This is Simon de Montfort's story—and the story of King Henry III, as weak and changeable as Montfort was brash and unbending. It is a saga of two opposing wills that would later clash in a storm of violence and betrayal. A story straight from the pages of history that brings the world of the thirteenth century completely, provocatively, and magnificently alive.

Above all, this is a story of conflict and treachery, of human frailty and broken legends, a tale of pageantry and grandeur that is as unforgettable as it is real.

In a rolling sea off the coast of South America, a target disappears in a puff of green light. In the Soviet hills of Dushanbe near the Afghanistan border, an otherworldly array of pillars and domes rises into the night. To the two greatest nations on earth, no contest is more urgent than the race to build the first Star Wars missile defense system.

No one knows this more than the two men charged with assessing the Soviets' capabilities: Colonel Mikhail Filitov of the Soviet Union, an old-line warrior distrusted by the army's new inner circle of technocrats, and CIA analyst Jack Ryan, hero of the Red October affair.

Each must use all his craft to arrive at the truth, but Filitov gets there first — and that's when all hell breaks loose. Because Filitov, code-named Cardinal, is America's highest agent in the Kremlin, and he is about to be betrayed to the KGB. His rescue could spell the difference between peace and war, and it is up to Jack Ryan to accomplish it — if he can.

In a breathtaking sequence of hunter and hunted, Filitov's life, and Ryan's, and that of the world itself, literally hang in the balance.

From the author of the Jack Ryan series comes an electrifying #1 New York Times bestseller—a standalone military thriller that envisions World War 3... A chillingly authentic vision of modern war, Red Storm Rising is as powerful as it is ambitious. Using the latest advancements in military technology, the world's superpowers battle on land, sea, and air for ultimate global control. It is a story you will never forget. Hard-hitting. Suspenseful. And frighteningly real.

"Captains and the Kings" is a sweeping and captivating novel about the amassing of a colossal fortune, the political power that comes with it, and the operation of a curse laid on an Irish-American dynasty and the ruthless driving man who founded it.

Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh was thirteen years old when he first saw America through a dirty porthole on the steerage deck of The Irish Queen. It was the early 1850s, and he was a penniless immigrant, an orphan cast on a hostile shore to make a home for himself and his younger brother and infant sister. Some seventy years later, from his deathbed, Joseph Armagh last glimpsed his adopted land from the gleaming windows of a palatial estate. A multi-millionaire, one of the most powerful and feared men, Joseph Armagh had indeed found a home.

Captains and the Kings is the story of the price that was paid for it in the consuming, single-minded determination of a man clawing his way to the top; in the bitter-sweet bliss of the love of a beautiful woman; in the almost too-late enjoyment of extraordinary children; and in the curse which used the hand of fate to strike in the very face of success itself.

Once again, Taylor Caldwell has looked into America's roistering past as a setting for a drama of the consequences of savage ambition - and its meaning then and now.

A gripping tale of capitalist exploitation and rebellion, set amid the mist-shrouded mountains of a fictional South American republic, employs flashbacks and glimpses of the future to depict the lure of silver and its effects on men. Conrad's deep moral consciousness and masterful narrative technique are at their best in this, one of his greatest works.

A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul is a captivating narrative set in post-colonial Africa during the time of Independence. This novel offers a vivid exploration of a continent in transition.

The story follows Salim, a young Indian man, who embarks on a journey to establish a small business in Central Africa. As he navigates the complexities of a newly-dependent state, he becomes intricately involved with the fluid and dangerous political landscape.

Set against a backdrop of chaos, violent change, and social breakdown, Salim's journey is one of personal growth and survival amidst historical upheaval. This novel serves as a microcosm of a changing world, characterized by warring tribes, ignorance, isolation, and poverty.

Naipaul's work emerges as a truly moving story that reflects on the cultural and political transformations of the time.

The Great Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert is a monumental science fiction epic, set on the desert planet Arrakis. This harsh world is the focal point of a complex political and military struggle with galaxy-wide repercussions.

This volume includes the captivating tales: 'Dune', 'Dune Messiah', and 'Children of Dune'. The story revolves around the valuable spice, a mind-enhancing drug that makes interstellar travel possible, and is the most sought-after substance in the galaxy.

When Duke Atreides and his family arrive on Arrakis, they become ensnared in a deadly trap set by the Duke's rival, Baron Harkonnen. After the Duke's poisoning, his wife and son, Paul, escape to the vast deserts, joining the native Fremen to survive. Paul's journey is one of destiny and prophecy, intertwined with the ecosystem and culture of Arrakis.

