Set in the days of the Empire, with the British ruling in Burma, Orwell's book describes corruption and imperial bigotry. Flory, a white timber merchant, befriends Dr. Veraswami, a black enthusiast for the Empire, whose downfall can only be prevented by membership at an all-white club.

Orwell draws on his years of experience in India to tell this story of the waning days of British imperialism. A handful of Englishmen living in a settlement in Burma congregate in the European Club, drink whiskey, and argue over an impending order to admit a token Asian.

George Orwell’s triumphant first novel. Informed by his experiences as a police officer in Burma, the novel paints a vivid portrait of the waning days of British imperial rule, and the racism and corruption that ran rampant. It centres on John Flory, a European businessman in colonial Burma, disenfranchised by the bigotry he sees around him and his persistent feeling of being out of place.

As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, Suetonius gained access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eye-witness accounts) to produce one of the most colorful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero, and the recovery that came with his successors.

A masterpiece of anecdote, wry observation and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn — and all too human — individuals.

Ce'Nedra, Imperial Princess of Tolnedra, is confused. Everyone knows the tales of the Orb protecting the West from the evil god Torak are just silly legends. But here she is, forced to join a dangerous quest to recover that stolen Orb.

No one believes in sorcery, but Garion's aunt and grandfather seem to be the fabled sorcerers Polgara and Belgarath, who would have to be thousands of years old. Even young Garion is learning to do sorcery. He's just a farm boy, totally unsuitable for an Imperial Princess. Yet for some reason, she has the urge to teach him, brush back his tangled hair, and comfort him.

But he is going to a strange tower in the center of all he believes evil, to face some horrible, powerful magician, and she can't be there to watch over him. She may never see him again!

Thus continues The Belgariad, an epic prophecy still unfolding.