Rome was first ruled by kings, then became a republic. But in the end, after conquering the world, the Republic collapsed. Rome was drowned in blood. So terrible were the civil wars that the Roman people finally came to welcome the rule of an autocrat who could give them peace. 'Augustus,' their new master called himself: 'The Divinely Favoured One'. The lurid glamour of the dynasty founded by Augustus has never faded. No other family can compare for sheer unsettling fascination with its gallery of leading characters. Tiberius, the great general who ended up a bitter recluse, notorious for his perversions; Caligula, the master of cruelty and humiliation who rode his chariot across the sea; Agrippina, the mother of Nero, manoeuvring to bring to power the son who would end up having her murdered; Nero himself, racing in the Olympics, marrying a eunuch, and building a pleasure palace over the fire-gutted centre of his capital. Now, in the sequel to Rubicon, Tom Holland gives a dazzling portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty. Dynasty traces the full astonishing story of its rule of the world: both the brilliance of its allure, and the blood-steeped shadows cast by its crimes. Ranging from the great capital rebuilt in marble by Augustus to the dank and barbarian-haunted forests of Germany, it is populated by a spectacular cast: murderers and metrosexuals, adulterers and druids, scheming grandmothers and reluctant gladiators. Dynasty is the portrait of a family that transformed and stupefied Rome.

The story of the Stuart dynasty is a breathless soap opera played out in just a hundred years in an array of buildings that span Europe from Scotland, via Denmark, Holland and Spain to England. Life in the court of the House of Stuart has been shrouded in mystery: the first half of the century overshadowed by the fall and execution of Charles I, the second half in the complete collapse of the House itself. Lost to time is the extraordinary contribution the Stuarts made to the fabric of sovereignty. Every palace they built, painting they commissioned, or artwork they acquired was a direct reflection of the lives that they led and the way that they thought. Palaces of Revolution explores this rich history in graphic detail, giving a unique insight into the lives of this famous dynasty. It takes us from Royston and Newmarket, where James I appropriated most of the town centre as a sort of rough-and-ready royal housing estate, to the steamy Turkish baths at Whitehall where Charles II seduced his mistresses. We see the intimate private lives of the monarchs, presented through the buildings in which they lived and the objects they commissioned, creating an entirely new narrative of the Stuart century. Palaces of Revolution traces this extraordinary period across the places and palaces on which the action played out, giving us a thrilling new history of this remarkable dynasty.

The story of the Stuart dynasty is a breathless soap opera played out in just a hundred years in an array of buildings that span Europe from Scotland, via Denmark, Holland and Spain to England. Life in the court of the House of Stuart has been shrouded in mystery: the first half of the century overshadowed by the fall and execution of Charles I, the second half in the complete collapse of the House itself. Lost to time is the extraordinary contribution the Stuarts made to the fabric of sovereignty. Every palace they built, painting they commissioned, or artwork they acquired was a direct reflection of the lives that they led and the way that they thought. Palaces of Revolution explores this rich history in graphic detail, giving a unique insight into the lives of this famous dynasty. It takes us from Royston and Newmarket, where James I appropriated most of the town centre as a sort of rough-and-ready royal housing estate, to the steamy Turkish baths at Whitehall where Charles II seduced his mistresses. We see the intimate private lives of the monarchs, presented through the buildings in which they lived and the objects they commissioned, creating an entirely new narrative of the Stuart century. Palaces of Revolution traces this extraordinary period across the places and palaces on which the action played out, giving us a thrilling new history of this remarkable dynasty.

Треклист:1 A Dream Within A Dream, 2 The Raven, 3 The Tell-Tale Heart, 4 The Cask Of Amontillado, 5 (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether, 6 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Prelude, 7 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Arrival, 8 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Intermezzo, 9 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Pavane, 10 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Fall, 11 To One In Paradise, 12 The Raven (Original Demo), 13 Edgar (Demo Of An Unreleased Track), 14 Orson Welles Radio Spot, 15 Interview With Alan Parsons And Eric Woolfson (1976), 1 A Dream Within A Dream, 2 The Raven, 3 The Tell-Tale Heart, 4 The Cask Of Amontillado, 5 (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether, 6 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Prelude, 7 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Arrival, 8 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Intermezzo, 9 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Pavane, 10 The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Fall, 11 To One In Paradise, 12 Eric's Guide Vocal Medley, 13 Orson Welles Dialogue, 14 Sea Lions In The Departure Lounge, 15 GBH Mix (unreleased Experiments)