This trilogy is renowned for its intricate blend of ecology, religion, consciousness, feudalism, and space travel. It challenges readers to reflect on the impact of their choices and the world around them. An enduring classic, it continues to inspire and provoke thought in its readers.

The Path Between the Seas is an epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal, a bold and brilliant engineering feat of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Master historian David McCullough delivers a captivating tale of this grand enterprise, filled with both triumph and tragedy.

From the mid-19th century, as Europeans explored the possibilities of creating a link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, to the final handover of the canal to Panama in 1999, the story is one of astonishing engineering feats and tremendous medical accomplishments. The construction involved thousands of workers from many nations, laboring in oppressive heat and battling diseases like malaria.

The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway. It was a story of political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures, woven together into a comprehensive and captivating narrative by McCullough's remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition.

The Honorary Consul is a British thriller novel by the renowned author Graham Greene, published in 1973. It stands as one of the author's favorite works.

The story unfolds in an unnamed city in northern Argentina, close to the border with Paraguay, a setting reminiscent of the city of Corrientes. In this provincial Argentinean town, Charley Fortnum, a British consul with dubious authority and a weakness for drink, is kidnapped by Paraguayan revolutionaries who have mistakenly identified him as the American ambassador.

Dr. Eduardo Plarr, a local physician torn by his own divided loyalties, steps in as the negotiator between the rebels and the authorities. These fumbling characters enact an absurd drama of failure, hope, love, and betrayal against a backdrop of political chaos.

The Honorary Consul is not only a gripping novel of suspense but also a penetrating psychological and sociological study of personal and political corruption.

Isao is a young, engaging patriot, and a fanatical believer in the ancient samurai ethos. He turns terrorist, organizing a violent plot against the new industrialists, who he believes are threatening the integrity of Japan and usurping the Emperor’s rightful power.

As the conspiracy unfolds and unravels, Mishima brilliantly chronicles the conflicts of a decade that saw the fabric of Japanese life torn apart. Runaway Horses is the chronicle of a conspiracy — a novel about the roots and nature of Japanese fanaticism in the years that led to war.

A Man for All Seasons is a classic play that vividly portrays the dramatic events surrounding the life of Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor who stood firm in his beliefs and faced execution under the reign of Henry VIII.

This compelling narrative captures the intense conflict between church and state, as well as the personal and political turmoil faced by More. His unwavering eloquence and endurance, coupled with his pure and saintly nature, earn him a place as one of modern drama's greatest tragic heroes.

The play, first staged in 1960 at the Globe Theatre in London, has been celebrated for its sparse yet powerful writing, confirming Robert Bolt as a significant force in modern theatre.

The relentless struggle of the Vietminh guerrillas for independence and the futility of the French gestures of resistance become inseparably meshed with the personal and moral dilemmas of two men and the Vietnamese woman they both love. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Secrecy and Silence are second nature to Marcello Clerici, the hero of The Conformist, a book which made Alberto Moravia one of the world's most read postwar writers. Clerici is a man with everything under control - a wife who loves him, colleagues who respect him, the hidden power that comes with his secret work for the Italian political police during the Mussolini years.

But then he is assigned to kill his former professor, now exiled in France, to demonstrate his loyalty to the Fascist state, and falls in love with a strange, compelling woman; his life is torn open - and with it the corrupt heart of Fascism.

Moravia equates the rise of Italian Fascism with the psychological needs of his protagonist for whom conformity becomes an obsession in a life that has included parental neglect, an oddly self-conscious desire to engage in cruel acts, and a type of male beauty which, to Clerici's great distress, other men find attractive.

Corpalism is the compendium edition comprising:

• Uprising
• The Reawakening of Stephanie White
• From Democracy to Dictatorship

Uprising

Terry's an ordinary bloke in a dystopian world; like all other ordinary people, he has been saddled with crippling debts from birth. He works in Re-Locations, and his job is to send other ordinary people, when unable to pay those debts, to sink estates north of the M4. He gives no thought to what will happen to them once there; although some part of him knows they'll be forced to eke out a brutal existence, far from family and friends, thrown away by society and left to rot.

That is until, one day, he is late for work once too often and is sacked. Immediately all his lifelong debts become payable and, unable to discharge them, he is himself relocated, condemned to spend the rest of his days in a 'Boro sink. When he arrives, he is housed in a run-down flat and assigned to sanitation duties. Unwittingly, he attracts the attention of the power structure within the estate and soon finds himself enmeshed in violent intrigue.

