There was something wrong! Just as the boiling water was about to be poured on his head and the man with the red book appeared and his life flashed before his eyes, Akram the Terrible, the most feared thief in Baghdad, knew this had happened before. Many times. And he was damned if he was going to l

**Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with *Rubicon*his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republicwith *Dynasty*, a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emper

The Forge of Christendom is a study of a truly fateful revolution: the emergence of Western Europe for the first time as a distinctive and expansionist power. It was the age of Otto the Great and William the Conqueror, of Caliphs and Viking sea-kings, of hermits, monks, and serfs. --from publisher d

**The electrifying debut thriller that asks the question: To save the one you love, is there any price you wouldn't pay?** **His wife is sick.** **He needs $200,000 to save her.** **A mysterious man offers to give him the money with just one catch: He has to murder someone to get it.**

**Selected letters and nonfiction of one of America's most beloved writers "reveals the occasionally softer side of the man behind the hard-boiled mysteries" (*Library Journal*).** *The Raymond Chandler Papers* brings together the correspondence and other previously uncollected writing of Amer

In the fifth century B.C., a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwat

In 480 BC, Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For seventy years, victory - rapid, spectacular victory - had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, sh

The formation of England occurred against the odds: an island divided into rival kingdoms, under savage assault from Viking hordes. But, after King Alfred ensured the survival of Wessex and his son Edward expanded it, his grandson Athelstan inherited the rule of both Mercia and Wessex, conquered Nor

SUMMARY: She was born at midnight, January 1, the year 2000. As she grew, she was never sick, and her strength and intelligence were far above that of her peers--she was the perfect child. But when the truth about her comes to light, it sets off an international race to possess her secret--a secre

*Floodworld* is a gripping, action-packed story for 10+ readers. Kara and Joe spend their days navigating the perilous waterways of a sunken city, scratching out a living in the ruins. But when they come into possession of a mysterious map, they find themselves in a world of trouble. Suddenly everyo

Northern California in the early 70's. An investigative reporter is on the trail of radical attorney Donna Fairchild, who hasn't been seen for three years. In the course of her investigation, she discovers a group of ex-cons and political refugees (including Fairchild) living in an abandoned lumber

Something is about to go wrong. Very wrong. What do you expect if the Supreme Being decides to get away from it all for a few days, leaving his naturally inquisitive son to look after the cosmic balance of things? A minor hiccup with a human soul and a welding machine soon leads to a violent belch,

The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness - the same greatness which would herald the catastro

From the moment Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilization. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect-all are testament to man's ultimate supremacy. It is a noble story and so, of

SUMMARY: In 1037, a senior civil servant of the Byzantine empire faces a tedious journey to Greece, escorting the Army payroll. His only companions are a detachment of the Empire's elite Guard, recruited from Viking Scandinavia. When the wagon sheds a wheel, he passes the time talking with two vet