingly desperate to marry and secure her place in the world. When the court visits Wolf Hall, the Seymour ancestral manor, Jane has the perfect opportunity to shine: her diligence, efficiency, and newfound poise are sure to finally attract a suitor. Meanwhile, King Henry VIII is 45 and increasingly desperate for an heir. He changed his country's religion to leave his first wife, a princess of Spain, for Anne Boleyn—but she, too, has failed to provide a son.

For as long as language and communication have existed, humans have invented ways to mask their messages from prying eyes. One could be forgiven for assuming there are no ciphers left unsolved. On the contrary, a diverse array of both ancient and modern cryptographic challenges, which have stumped even the most seasoned code crackers of today, exist, and may exist for generations to come. Among the most famous of these memorandums is a 600-year-old document that continues to mystify: the Voynich Manuscript.

When we imagine Renaissance medicine, the cliché is dreadful–unsterile instruments, a total lack of anaesthetics and shocking levels of infant and maternal mortality. And that’s before you get into astrology, bloodletting and a litany of bizarre ‘treatments’, more likely to kill than cure… As ever, the true picture is somewhat different. Here, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, modern medicine began to take shape.