Showing titles in Renaissance

In 16th-century Europe, as countries extend their global reach, an Anglo-Dutch allegiance sets out to undermine and bring down the Spanish Empire.

The second instalment in a prize-winning series charting the rise of the House of Medici as they become Masters of Florence and progenitors of the Renaissance. Florence, 1469. The Medici family is preparing for the marriage of its son and heir Lorenzo. His heart belongs to another, but this union will strengthen the alliance with a powerful Roman family. Torn between love and power, the bounties and the compromises of governing, Lorenzo has become complacent. He has forgotten the bloody path he forged on his ascent to power and the enemies left in his wake.

Marie, la fille du seigneur de Croixmart, grand chasseur de sorciers et sorcières, au temps de François Ier, consulte une voyante qui lui prédit, entre autres choses, la mort de son père. Marie prévient son père et ce dernier saute sur l'occasion de faire condamner la "sorcière" qui, bientôt, brûle sur le bûcher. La foule, excédée par toutes ces exécutions, attaque le baron de Croixmart et le massacre. Renaud, le fils de la voyante, jure qu'il se vengera de la fille de Croixmart et la tuera.

A marriage of dynasty: that is what is expected of Mary Sidney. A marriage to Sir Henry Herbert, earl of Pembroke, to be precise. But Mary’s sharp mind longs to work on her writing and translation projects and perhaps learn more of the alchemical arts at the elbow of the dazzling Walter Raleigh. Rose Commin, a young country girl with a surprising talent for drawing, is desperate to shrug off the slurs of witchcraft which have tarnished life at home. The opportunity to work at Wilton House, the Herbert’s Wiltshire home, is her chance.

Après avoir découvert son château pillé et dévasté par les troupes du Grand Condé, qu'elle aime depuis toujours, Isabelle, duchesse de Châtillon, est déterminée à obtenir réparation. Mais elle ne résistera pas longtemps aux sentiments qu'il lui avoue. Ce pourrait être le bonheur. Ce sera la fin d'une paix relative pour Isabelle. La Fronde du Parlement et des Parisiens se termine, celle des Princes commence.

Il capolavoro della letteratura italiana e la base dell' italiano corretto. L’ascolto ribalterà le cattive impressioni dovute al forzato apprendimento scolastico. Si apprezzerà un romanzo fresco, ironico, di grande spessore spirituale.Di grande attualità; una storia d’amoreAdatto a: tutti, iIn particolare a chi a scuola l’ha detestato e si è sempre chiesto se era un capolavoro oppure no; ai cultori del romanzo storico; a chi ha fede e a chi non ne ha, per un confronto con un’opera dalle infinite sfaccettature.

Orphaned at birth, Eliza lives with her beloved Grandparents in a waterlogged Somerset cottage surrounded by willow beds where she ekes out a living making laundry baskets and eel traps. Although poor she is content, until childhood friend Clem regales her with tales of his adventures along the river and she begins to wonder what life is like beyond the Droves. When fate brings handsome, wealthy Theo to her workshop she is instantly attracted and a rosy future beyond the Droves beckons.

February 1605. A series of killings shake the quiet life of Devon's Tavy valley. Country doctor Gabriel Taverner, summoned to examine the bodies, believes the murders are somehow connected to a mysterious woman recently discovered in shocking circumstances. Gabriel is determined to solve the mystery, and soon uncovers clues that link his unexpected patient to the brutal killings.

The Agents of the Crown - the “rollicking new historical thriller” (The New York Times Book Review) series - returns with this riveting novel following the original MI6 agent as he is assigned a dangerous mission to recreate a weapon from antiquity.

March, 1605. Country doctor and former ship surgeon Gabriel Taverner is ready for his next adventure. He can't wait to leave Devon and tend to the crew of the Luipaard while sailing the Eastern seas. As years pass by, Gabriel's family and friends back home are struggling with his substitute physician. Doctor Maudsley Cheverell turned out to be as incompetent as they come and unpleasant at best. So when he is found dead in a ditch one day, no one seems to be too surprised. Only, when examining the body, it seems like Cheverell was tortured using a specific method from the East . . .

