Книги. Художественная литература. Учебники и пособия.

Henry Kamen

Book DescriptionFerdinand Alvarez de Toledo, the third duke of Alba (1507-1582), is known to history as "the butcher of Flanders." The general who carried out Philip II's repressive policies in the Netherlands, he was responsible for the massacre of thousands of men, women and children, considering it better to lay waste an entire country than leave it in the hands of heretics. Alba came to represent for contemporaries as well as for future generations the unacceptable face of Spanish imperialism. In this intriguing re-evaluation, Henry Kamen narrates the duke's personal history, looking beyond the conventional image to reveal motives and to explain rather than simply to condemn. Kamen examines the early years of Alba's life, his travels over the whole of Europe, and the complex military and political career that made him Spain's leading general of the imperial age. Drawing on the duke's rich and expressive surviving correspondence, Kamen explores Alba's beliefs and considers his...

Brian Weiser

Book DescriptionIn an era dominated by monarchs like Louis XIV and Philip IV who used distance to generate awe, Charles II's reputation for accessibility stands out. Most scholars enamored with anecdotes about the restored monarch's many mistresses, his rakish companions, and his spaniels have assumed that Charles's personality inevitably led him to open access and that such accessibility remained a constant throughout his reign. Charles II and the Politics of Access argues to the contrary that politicalconcerns, not personality, brought this king to at first favor open access, for he believed that accessibility would aid him in uniting his strife-torn nation and thereby help to secure his throne. But when Charles II's political agenda changed so too did his policies of access: when he abandoned his goal of uniting his nation he also abandoned his commitment to accessibility. Even so he continued to use access to his person as a potent political tool, strictly regulating it in order...

E. Jaiwant Paul

Sherry Beck Paprocki

The fairytale wedding of Lady Diana Spencer to Prince Charles in 1981 was considered the social event of the century. Called the "People's Princess", Diana embodied style, grace, and beauty. Bearing the royal family two heirs to the throne, William and Harry, the princess lived in a world besieged by flashbulbs and rumormongering press. But the fairytale marriage was short lived. She struggled privately with her weight and publicly with the separation and eventual divorce from Charles. In her post-royal life, Diana forged a new purpose as a humanitarian who drew attention to those suffering from diseases and catastrophes. Killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Diana left a legacy of goodwill through her charity work and her sons. In "Diana, Princess of Wales: Humanitarian", read about a woman who overcame personal turmoil to make considerable and lasting contributions to the world at large.

Kouassi P. Soman

Book DescriptionAn economist with the World Bank Group, Kouassi admits his addiction to the fishing his daddy taught him early on the Djoreh river. An eligible heir to the throne of the Abongui kingdom in northeastern CA?te dA?Ivoire,he left home for school at five; saw an electrical light bulb in action and slipped into his first pair of shoes at eleven. Like most of his office colleagues, Kouassi knows first hand what it means to be poor. A?Some people learn about poverty in books, yet millions have lived it; that means you assess situations and measure progress differently,A? titled his recent mini-portrait. This autobiography responds to demand from family and friends who wish to learn more about his amazing life story. From his native village in CA?te dA?Ivoire to graduate school in America, via the University of Abidjan, this breathtaking story walks you through the ethno-history of his culture and...

Sylvia Kahan

Book DescriptionSuperb new biography...The list of her achievements - music dedicated to her, works commissioned by her, artists supported by her - are all scrupulously recorded here...a dazzling and inspiring array...In Sylvia Kahan Winnaretta (Singer-Polignac) has a biographer able to explain her special mixture of arrogance, intelligence and bravery. --Margaret Reynolds, The Times Her book is magnificently readable. The reader's complaint might be that it stopped after 550 pages and has not yet beenmade into a movie. THE VILLAGER The American-born Winnaretta Singer (1865-1943) was a millionaire at the age of eighteen, due to her inheriting a substantial part of the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. Her 1893 marriage to Prince Edmond de Polignac, an amateur composer, brought her into contact with the most elite strata of French society. After Edmond's death in 1901, she used her fortune to benefit the arts, science, and letters. Her most significant contribution was in the musical...

Ralph V. Turner

Book DescriptionThis is the most up-to-date biography of King John by the acknowledged expert on the reign.

John Miller

Book Description An established biographer examines the Stuart monarchs and the dynasty as a whole. The Stuart dynasty continues to be one of the most popular royal families for readers. Ruling from 1603 - 1714, theirs was a time of high political and religion tension and many revolts. The Stuarts, begining with James and the first unification of three British Kingdoms, shares the stories of this powerful family, ending with Queen Anne, whose death without an heir ended the dynasty. This is a dramatic and important history that takes a close look at all of the individual rulers as well at the dynasty as a whole.

Richard Oram

John Morgan

Princess Diana survived the 12.23 a.m. crash in Paris - witness and photographic evidence clearly showed she was alive, conscious and talking in the back of the Mercedes. Yet just after 4 a.m. Diana was pronounced dead. What occurred in the intervening 3? hours that brought on her premature death? Are there people who should be held accountable for what occurred on that final tragic night? Based on the evidence heard during the inquest, The Untold Story reveals to the public for the first time the minute by minute events that were occurring both inside and outside Diana's ambulance. It establishes the surprising truth of precisely what led to Diana being virtually dead when she finally arrived at the hospital at 2.06 a.m. - 1 hour and 43 minutes after the crash. This 2nd volume of The Untold Story reveals the evidence that the 2008 inquest heard regarding medical treatment and motives and finally answers the two most important questions regarding Princess Diana's death: How and Why? ...