Historical Sagas

This magnificent novel - which secured for its author the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature - is now available to contemporary American audiences. Although it is set in the early 20th century, it recalls both Iceland's medieval epics and such classics as Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. And if Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to achieve independence is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.

Shasa Courtney, heir to the Courtney fortunes, dreams only of uniting his divided, beloved country. Against all his principles, he allows his half brother Manfred to persuade him to join South Africa's right-wing National Party, hoping to moderate from within their dangerous policies of apartheid. But Shasa's wife is working against everything he's working for while Manfred has deadly secrets he cannot afford to be revealed, either to his family or the public who are on the brink of war.

En une nuit, la vie de Cyrielle vacille. Des pillards attaquent son couvent, sauvé in extremis par des guerriers étrangers. Leur chef, un horrible balafré, croise alors le chemin de la jeune fille. Une rencontre qui scelle leur destin. Le couvent détruit, Cyrielle est renvoyée auprès de son oncle, le comte de Montfaucon. De retour dans le château de son enfance, d'étranges évènements surviennent, qui soulèvent des questions sur son passé et son futur.

Lancashire, 1857. Liza, 17 ans, est employée au service des Pringle, un jeune couple qui la traite bien. Mais son père exige soudain qu'elle revienne vivre parmi les siens pour s'occuper de sa mère malade et de ses jeunes frère et sœur. Liza déchante, mais sa déception n'est rien comparée à la décision qu'a prise pour elle son père : elle épousera un veuf bien plus âgé qu'elle. Pour échapper aux avances pressantes de cet homme qui lui répugne, Liza s'enfuit.

In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

Les Misérables is set in Paris after the French Revolution. In the sewers and backstreets, we encounter "the wolf-like tread of crime", and assassination for a few sous is all in a day's work. We weep with the unlucky and heart-broken Fantine, and we exult with the heroic revolutionaries of the barricades; but above all we thrill to the steadfast courage and nobility of soul of ex-convict Jean Valjean, always in danger from the relentless pursuit of the diabolical Inspector Javert.

Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable, is central to the enmity of two of the greatest powers in the world. Morgoth of the uttermost evil seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city of his Elven enemies, while the gods in Valinor refuse to support Ulmo Lord of Waters' designs to protect it. Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, and guided unseen by Ulmo he sets out on the fearful journey to Gondolin to warn them of their coming doom.

Noël 1558, le jeune Ned Willard rentre à Kingsbridge : le monde qu'il connaissait va changer à tout jamais... Les pierres patinées de la cathédrale dominent une ville déchirée par la haine religieuse et Ned se retrouve dans le camp adverse de celle qu'il voulait épouser, Margery Fitzgerald. L'accession d'Élisabeth Ire au trône met le feu à toute l'Europe.

When a chance encounter with Theodore Camden, one of the architects of the grand New York apartment house the Dakota, leads to a job offer for Sara Smythe, her world is suddenly awash in possibility - no mean feat for a servant in 1884. The opportunity to move to America. The opportunity to be the female manager of the Dakota. And the opportunity to see more of Theo, who understands Sara like no one else...and is living in the Dakota with his wife and three young children.

Famed sailor Hal Courtney is now a man of land and family. But when the King orders him to sail to Madagascar and stop the pirates responsible for looting the finest trading ships of the East India Trading Company and bringing ruin to them all, Hal must travel with his three younger sons on a journey that will shape the young men forever. In this swashbuckling adventure of marauders and slave traders, love and treasure, the brothers will face duels, chases, betrayals and battles - and see their fates cast in ways they could never have imagined.

The only home Foulques has ever known has been razed by the Mamluks. Only by the grace of God does he and a handful of knights manage to escape to the island of Cyprus. Once there, Foulques learns that Najya has been taken captive by none other than Badru Hashim and is enroute to the slave markets of North Africa. Foulques immediately attempts to organize a rescue force but his uncle has seized control of the Order of Saint John and considers the risks too high. He is left with only two options: remain loyal to his uncle and the Order or forsake his oaths and strike out after Najya on his own.

The Great Extermination has begun. In the Capitol, Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan hatches a plot to kill every member of the untouchable caste in all of Lok, down to the last man, woman, and child. As a member of the Order of Inquisition, Vokkan has no official say in the creation of Law, but he has powerful allies willing to do his bidding. Through them, he has convinced the Judges that the genocide will be swift, complete, and without complication. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Two strangers, young men from Pennsylvania and South Carolina, meet on the way to West Point.... Thus begins this brilliant novel of antebellum America, spanning three generations and chronicling the lives and loves of two great family dynasties. The Hazards and the Mains are brought together in bonds of friendship and affection that neither jealousy nor violence can shatter - until a storm of events sunders the nation and brings the cataclysm of war!

The novels of Conn Iggulden bring the past to thrilling life, from ancient Rome to 13th-century Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Now he delivers the spectacular story of the rise of Genghis Khan’s grandson, a man destined to become one of the most remarkable rulers who ever lived - the legendary Kublai Khan.

Centaine de Thiry Courtney has not only survived but thrived. A successful woman with two sons of her own: Shasa Courtney, the Courtney heir, and Manfred de la Rey, Shasa's half brother, her secret child raised solely by his father. At the time of the Great Depression, Centaine must make difficult decisions to ensure the security of her family - decisions that will affect Manfred and his father, Lothar de la Rey, a man Centaine once loved. But the world is changing, and conflicts greater than any the world has seen before are looming.

Following on from the events begun in A Falcon Flies, Men of Men continues Wilbur Smith's epic story of the Ballantynes. It is the age of empire, of blood and conquest, of boundless excitement and possibility. Striding in the footsteps of the pioneers is Zouga Ballantyne. His dream begins in the danger and drudgery of the diamond pits and ends up on the rich grasslands of Matabeleland - but not before a king and a proud warrior nation have paid the price of history....

Elizabeth of York is the oldest daughter of King Edward IV. Flame-haired, beautiful, and sweet-natured, she is adored by her family; yet her life is suddenly disrupted when her beloved father dies in the prime of life. Her uncle, the notorious Richard III, takes advantage of King Edward’s death to grab the throne and imprison Elizabeth's two younger brothers, the rightful royal heirs. Forever afterward known as the princes in the tower, the boys are never seen again.

Stockholm, 1931. Depuis la mort de son père quelques années plus tôt, Mathilda Wallin vit seule avec sa mère. Quand cette dernière décède brutalement, Agneta Lejongård, une mystérieuse comtesse, lui annonce qu'elle est désormais sa tutrice et l'emmène dans sa majestueuse propriété de Löwenhof. Rongée par la peur et le doute, la jeune orpheline de 17 ans est projetée dans un monde intimidant de luxe et de raffinement dans lequel elle a bien du mal à trouver sa place.

England, 1069. King William's iron rule grips the land, his Frankish lords dominating with towering castles. In the east, an outlaw builds an island fortress, rallying common folk against Norman oppression. Edgar the Aetheling remains defiant, seeking the throne that is rightfully his. Alongside him sails Styrkar, the legendary Danish warrior, to forge a fragile alliance in Denmark.

In 1943, when a frail old white woman shows up in Red Clay, Alabama, at the home of a Black former slave—on the morning following his funeral—his family hardly knows what to expect after she utters the words “… a lifetime ago, my family owned yours.” Adelaide Parker has a story to tell—one of ambition, betrayal, violence, and redemption—that shaped both the fate of her family and that of the late Felix H. Parker. But there are gaps in her knowledge, and she’s come to Red Clay seeking answers from a family with whom she shares a name and a history that neither knows in full.