About the Book: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is set in the early days of the second world war, before Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn’t so bad–at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, who responds to a Nazi greeting of “Heil Hitler” with his own “Heil Puccini”, and whose most precious possession is his mandolin. It isn’t long before Corelli and Pelagia are involved in a heated affair–despite her engagement to a young fisherman, Mandras, who has gone off to join Greek partisans. Love is complicated enough in wartime, even when the lovers are on the same side. And for Corelli and Pelagia, it becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate the minefield of allegiances, both personal and political, as all around them atrocities mount, former friends become enemies and the ugliness of war infects everyone it touches. British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, Señor…
About the Book: In the tradition of Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, here is a thrilling historical novel of friendship and revenge, plague and hope, love and war, set in the golden age of 14th-century Barcelona. Arnau Estanyol arrives in Barcelona and joins the powerful guild of stone-workers building the magnificent cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar, while his adoptive brother Joan studies to become a priest. As Arnau prospers, he secretly falls in love with a forbidden woman. When he is betrayed and hauled before the Inquisitor, he finds himself face-to-face with his own brother. Will he lose his life just as his beloved cathedral is finally completed, or will his brother spare him? Book Review: ★★★★★★ WOW! What a read. I was a little hesitant to start this book because I made the mistake of looking at some of the recommendations on Goodreads, before starting. The recommendations there were not the best, and in a six hundred page book — I just hate to get into it, and not like the story. Or worse yet, find that the writing is so bad, it is painful to continue. Boy, am I glad I started it anyway. This…
About the Book: He squared off against Caesar and was friends with young Brutus. He advised the legendary Pompey on his somewhat botched transition from military hero to politician. He lambasted Mark Antony and was master of the smear campaign, as feared for his wit as he was for exposing his opponents’ sexual peccadilloes. Brilliant, voluble, cranky, a genius of political manipulation but also a true patriot and idealist, Cicero was Rome’s most feared politician, one of the greatest lawyers and statesmen of all times. Machiavelli, Queen Elizabeth, John Adams and Winston Churchill all studied his example. No man has loomed larger in the political history of mankind. In this dynamic and engaging biography, Anthony Everitt plunges us into the fascinating, scandal-ridden world of ancient Rome in its most glorious heyday. Accessible to us through his legendary speeches but also through an unrivaled collection of unguarded letters to his close friend Atticus, Cicero comes to life in these pages as a witty and cunning political operator. Cicero leapt onto the public stage at twenty-six, came of age during Spartacus’ famous revolt of the gladiators and presided over Roman law and politics for almost half a century. He foiled the legendary…
Loyalty is a complex concept, which is interpreted across the world in different perspectives. It is closely linked to many other concepts, such as friendship, love, and family, among others. Digging deeper, it can be argued that most of the time, these concepts exist because of loyalty. Without it, strong relationships cannot be built. Because of the weight of its impact, many students flock around the idea of writing a loyalty essay. Other than its emotional impacts, loyalty remains to be relevant in other aspects. It could be used to write an essay on customer loyalty, or perhaps in literature, such as a Beowulf loyalty essay and loyalty in the Odyssey essay. If you’re looking for more reasons to write an essay on loyalty, or simply just looking for a loyalty definition essay, read on. How i can write process essay? Definition, Benefits, and Essays on Loyalty By dictionary definition, “loyalty” is regarded as; “Feelings of devoted attachment and affection.” Based on this, loyalty is closely equated to devotion and affection. It’s one of the best qualities human beings possess, and the interesting part about this concept is that it manifests in animals as well – horses, dogs, elephants, they…
About the Book: The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or “alienist.” On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan’s infamous brothels. The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler’s intellect and Moore’s knowledge of New York’s vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology– amassing a psychological profile of the man they’re looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before. and will kill again before the hunt is over. Fast-paced…
This is a book that I came across through the author’s wife. She contacted me through one of my other blogs, and requested that I read this book. Her husband was a fairly new author, and she wanted some feedback. I have never been someone to turn down a request to read a book. But frequently I hesitate with new authors, as they work on finding their own voice. This book, therefore, came as a great surprise. The characters are fun, and easy to get involved with — and for the first book in a series, I was surprised at how easily this book could stand on its own — separate from the series if the reader wanted it to. One of my biggest complaints about series is it is hard to get involved, and if you miss any of the saga — you end up having to start all over. This book didn’t fall into this trap. However, Mr. Sullivan did manage to create a story that, when developed throughout the remainder of the series — has the potential to be a fun, fantasy story. There are some scenes in this book that I found particularly descriptive, and Mr….
A novel full of grand passion and intensity, The Soldier’s Wife asks “What would you do for your family?” “What should you do for a stranger?” and “What would you do for love?”
T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935) first won fame for his writings and his participation in the British-sponsored Arab Revolt of WWI, but the adventurer known even in his day as “Lawrence of Arabia” is remembered today mostly as the subject of the 1962 film masterpiece based on his life. This splendid page-turner revitalizes this protean, enigmatic adventurer. That this colorful British scholar/Middle East warrior deserves a better fate is demonstrated amply in Michael Kordas’ authoritative 784-page biography. Exciting, well-written, and relevant.
Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World.
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.