Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Historical Fiction

Toward the end of the 18th century, two young Germans set out to measure the world. One of them, the Prussian aristocrat Alexander von Humboldt, negotiates savannas and jungle, travels down the Orinoco River, tastes poisons, climbs the highest mountain known to man, counts head lice, and explores every hole in the ground. The other, the barely socialized mathematician and astronomer Carl Friedrich Gauss, does not even need to leave his home in Göttingen to prove that space is curved.

This is the classic story of the young Theseus - Prince of Troizen, King of Eleusis and Athens, slayer of the Minotaur. Mary Renault's powerful novel captures the modern imagination by weaving myth, legend, history, and fiction into the story of a young hero's search for his destiny, or moira. If you like The King Must Die, try The Bull from the Sea.

The prospects for the 1907 archaeological season in Egypt seem fairly dull to Amelia Peabody. Her adored husband, Professor Radcliff Emerson, has been ignominiously demoted to examining only the most boring tombs in the Valley of the Kings, but they are determined to make the most of a bad situation. This year, however, the legendary land of the pharaohs will yield more than priceless artifacts, for the desert guards even deeper mysteries that are wrapped in greed - and sealed in murder.

The Atropos, a 22-gun sloop, has been given its first assignment under Horatio Hornblower's command: flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. But soon the Atropos is part of the Mediterranean Fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and boldly challenging a Spanish frigate several times her size. Follow Forester's hero in more adventures in Lieutenant Hornblower.

The Fetterman Massacre of 1866 marked the tragic opening to one of the longest and most dramatic wars in history. Told from the perspective of the gruff Seamus Donegan, this historically accurate tale describes the massacre in vivid detail. At the end of the Civil War, a tremendous stream of soldiers and settlers began moving westward along the Bozeman Trail, cutting deep into sacred Sioux hunting grounds. For Red Cloud and his warriors, a bloody fight to retain their ancestral homeland proved inevitable.

Flying Japan's secret weapon, a high-tech stealth jet, is Cassidy's best friend from the Air Force Academy, Captain Jiro Kimura. Defending Russia from undersea in an outdated diesel submarine is Captain Pavel Saratov. Filled with dramatic, compelling scenes of battles in the air and on the sea, Fortunes of War is an epic novel of three heroes, three countries, and a world in the balance.

Here are the excruciatingly funny adventures of Suzanne Vale — a young film star and drug addict — who survives a rehab clinic only to rejoin the equally harrowing world of Hollywood. Out there on the edge, despair flips into hilarity, and we're left laughing as Suzanne struggles to come to terms with her various fantasylands. 

A newly discovered pyramid, Egypt's rising nationalist movement, and family complications confront the brilliant Amelia Peabody in her latest encounter with crime. Edwardian England's most dashing and daring archaeologist, Amelia must clear the name of her beloved niece's new husband while solving a series of mysterious murders - and dodging bullets at the same time!

Here we see Twain on a somewhat personal level. Penniless and having just lost his wife and one of his children, Twain turns to writing about God, Christianity, and the many curious natures of man. This collection was so controversial that his daughter prohibited its publication until 52 years after his death.

What would the world be like if the space race started during World War II? If Teddy Roosevelt had fought in World War I? If Joseph McCarthy had been elected President? Those and other questions are answered in these nine stories of alternate histories, when the world as we know it might have turned out different than it is today, if only one minor (or major) change had occurred in history.

Merlin the Enchanter, prophet and visionary, adviser to kings: Here is the story of how he rears Arthur, the future Christmas King, in remote secrecy, safe from the warring kings and Saxons who plot against his father, King Uther. Told in the voice of Merlin himself, this tale bristles with all the suspense and intrigue of fifth-century Britain.

The Proud and the Free takes us inside the Cherokee Nation's tumultuous struggle for justice in the early 1839's and sweeps us away in a surprising and unforgettable love story. Our heroine, Temple Gordon, is the daughter of an educated Cherokee leader and a young woman of uncommon beauty raised on her family's grand Southern plantation. She is fiercely devoted to Cherokee traditions and to her lover, The Blade Stuart, a visionary committed to a new future for the tribe.

In this third volume of his Women of Genesis series, Orson Scott Card paints a vivid picture of the intertwined lives of four celebrated women. We meet Leah, the oldest daughter of Laban, whose "tender eyes" prevent her from fully participating in the daily work of her nomadic family, and Rachel, the spoiled younger daughter, the petted and privileged beauty of the family - or so it seems to Leah.

The late Nobelist's masterpiece takes a candid look into the lives of Holocaust survivors during the late 40s. Set in New York City, Shadows on the Hudson, Volume 2, the second in a four volume audiobook series, draws us into the intertwined lives of a circle of prosperous Jewish refugees.

The late Nobelist's masterpiece takes a candid look into the lives of Holocaust survivors during the late 40s. Set in New York City, Shadows on the Hudson, Volume 1, the first in a four volume audiobook series, draws us into the intertwined lives of a circles of prosperous Jewish refugees.

The late Nobelist's masterpiece takes a candid look into the lives of Holocaust survivors during the late 40s. Set in New York City, Shadow on the Hudson, Volume 4, the fourth in a four volume audiobook series, draws us into the intertwined lives of circle prosperous Jewish refugees. At the center is Boris Makaver, a pious and wealthy businessman. His greatest trial is his daughter, Anna.

Mother of Pearl is populated by wonderfully rich and original characters. The paths of Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Komer, a white girl who is the daughter of the town whore, cross through Joody Two Sun, a seer, who becomes Even's lover. Both Even and Valuable are seeking the family, love, and commitment they never had, and their search ultimately takes both of them to places they never dreamed they'd go.

Plunge into the glamour and fame, dark secrets and sordid lives of 3 high rollers living in Hollywood's gilded age. Kate Hamilton uses her hard-boiled pride and sensual beauty to hide her sordid past. Eve Sinclair is a child superstar who has carefully choreographed her climb to the top, coolly using anything or anyone to secure her rise. Finally, there's Joseph Knight, a writer and self-established Hollywood prodigy, whose predatory passion wrecks havoc in both women's lives.

Best-selling sportswriter Peter Golenbock knew Mickey Mantle, as well as many of Mantle's friends, family members, and teammates. While Mickey was a good person at heart, he had a dark side that went far beyond his well-known alcoholism and infidelities. In Golenbock's shocking and revealing first novel, 7, Mickey tells the hidden story of his life as a baseball hero and asks for forgiveness from his friends and family. In this fictional portrait, Mantle, now in heaven, needs to unburden himself of all the horrible things he did and understand for himself why he did them.

The most powerful love story to come along in years. Beginning with a wife's farewell to her husband in World War II, and continuing to the present day, James Michael Pratt weaves an emotional tale of love transcending time and space. Television reporter Susan Allison is looking for the perfect story about true love, but her heart of hearts tells her such a thing doesn't really exist.