Beginning with the founding myths of Romulus & Remus & a succession of probably fictitious kings Anthony Everitt charts the development of Rome from its origins as a small market town in the eighth century BC through various forms of patrician government up to Caesar's victory in the Civil War that defeated the Roman Republic & paved the way for Augustus to transform republican oligarchy into imperial autocracy. Using recent archaeological evidence & historical facts & a wealth of legend & anecdote Everitt shows how Rome grew
- both internally via ever more ambitious construction projects & externally through successful military campaigns. In doing so he highlights some fascinating parallels between ancient Roman society & the modern world. As readable & accessible as it is authoritative & scholarly THE RISE OF ROME is the perfect introduction to Roman history & civilization for the general reader.
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The first thing that caught my eye was the geezer with the gold tooth
- the second was that he was holding a shooter
- & the

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When Pitch the boogeyman decides that children should believe in him & not the Guardians he adds a little fear to their dreams turning them into nightmares. If children around the world are afraid there will be no more room for hope. The Guardians must band together to stop him. But in order to do so they need a little help from an unlikely source: enter Jack Frost. Jack loves to have fun but he's not usually one for heroics. Will Jack find the hero within him before Pitch can carry out his master plan? Join Jack & the entire gang of Guardians ~ North Bunnymund Tooth & Sandman ~ for this epic tale of good versus evil as they come together to protect the very spirit of childhood. ...

Surfing the net during a lightning storm has amazing consequences for a group of teenage friends. Superhero powers are theirs at the click of a mouse! Trouble is they dont know what the powers will be until they try them out.. . But super powers carry super responsibilities. When a weather-altering world-conquering supervillain kidnaps their mum they have to decide: save her.. .or save the world! Rise of the Heroes is the first book in the brilliant new series HERO.COM
- the perfect antidote to the anti-series VILLAIN.NET also by screenwriter Andy Briggs. Which side are you on?
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Its been months since Tom & Pollys explosive quest to Dollar Island but their fizzling adventures are far from over... With Shipley Manor harboured safe at home Polly & Tom have been looking forward to helping Hopper Hawkins spread the Fizzle
- a magical potion that brings happiness to all who experience it. But something else has been speading instead
- a poisonous conspiracy involving the mysterious Rattler. & when Hawkins great gr&-daughter disappears Shipley Manor embark on an urgent voyage to find her. Through magical forests & across Arctic mountains the shipmates encounter super-slugs dolphins with three tails & eight-legged monkeys. But when they finally meet the secretive Rattler they discover more than they bargained for. The fate of the world hangs in the balance as Polly & Tom do battle one last time...

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THE ELVES ARE ENSLAVED Calaius is occupied by an implacable relentless enemy. The great elven cities are little more than prison camps. Elven slaves are forced to destroy their beloved rainforest to harvest timber for their masters. The enemy has no mercy no honour & little skill in battle. The enemy is Man. Those few elves who remain free are fragmented in squabbling factions & they must unite before they can take a stand against Man. Many believe that the battle is already lost but Auum is not one of them. He knows Mens numbers are great but their tactics are weak; he knows Men think the Elves are already beaten; he is convinced that his people must fight now or see their race destroyed. Takaar disagrees. He believes Elven salvation lies in unlocking their magic not in fighting pitched battles against Man. He is determined to save his people too but his tactics are entirely different.. .and if some Elves must die now to ensure Calaius will be free of Man in the future its a sacrifice he is willing to make. The Elves must choose their sides. Whatever they decide victory will win their freedom.. .and failure will mean extermination.. . ...

Joe is just an ordinary boy until he makes a wish on a spooky Egyptian amulet... Now he's the Protector of Undead pets! Fluffy's owner Olivia lost a necklace in her back garden & she's going to get in big trouble if it isn't found. Fluffy can't bear to see her owner in distress & she demands that Joe finds the necklace
- now! Can Joe do what Fluffy wants or will the undead pet be hopping around forever? Undead Pets is full of animal zombies & pets with one last thing to do before they pass to the other side! Funny dark & full of adventure this series is ideal for boys seeking a fast-paced & amusing chapter book.
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Maya Delaney is a skin-walker
- a supernatural who can Shift into the shape of a cougar. But just as she learns this extraordinary
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When Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin is summoned to a burning barn he finds inside the charred remains of a man who is quickly identified as a local drug dealer Martin Kielty. It soon becomes clear that Kielty's death was no accident & suspicion falls on a local vigilante group. Former paramilitaries the men call themselves The Rising. Meanwhile a former colleague's teenage son has gone missing during a seaside camping trip. Devlin is relieved when the boy's mother Caroline Williams receives a text message from her son's phone & so when a body is reported washed up on a nearby beach the inspector is baffled. When another drug dealer is killed Devlin realises that the spate of deaths is more complex than mere vigilantism. But just as it seems he is close to understanding the case a personal crisis will strike at the heart of Ben's own family & he will be forced to confront the compromises his career has forced upon him. With his fourth novel Mc Gilloway announces himself as one of the most exciting crime novelists around: gripping heartbreaking & always surprising The Rising is a tour de force -- Mc Gilloway's most personal novel so far. ...

Rising 44" is a brilliant narrative account of one of the most dramatic episodes in 20th century history drawing on Davies unique understanding of the issues & characters involved. In August 1944 Warsaw offered the Wehrmacht the last line of defence against the Red Armys march from Moscow to Berlin. When the Red Army reached the river Vistula the people of Warsaw believed that liberation had come. The Resistance took to the streets in celebration but the Soviets remained where they were allowing the Wehrmacht time to regroup & Hitler to order that the city of Warsaw be razed to the ground. For 63 days the Resistance fought on in the cellars & the sewers. Defenceless citizens were slaughtered in their tens of thousands. One by one the Citys monuments were reduced to rubble watched by Soviet troops on the other bank of the river. The Allies expressed regret but decided that there was nothing to be done Poland would not be allowed to be governed by Poles. The sacrifice was in vain & the Soviet tanks rolled in to the flattened city. It is a hugely dramatic story vividly & authoritatively told by one of our greatest historians." ...