Showing results by author "A. Rivers" in All Categories

The Garde values four ideals: The Truth we twist. The Beauty we flaunt. The Freedom we grant. The Power we take. I believed their lies until Lacey O'Shea. She's the only daughter of the Garde's leading family, and she was meant to be mine. Her father stole her from me to sell to another. So I stole her back. But there's more to the conspiracy that kept us apart, and we have to keep our relationship secret from her former fiancé, the Baron, to find the truth. He wants to lock her away, but she's a bird desperate to flee her gilded cage.

In the wake of taking Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire would spend the next few centuries expanding its size, power, and influence, bumping up against Eastern Europe and becoming one of the world’s most important geopolitical players. It would take repeated efforts by various European coalitions to prevent a complete Ottoman takeover of the continent, and one of the most important battles among those efforts took place at Vienna in 1529.

Rommel, Guderian, Liddell-Hart and JFC Fuller were all early exponents and practitioners of armored warfare, tactics that were to break the stalemate that had characterized World War I. Advocates of the tank and above all speed, it was their ideas which decimated Saddam Hussein's forces in the 1990 Gulf War. But among the proponents and practitioners of armored warfare, the brash, bold, arrogant and eccentric George S. Patton remains the world's greatest armored commander by the one yardstick that really counts: the battlefield.

Yuri Bezmenov was among the first Soviet whistleblowers to attract attention on a global scale, and interest in his story has recently been revived thanks to his surprising cameo in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in August 2020. This came despite the fact he was far from the first ex-KGB agent or Russian to pull back the curtains on the Russian government and reveal the harrowing “truths” they were once sworn to harbor.

The Hittites are an ancient people who remain somewhat enigmatic, but their influence on the ancient Near East is undeniable. From high in their capital of Hattusa in central Anatolia, the Hittites were able to conquer and control a kingdom that roughly comprised the area of modern Turkey, Syria, and parts of Iraq and Lebanon through a combination of brute military force and shrewd diplomatic machinations.

It is not difficult to drive through Laurel, Maryland, and never know that it was once the site of races where thundering thoroughbreds ran at top speeds in search of victory. In fact, thousands of people do each day, on their way from Baltimore to Washington, DC, or vice versa. But there was a time, not that long ago, when champions ran at the now largely disused Laurel Race Course, when four-footed athletes raced for a prize that would go not to themselves but to their two-footed owners.

Patagonia is in the southernmost region of South America, comprising about 400,000 square miles going from the Colorado River in the north to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in the south. Longitudinally, it covers the whole continental soil, going from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific’s waters, including a few islands near the coast, part of the South American plate.

Darcy Fletcher has been struggling to find her purpose in life. She’s run out of general classes and still doesn’t know what her major should be. Perhaps taking a job as a nanny this fall will be a better use of her time than college. At least she’ll be making money instead of wasting it. The new high school coach, Evan Porter, has decided that small-town Sugar Creek is where he wants to raise his five-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, he needs extra help during the football season. One of the Sugar Mamas sets him up with a nanny.

Who were the Cathars, and why was the Catholic Church so committed to getting rid of them? The Cathars: The History and Legacy of the Gnostic Christian Sect During the Middle Ages examines the origins of the cult, their fascinating belief system, their gradual development over the years, and the events that contributed to their epic downfall.

Some historians have called the Seven Years’ War the first true world war, and they make a good point. Ultimately, this globally coordinated war involved five continents and at least 29 states and tribal confederacies, with a casualty toll in the millions and the maps forever altered. As part of the Seven Years’ War, the French and Indian War was the last in a long series of colonial conflicts between the French and British and also changed the map in America. At the end of the war, disputed borders were finally settled, and both empires were left reeling from the costs of war.

Francine shares observations she's gathered over a lifetime of exploring - abroad and in her own backyard - and reflects on how they might apply to your daily life. What do the majestic redwoods, the persistent woodpecker, or a glorious sunrise reveal about our artistic and generous God? How could that change your outlook or the way you handle adversity? Scripture excerpts, applications, and prayers accompany Francine's reflections, inspiring you to be encouraged. Be challenged. Be comforted.

The spy novel emerged from the intrigues of the mid-20th century for good reason. The war with the Third Reich involved an unseen cloak-and-dagger struggle between the participants, but beyond that, an even larger and longer contest took place in the shadows. The men responsible for this unprecedented leaking of life-or-death information would enter history as the Cambridge Five - though in fact, they may have been only the core of a much larger group.

In the 21st century, most people associate the idea of the possession of a person or place by a malevolent supernatural entity with the medieval world and particularly with the Catholic Church, but the truth is considerably stranger. Virtually every human culture that has ever existed has talked about both possession and exorcism, a rite or ritual used to free a person or place from possession. The terms used to describe the process of possession and entities thought to be responsible have changed throughout history, but the central theory does not.

Red carpet fashion laureate, comic icon, and outspoken superstar Joan Rivers gives her signature straight-talking advice to women on how to live better through looking better. Joan Rivers’s abiding life philosophy is simple: in the appearance focused society of the twenty-first century, beauty...

Great Britain is an ancient land steeped in history and tradition. Its rolling countryside is dotted with prehistoric burial mounds and stone circles. Brooding castles hold tales of bloodshed and honor. Medieval churches have elaborate stained glass windows and gruesome carvings, reflecting a mixture of hope and darkness.

The oceans of the world have always had an air of mystery. About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and until the 20th century no one had plumbed its depths. Even today the bigger seas and oceans remain a largely unexplored frontier, with new species being discovered every year. Thus it comes as no surprise that countless legends have arisen of strange creatures lurking in the depths.

When young president Kennedy came to power in 1961, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was eager to test his mettle from the start. Questioning Kennedy's resolve and attempting to placate the concerns of Cuban leader Fidel Castro following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Khrushchev attempted to place medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States.

After going through three elderly leaders in three years, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen as the new General Secretary of the Soviet Union at the relatively youg age of 54 in March 1985. Gorbachev hoped to build the Soviet economy to relieve the persistent shortages of consumer goods it faced, which were caused by enormous military spending of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev tried to introduce some economic reforms, but they were blocked by communist hardliners. Gorbachev then came to the belief that the Soviet economy could not improved without political reform as well.

Beau McIntyre is driven by a past smothered in blood and covered in bruises. Though tragic, it's helped shape his future and define the man he's become. Day in and day out, Beau is reminded of his failures in the faces of the women he saves. But what happens when one girl threatens to blow all of that apart? Will Beau lose his grip on the controlled lifestyle he abides by?

Most wellness advice demands an hour you don't have, equipment you don't own, or motivation that disappeared years ago. This solution-packed short book takes a radically different approach. Small movements practiced throughout your day create profound changes without ever setting foot in a gym. Two minutes here. Thirty seconds there. Ancient wisdom meets modern science in routines so simple they seem laughable until you feel the results.