But Terry is not all he seems. Why is he there? Who does he really work for?

Aftermath

Extrapolated from a storyline in 'Corpalism' and 'Wise Eyed Open'. She was a rising star in the Independent movement; a group of revolutionary entrepreneurs, business men and women, professionals, and everyday workers who came together to change the political landscape forever. They are Friday night regulars down the Dog and Duck, but this night, the night before a horrific terrorist attack, will be their last together. She is trapped in a world of darkness; she hears but cannot see, she understands but cannot communicate, she feels each second of her life as it drags by but cannot end it. How will she survive, and can anyone help her?

From Democracy to Dictatorship

A group of entrepreneurs, business men and women, professionals, and everyday workers have come together under the leadership of Colin Carpenter to form the Independents, a political group with no party affiliation, no loyalty to the elites or their lobbyists. If individually elected, they would be free to vote on each bill as they saw fit. As a new force in British politics, the Independents find themselves on a headlong collision course with the Establishment and Sir Phillip Blackmore, Head of British Intelligence. How far will the Independents be allowed to go before the elites fight back?

What is a single life worth? In our modern world, where wars are on the cusp of igniting at a moment’s notice, new diseases ravage entire populations, and hidden atrocities erase the lives of thousands, what can the death of a single person mean?

It can mean the tenuous line between peace and destruction.

Kurt Ramis knows this, as he watches the aftermath of an assassination on his television set. His years in the CIA have prepared him for such a dreadful day.

“Rasul” knows this, as he follows his young guide down the streets of New York City, with a gift for his adopted country.

The soldiers and sentries of Camelot’s Corridor, deep under the sands of Texas know this, as they prepare the secret bunker for the President’s arrival.

Mike Keogh knows this, as he remembers fallen friends, betrayals, and mention of a secretive monster named the Tangerine Demon.

Jessie Rosen will know it soon enough, as she descends the steps to Kubrá, to meet her deliverer. Her new family descends those steps as well, calling for their Lord to hear their prayers.

Phil Barr begrudgingly knows this, as he cowers in his palatial Hollywood Hills mansion, murderers and thugs auditioning on live TV, sirens ringing in his ears. This wasn’t how his charmed life was supposed to turn out.

And DaRWIn knows this best of all, as it predicted the assassination, and the calamitous after-effects some time ago.

On a certain day, on a certain street in the Middle East, the taking of a single life will mean everything, and it will shake the foundation of humanity. It will be the pulling of a loose strand in mankind’s tapestry, undoing the progress of a thousand years, ripping apart at the seams countless lives, countless societies.

Intertwining lives and stories, some saved and some ended, some Going, some Gone…

Akcja najnowszej powieści Jacka Dukaja toczy się w alternatywnej rzeczywistości, gdzie I wojna światowa nigdy nie wybuchła. Jest rok 1924, a Królestwo Polskie wciąż zamrożone jest pod władzą cara i w Belle Epoque. Warszawę skuwa lód – w środku lata burze śnieżne zasypują drogi.

Lute, nieziemskie anioły Mrozu, spacerują ulicami miast, zamrażając prawdę i fałsz. Benedykt Gierosławski, zdolny matematyk, ale i niepoprawny hazardzista, na zlecenie carskiego Ministerstwa Zimy zostaje wysłany Ekspresem Transsyberyjskim do skutego lodem Irkucka, skąd ma wyruszyć na poszukiwanie swojego ojca, podobno potrafiącego porozumiewać się z aniołami mrozu – lutymi.

Tysiąc rubli gotówką wydobyłby Benedykta z długów, ale czy misja nie jest przypadkiem zbyt niebezpieczna? Szybko okazuje się, że dla Benedykta będzie to podróż, która odmieni jego życie…

Fabuła Lodu wprost skrzy się od zapierających dech w piersiach zwrotów akcji, intryg politycznych, miłosnych, kryminalnych i gospodarczych, naukowych i metafizycznych; wypełniona fascynującymi postaciami, z akcją rozpiętą między brudnymi oficynami carskiej Warszawy, luksusami Ekspresu Transsyberyjskiego na tle lodowej Azji, irkuckimi salonami bogatego mieszczaństwa polskiego, a także podniebnym pałacem generała-gubernatora.