In Monte Guano, a ridiculously small and penniless principality in Renaissance Italy, Prince Ludovico II finds his rule constantly undermined by those around him: his shrewd wife, his official mistress and his three disappointing—if not outright humiliating—sons. As well as having to manage the ever-increasing tributes demanded by the Pope, Prince Ludovico must also contend with feeble conscripts in search of war booty, getting on the pilgrim map, fake currency, religious battles and worst of all, English tourists.

Florence, 1500 - a city that glitters with wealth and artistic genius is also a place of fierce political intrigue, walled off from the unrest in the surrounding Tuscan countryside. In this moment, a peasant girl finds herself alone after her father is killed and her mother disappears. Young Beatrice must dare to enter the city to sell her family’s olive oil in order to survive, but also to search the streets and opium dens for her missing, grieving mother.

February, 1586. When the queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, learns that Ursula is to visit her relatives in Devon, he asks her to find out what has happened to two of his local agents, who have been strangely silent recently. On arrival in the small Devon village of Zeal Aquatio, Ursula discovers that both spies in question have met with mysterious - and fatal - accidents. Or is there more to it than that? What did the two spies find out that got them killed?

October 1502. As Cesare Borgia sets out to invade the Florentine Republic, Niccolò Machiavelli is sent to spy on him and to glean details of his nefarious plan. But when Borgia asks Machiavelli to write his life story, their bond gains complexity and nuance: ultimately, they both aspire to everlasting fame and to achieve it, they need each other, for the one's sword can only rule in eternity via the pen of the other.

Donna, a bold and unconventional young woman, has always defied expectations. Raised among soldiers and statesmen, she dreams of leading men into battle and unearthing the secrets of the ancient world. But her journey takes an unexpected turn when she finds herself entangled in the shadowy world of the Medici and the cosmic codes of power.

France, 1351: Kemp and his men are captured in a skirmish near Calais, and subsequently imprisoned in a French castle. All attempts at escape are punished with death. Then Sir Hugues de Beauconray comes to Kemp with an offer: escort a Dominican friar on a quest to steal a mysterious book from an abbey in Scotland. Fail, and ten of Kemp's friends will be hanged.

Adelia Grey would consider herself an unremarkable girl born into a remarkable family. Plagued by crippling anxiety in her mundane life, she finds herself compelled by the opportunity to spend a summer abroad, with her grandmother, in her apartments at Hampton Court Palace. As soon as she arrives, she finds that the dark chaos of her mind is only compounded by the rich history of the Tudor palace.

In the castle at the heart of battle-scarred Elysia, Tessa Serafina di Acampora faces her wedding to Duka Yosef. She’s spent years building herself into a strategic advisor invaluable to the ailing leader of the nation, becoming a woman the world won’t forget. The betrothal should be a boon, a promise of the good life. But she can’t stop thinking of the other beautiful ladies of the court… Prema Nyssa, hero of Elysia who just ended their long war with Ermandi, finds herself dragged to Casteli Valoria to reap the rewards.

When Sir Guy promised Will's dying mother he'd look after her son, he couldn't imagine where that oath would lead. So he takes Will on as a man-at-arms for the worst job in England—guarding the deposed king. Will's fondness for making friends in the tavern and for the occasional company of barmaids runs contrary to Guy's personal code of honor-devotion to God and king. But the young man is a competent soldier and well-liked, so Guy settles for the occasional, public admonishment to keep the others from going down what he considers Will's path of dissolution.

Bologna, 1575. A talented seamstress. A powerful merchant. A fierce battle of wills Elena Morandi has gained a fragile foothold in a master tailor's workshop, despite the profession being barred to women. But then Antonio della Fontana, a powerful man from her past, crosses her path and threatens everything she has built. Fontana has every corner of the city in his pocket and Elena knows all too well of his past abuses, but driven to fight for justice, she hatches a daring plan to get retribution for herself, a lost friend and his other victims.