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Every week Tanzanite features upcoming historical fiction and history related non-fiction books that have come to her attention and may be of interest to others. Since she has an out of control TBR pile, so should everyone else!
By his death in 1035, King Cnut was the most powerful monarch of Northern Europe. With his father, Swegen Forkbeard, king of Denmark, he invaded England in 1013, driving its king, Aethelred II into temporary exile in Normandy. Aethelred’s son, Edmund Ironside, took up the struggle; but the deaths of Swegen and both Aethelred and Edmund in 1016 left Cnut master of the entire kingdom. He subsequently added Denmark itself and Norway to his territories, and probably a part of Sweden too. King Cnut was able, ruthless, and more than just a successful opportunist.
In the First Punic War, the Roman legions defeated and humiliated Carthage, their only serious rival for power in the Mediterranean. Now a brilliant young Carthaginian general, called Hannibal, is out for revenge. Caught up in the maelstrom are two young boys, Hanno, the son of a distinguished soldier and confidant of Hannibal, and Quintus, son of a Roman equestrian and landowner. A disastrous adventure will see Hanno sold into slavery and bought by Quintus's father. Although an unexpected friendship springs up between the two boys - and with Quintus's sister, Aurelia - the fortunes of the two warring empires once again separates them. They find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict and an alliance forged through slavery will be played out to its stunning conclusion in battle.
Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity and unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island, isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion, but Elizabeth's Secretary, Francis Walsingham, was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her. He ran a network of agents in England and Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots. He recruited likely young men and 'turned' others. He encourage Elizabeth to make war against the Catholic Irish rebels, with extreme brutality and oversaw the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. The Queen's Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England's history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie. Non-fiction. US and UK release November 8, 2011 (reposted with cover).
The long-awaited biography of one of the most fascinating and important women in history, Catherine the Great—by an author whose towering Peter the Great won the Pulitzer Prize.
Robert Massie's previous books, Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs, ideally prepared him for the mammoth task of re-creating Catherine the Great's signature life as first she struggles for power and then tries to bring Russia into the modern world. In a strong, engrossing narrative, Robert Massie brings Catherine, a remarkably modern figure, vividly to life:
•How she tried to engage Russia in the cultural life of Europe with people like Voltaire, Diderot, and others.
•How she created perhaps the greatest collection of art in the world in the Hermitage.
•How she managed numerous lovers—but never in the scandalous way in which gossip has pictured these liaisons.
•How she handled cantankerous court intrigue and numerous wars with consummate skill.
The long-awaited biography of one of the most fascinating and important women in history, Catherine the Great—by an author whose towering Peter the Great won the Pulitzer Prize.
Robert Massie's previous books, Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs, ideally prepared him for the mammoth task of re-creating Catherine the Great's signature life as first she struggles for power and then tries to bring Russia into the modern world. In a strong, engrossing narrative, Robert Massie brings Catherine, a remarkably modern figure, vividly to life:
•How she tried to engage Russia in the cultural life of Europe with people like Voltaire, Diderot, and others.
•How she created perhaps the greatest collection of art in the world in the Hermitage.
•How she managed numerous lovers—but never in the scandalous way in which gossip has pictured these liaisons.
•How she handled cantankerous court intrigue and numerous wars with consummate skill.
In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear from Cromwell’s ruthless terror.
When novice nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and run away from her Dominican Order in Dartford to stand at her cousin’s side.
Arrested for interfering with king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London. Joanna’s father is brutally tortured by Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester who leads the Catholic faction bent on saving England’s monasteries from destruction. In order to save her father, Joanna must submit to Gardiner’s will and become a pawn in the struggle between religious extremes. Gardiner forces Joanna to return to Dartford Priory with a mission: find the long hidden crown worn by Saxon King Athelstan in AD 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain. Gardiner believes the crown itself to possess a mystical power that will halt the Reformation.
Uncovering only dark betrayals and murder at Dartford, Joanna flees with Brother Edmund, a troubled young friar, and with time running out, their hunt for the crown leads them through royal castles, to Stonehenge, and finally to the tomb of the mysterious King Athelstan under Malmesbury Abbey. There Joanna learns the true secret of the crown, a secret tracing all the way back to Golgotha and the Relics of the Passion. Now, as Cromwell’s army of destruction advances, Joanna must finally determine who to trust and how far she is willing to go to protect a way of life that she passionately loves.
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