Jest powieścią, na jaką czekali wszyscy miłośnicy prawdziwej przygody, inteligentnej, pobudzającej intelekt i wyobraźnię, zmieniającej nasz pogląd na rzeczywistość. To opowieść o Historji, czyli o tym, co nie istnieje. To kolejny literacki majstersztyk Jacka Dukaja, dzięki któremu czytelnicy będą mogli poznać nie tylko fascynującą, mrożącą krew w żyłach "inną możliwą" historię świata, ale również będą mieli okazję wraz z bohaterem powieści odbyć niezwykłą podróż ekspresem transsyberyjskim i stanąć oko w oko z Innym.

Spy for Nobody is an intriguing and riveting book that sheds light on the plight of the Syrian people. Authored by the renowned security expert and journalist, Basel Saneeb, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in Middle Eastern politics and intelligence adventures.

The book delves into the author's life, particularly his work in the Syrian Military Intelligence during the regimes of Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, despite being an opponent of both regimes. It provides a detailed account of the strange events and the author's testimonies on the crimes of the Assad regime.

From his early youth, Basel Saneeb was involved in forming a secret student organization against the Assad regime. The book is a political memoir that narrates the oppressive practices and intelligence operations against the Syrian people during the reigns of the Assad dictators, father and son. It also covers the beginnings of the Syrian revolution and the author's participation, including his arrest and the torture he endured.

The book offers a unique perspective, as the author was privy to secrets of the regime as a security officer. It also recounts his experiences during his detention in the notorious Syrian prisons, including the infamous Tadmor prison.

This book is more than just a memoir; it is a historical document and a political security testimony that provides an unprecedented experience in Syria, seldom found elsewhere in the world.

On a summer morning in Sarajevo a hundred years ago, a teenage assassin named Gavrilo Princip fired not just the opening shots of the First World War but the starting gun for modern history, when he killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Yet the events Princip triggered were so monumental that his own story has been largely overlooked, his role garbled and motivations misrepresented.

The Trigger puts this right, filling out as never before a figure who changed our world and whose legacy still has an impact on all of us today. Born a penniless backwoodsman, Princip's life changed when he trekked through Bosnia and Serbia to attend school. As he ventured across fault lines of faith, nationalism and empire, so tightly clustered in the Balkans, radicalisation slowly transformed him from a frail farm boy into history's most influential assassin.

By retracing Princip's journey from his highland birthplace, through the mythical valleys of Bosnia to the fortress city of Belgrade and ultimately Sarajevo, Tim Butcher illuminates our understanding both of Princip and the places that shaped him. Tim uncovers details about Princip that have eluded historians for a century and draws on his own experience, as a war reporter in the Balkans in the 1990s, to face down ghosts of conflicts past and present.

مدن الملح هي رواية عربية للروائي السعودي عبد الرحمن المنيف، وتعد واحدة من أشهر الروايات العربية. تتألف هذه الرواية من خمسة أجزاء، حيث تتناول بداية اكتشاف النفط والتحولات المتسارعة التي حلت بمدن وقرى الجزيرة العربية بسبب اكتشاف النفط.

أجزاء الرواية

1- التيه: يتناول الجزء الأول بوادر ظهور النفط في الجزيرة العربية من خلال سكانها وتظهر شخصية متعب الهذال الرافضة كتعبير عن الموقف العفوي لأصحاب الأرض مما أجبر السلطة على استعمال العنف. يصف هذا الجزء بالتفصيل بناء المدن الجديدة (حران كانت النموذج) والتغيرات القاسية والعاصفة على المستوى المكاني وخاصة الإنساني.

2- الأخدود: في الجزء الثاني ينتقل منيف إلى تصوير أهل السلطة والسياسة في الصحراء التي تتحول إلى حقل بترولي. الشخصية الرئيسية في هذا الجزء هو مستشار السلطان الجديد صبحي المحملجي الملقب بالحكيم.

3- تقاسيم الليل والنهار: يعود الجزء الثالث إلى جذور العائلة الحاكمة إلى سنوات التصارع القبائلي التي تتوج خربيط كأهم حاكم في المنطقة.

4- المنبت: يتناول الجزء الرابع سيرة خزعل في المنفى حتى وفاته مع رصد للتغييرات الانقلابية التي فرضها فنر.

5- بادية الظلمات: في هذا الجزء الأخير، يصبح اسم الأرض بالدولة الهديبية ويصبح فنر شخصية أسطورية لكنه ينتهي بالاغتيال من خاصته.

الرواية تمثل نقلة نوعية في السرد التاريخي والتأريخ الشخصي لحقبة مؤثرة في حياة البداوة، حيث رصد الكاتب بدقة الحياة البدوية وتحولها إلى الغنى المفاجئ والآثار الناتجة عن ذلك.