The Kingdom of Wendar is in turmoil. King Henry still holds the crown but his reign has long been contested by his sister Sabella & there are many eager to flock to her banner. Internal conflict weakens Wendars defences drawing raiders human & inhuman across its borders. Terrifying portents abound & dark spirits walk the land in broad daylight. Suddenly two innocents are thrust into the midst of the conflict. Alain a young man granted a vision by the Lady of Battles & Liath a young woman with the power to change the course of history. Both must discover the truth about themselves before they can accept their fates. For in a war where sorcery not swords may determine the final outcome the price of failure may be more than their own lives. ...

Inspired by a grisly discovery in the nineteenth century The Kings General was the first of du Mauriers novels to be written at Menabilly the model for Manderley in Rebecca. Set in the seventeenth century it tells the story of a country & a family riven by war & features one of fictions most original heroines. Honor Harris is only eighteen when she first meets Richard Grenvile proud reckless
- & utterly captivating. But following a riding accident Honor must reconcile herself to a life alone. As Richard rises through the ranks of the army marries & makes enemies Honor remains true to him & finally discovers the secret of Menabilly.
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Each year more than 250 000 people visit the Chapel of Kings College Cambridge one of Europes best-known buildings. This book tells the untold story of the Chapels crowning glory its stained glass windows & of the people who created them
- the triumphant culmination of a project completed despite wars the death of kings & violent religious conflict. The glass symbolises the power of the Tudors & is a mirror of their souls. Planned by Henry VII & continued by Henry VIII the windows are dynastic propaganda simultaneously blatant & subtle boasting the ancient lineage of an upstart monarchy. Their unfolding scenes honoured the Catholic faith that Henry VIII was challenging in the 1530s when he made himself head of the church to marry Anne Boleyn. The windows show how Henry commemorated his wives in art then airbrushed them out when they fell from favour & how he recruited leading artists to make this Englands response to the Sistine Chapel. The great Kings Glass also flaunts the skills of its makers many of them innovative immigrants. It is a tale of guilds & artisans as well as of the court. It is too a history of England reflecting change conflict & modernity in the sixteenth century. Exploring the stories behind these luminous treasures this fascinating book as vivid as a novel uncovers the power struggles behind the beauty of the past.
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OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Surveys most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities like walking horse riding & off-road cycling. Providing complete GB coverage the series details essential information such as youth hostels pubs & visitor information as well as rights of way permissive paths & bridleways. ...

When Charles I was executed his son Charles II made it his mission to search out retribution producing the biggest manhunt Britain had ever seen one that would span Europe & America & would last for thirty years. Men who had once been among the most powerful figures in England ended up on the scaffold on the run or in fear of the assassins bullet. History has painted the regicides & their supporters as fanatical Puritans but among them were remarkable men including John Milton & Oliver Cromwell. Don Jordan & Michael Walsh bring these remarkable figures & this astonishing story vividly to life in an engrossing bloody tale of plots spies betrayal fear & ambition. ...

Summer 1643 England is at war with itself. King Charles I has fled London his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed. For Thomas Hill a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn. When a stranger knocks on his door one night & informs him that the kings cryptographer has died everything changes. Aware of Thomas background as a mathematician & his expertise in codes & ciphers the king has summoned him to his court in Oxford. On arrival Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of a traitor in their midst. Brutal murder follows brutal murder. & when a vital message encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable code is intercepted he must decipher it to reveal the kings betrayer & prevent the violent death that failure will surely bring. ...

With its engaging thief-taker hero this YA series from the acclaimed author of THE ADAMANTINE PALACE is perfect for fans of Trudi Canavan & Robin Hobb. Berren has left his past as an apprentice thief-taker behind him in a mist of blood & screams & death. Press-ganged as a sailor his old life is now just a distant memory. Until the day he spots someone who might well be his old master Syannis the man who killed Berren's first love. Syannis was thought dead but he is a hard man to kill. As Berren chases down the man he believes to be an enemy he finds himself caught up in a web of political machination & danger unlike anything he has encountered. For Syannis is a deposed prince & he is willing to go to any lengths
- including dealing with the black-hearted sorcerer Saffran Kuy
- to regain his throne. As Berren struggles to understand his feelings towards Syannis & his mad quest he slowly comes to realize that the world is going to war
- & Berren is caught in the middle. Can he navigate a path through the dangers which surround him? Will he find a way to extricate himself from the sorcery & intrigue that follow him at every step? & who is destined to be the King's Assassin?


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Set ten years after the events in Prince of the Blood" this book is a remarkable adventure of mystery & magic. In Amos Trask's ship Prince Nicholas & Squire Harry set sail for a friendly visit to Uncle Martin in Crydee. But while the two are guests in Crydee disaster strikes. Nicholas third son of Prince Arutha is a gifted youngster but sheltered by life at his father's court in Krondor. To learn more of the world outside the palace walls Nicholas & his squire Harry set sail for pastoral Crydee where Arutha grew up. Shortly after their arrival Crydee is brutally attacked. The castle is reduced to ruins the townspeople slaughtered & two young noblewomen -- friends of Nicholas -- are abducted. As Nicholas ventures further from the familiar landmarks of his home in pursuit of the invaders he learns that there is more at stake than the fate of his friends more even than fate of the Kingdom of the Isles for behind the murderous pirates stands a force that threatens the entire world of Midkemia & only he is destined to confront this terrifying threat." ...

One marriage. Three people. Proud king. Loving wife. Infamous mistress. 1362. Philippa of Hainault selects a young orphan from a convent. Alice Perrers a girl born with nothing but ambition. The Queen has a role waiting for her at court. 'I have lifted you from nothing Alice. Now you repay me.' Led down the corridors of the royal palace the young virgin is secretly delivered to King Edward III
- to perform the wifely duties of which ailing Philippa is no longer capable. Power has a price & Alice Perrers will pay it. Mistress to the King. Confidante of the Queen. Whore to the court. Her fate is double edged; loved by the majesties ostracised by her peers. Alice must balance her future with care as her star begins to rise
- the despised concubine is not untouchable. Politics & pillow talk are dangerous bedfellows. The fading great King wants her in his bed. Her enemies want her banished. One mistake & Alice will face a threat worse than any malicious whispers of the past. ' Better than Philippa Gregory'
- The Bookseller ' Anne O' Brien has joined the exclusive club of excellent historical novelists.'
- Sunday Express



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Ninety-three-year-old Victor Gregg has had a rich & fascinating life. King's Cross Kid follows his London childhood from the age of five when life was so hard that the Salvation Army arranged for young Vic to be taken to the Shaftesbury Home for Destitute Children. Home again a year later the scallywag years of late childhood began. Then after the years of street gangs & run-ins with the law Vic leaves school at fourteen & his real adventures start & with them a working-class apprenticeship in survival. Ending with his enlistment in the army on the day of his eighteenth birthday this prequel to the bestselling Rifleman will appeal to the many readers who were charmed by Victor Gregg's engaging honest & warm voice. ...