In 1831 Nat Turner awaits death in a Virginia jail cell. He is a slave, a preacher, & the leader of the only effective slave revolt in the history of 'that peculiar institution'. William Styron's ambitious & stunningly accomplished novel is Turner's confession, made to his jailers under the duress of his God. Encompasses the betrayals, cruelties & humiliations that made up slavery
- & that still sear the collective psyches of both races.
...

' Continual, destruction in the foretop, the pox above board, the plague between decks, hell in the forecastle & the devil at the helm.'

It is the summer of 1588, & the fate & future of England hangs in the balance. Obsessed by the dream of reclaiming England for the Catholic Church
- & adding another country to his sprawling dominions
- Philip II of Spain has assembled a fleet of huge, castle-crowned galleons that stretches for miles across the face of the ocean. In wait in the Netherlands lies a battle-hardened Spanish army, ferocious professionals with a taste for rape, looting & atrocity.

Across the Channel the English are scraping together bands of barely trained men, many armed only with scythes, stakes or longbows. Great warning beacons stand all along the coast of England; torches & kindling lie to h&. Watchmen strain their eyes to see over the horizon. Their only hope lies in the English Navy.

But Philip's Armada is doomed before it even leaves port. As soon as it engages with the English fleet, its shortcomings are clear in the face of superior tactics & firepower. Its hulls shot through with cannon fire, its men dying in thousands from wounds & disease, the mightiest fleet ever assembled is mercilessly harried into fleeing north, at the mercy of the elements. Over forty Spanish ships are wrecked on the Irish coast; survivors crawling ashore have their throats slit & their purses ransacked. The dream of subduing the Protestant English lies in tatters.

A triumphant combination of historical detail & storytelling flair, The Confident Hope of a Miracle draws on undiscovered & little known personal papers & records to tell the epic story of the Spanish Armada in all its scope. No book has ever conveyed in such vivid, living detail how kings, queens & courtiers, sea captains, deckhands & galley slaves, the highest & the lowest in the l&, fared in those turbulent months as the fate of England teetered on the brink.









...

' Continual, destruction in the foretop, the pox above board, the plague between decks, hell in the forecastle & the devil at the helm.'

It is the summer of 1588, & the fate & future of England hangs in the balance. Obsessed by the dream of reclaiming England for the Catholic Church
- & adding another country to his sprawling dominions
- Philip II of Spain has assembled a fleet of huge, castle-crowned galleons that stretches for miles across the face of the ocean. In wait in the Netherlands lies a battle-hardened Spanish army, ferocious professionals with a taste for rape, looting & atrocity.

Across the Channel the English are scraping together bands of barely trained men, many armed only with scythes, stakes or longbows. Great warning beacons stand all along the coast of England; torches & kindling lie to h&. Watchmen strain their eyes to see over the horizon. Their only hope lies in the English Navy.

But Philip's Armada is doomed before it even leaves port. As soon as it engages with the English fleet, its shortcomings are clear in the face of superior tactics & firepower. Its hulls shot through with cannon fire, its men dying in thousands from wounds & disease, the mightiest fleet ever assembled is mercilessly harried into fleeing north, at the mercy of the elements. Over forty Spanish ships are wrecked on the Irish coast; survivors crawling ashore have their throats slit & their purses ransacked. The dream of subduing the Protestant English lies in tatters.

A triumphant combination of historical detail & storytelling flair, THE CONFIDENT HOPE OF A MIRACLE draws on undiscovered & little known personal papers & records to tell the epic story of the Spanish Armada in all its scope. No book has ever conveyed in such vivid, living detail how kings, queens & courtiers, sea captains, deckhands & galley slaves, the highest & the lowest in the l&, fared in those turbulent months as the fate of England teetered on the brink.









...

In a small continental country civil war is raging. Once a lecturer in medieval French, now a confidential agent, D is a scarred stranger in a seemingly casual Engl&, sent on a mission to buy coal at any price. Initially, this seems to be a matter of straightforward negotiation, but soon, implicated in murder, accused of possessing false documents & theft, held responsible for the death of a young woman, D becomes a hunted man, tormented by allegiances, doubts & the love of others. ...

In a small continental country civil war is raging. Once a lecturer in medieval French, now a confidential agent, D is a scarred stranger in a seemingly casual Engl&, sent on a mission to buy coal at any price. Initially, this seems to be a matter of straightforward negotiation, but soon, implicated in murder, accused of possessing false documents & theft, held responsible for the death of a young woman, D becomes a hunted man, tormented by allegiances, doubts & the love of others. ...

William Cody grows up surrounded by his father's tales of Buffalo Bill, to whom he is distantly related, & his fantasies of the Wild West.

Though he escapes his heritage by fleeing abroad & starting a new life for himself, he finds that he is always drawn back to England & to his ancestry.

When his father proposes that together they should recreate Buffalo Bill's stage show, ' The Congress of Rough Riders of the World' for a contemporary audience, William refuses to have any part of it. When tragedy strikes, however, it is to his father that he must eventually return.



...

William Cody grows up surrounded by his father's tales of Buffalo Bill, to whom he is distantly related, & his fantasies of the Wild West.

Though he escapes his heritage by fleeing abroad & starting a new life for himself, he finds that he is always drawn back to England & to his ancestry.

When his father proposes that together they should recreate Buffalo Bill's stage show, ' The Congress of Rough Riders of the World' for a contemporary audience, William refuses to have any part of it. When tragedy strikes, however, it is to his father that he must eventually return.



...

There was once a powerful country ruled by a General who decided to conquer all his neighbours, & rule as much as he could. This plan worked, until there was only one small jovial country left. When the soldiers went there to subjugate them, they were persuaded out of their uniforms, into the taverns, & onto the dance floors. However many times they were sent home & replaced by new recruits, every soldier was suborned; & the returning military brought with them the traditions & music of the conquered nation. Just who has conquered whom? ...