Book Two of the Epic Prequel to the Classic Novel Dune--A Major Motion Picture Sequel to the international bestseller Dune: House Atreides Before Dune . . . The epic tale of Duke Leto Atreides and his rise to power . . . The fierce ambitions of his mortal enemy, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen . . . The struggles of the young girl Jessica, the Barons secret daughter, under the harsh training of the Sisterhood school . . . The schemes of Shaddam Corrino to create a synthetic spice that may bring unlimited wealth, or cause the collapse of the Spacing Guild . . . And the implausible dream of Planetologist Kynes to turn the desert planet Dune into a paradise, uniting the desperate Fremen into a force unlike anything the Imperium has ever seen . . .Dune: House Harkonnen continues the epic story that lays the foundation for Frank Herberts masterpiece Dune, a complex tale of politics, religion, and the rise and fall of dynasties on a galaxy-spanning canvas. Look for the entire prequel seriesDUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES - DUNE: HOUSE HARKONNEN - DUNE: HOUSE CORRINO

Five women. One house. One extraordinary history. Even today, Cliveden retains its royal mystique - it is where Meghan Markle and her mother spent the night before the royal wedding - but from its construction in the 1660s to its heyday in the 1960s, Cliveden has played host to a dynasty of remarkable and powerful women. Anna Maria, Elizabeth, Augusta, Harriet, and Nancy were five ladies who, over the course of three centuries, shaped British society through their beauty, personalities, and political influence. Restoration and revolution, aristocratic rise and fall, world war and cold war form the extraordinary backdrop against which their stories unfold. An addictive history of the period and an intimate exploration of the timeless relationships between people and place, The Mistresses of Cliveden is a story of sex, power and politics, and the ways in which exceptional women defy the expectations of their time.

The Fall of the House of Fifa is the definitive story of Fifa's rise and the most spectacular fall sport has ever seen. For forty years Joao Havelange and then Sepp Blatter presided over a Fifa now plagued with scandal - dawn raids, FBI investigations, allegations of money laundering, industrial-scale bribery, racketeering, tax evasion, vote-buying and theft. Now David Conn, football's most respected investigative journalist, chronicles the extraordinary history and staggering scale of corruption. He paints revealing portraits of the men at the centre of Fifa - the power brokers, the indicted, the legends like Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini - and puts the allegations to Blatter himself in an extended interview.

Book Two of the Epic Prequel to the Classic Novel Dune--A Major Motion Picture Sequel to the international bestseller Dune: House Atreides Before Dune . . . The epic tale of Duke Leto Atreides and his rise to power . . . The fierce ambitions of his mortal enemy, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen . . . The struggles of the young girl Jessica, the Barons secret daughter, under the harsh training of the Sisterhood school . . . The schemes of Shaddam Corrino to create a synthetic spice that may bring unlimited wealth, or cause the collapse of the Spacing Guild . . . And the implausible dream of Planetologist Kynes to turn the desert planet Dune into a paradise, uniting the desperate Fremen into a force unlike anything the Imperium has ever seen . . . Dune: House Harkonnen continues the epic story that lays the foundation for Frank Herberts masterpiece Dune, a complex tale of politics, religion, and the rise and fall of dynasties on a galaxy-spanning canvas. Look for the entire prequel series DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES - DUNE: HOUSE HARKONNEN - DUNE: HOUSE CORRINO

Book Two of the Epic Prequel to the Classic Novel Dune--A Major Motion Picture Sequel to the international bestseller Dune: House Atreides Before Dune . . . The epic tale of Duke Leto Atreides and his rise to power . . . The fierce ambitions of his mortal enemy, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen . . . The struggles of the young girl Jessica, the Barons secret daughter, under the harsh training of the Sisterhood school . . . The schemes of Shaddam Corrino to create a synthetic spice that may bring unlimited wealth, or cause the collapse of the Spacing Guild . . . And the implausible dream of Planetologist Kynes to turn the desert planet Dune into a paradise, uniting the desperate Fremen into a force unlike anything the Imperium has ever seen . . . Dune: House Harkonnen continues the epic story that lays the foundation for Frank Herberts masterpiece Dune, a complex tale of politics, religion, and the rise and fall of dynasties on a galaxy-spanning canvas. Look for the entire prequel series DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES - DUNE: HOUSE HARKONNEN - DUNE: HOUSE CORRINO

The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness - the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall. It is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same. Tom Holland brings to life this strange and unsettling civilisation, with its extremes of ambition and self-sacrifice, bloodshed and desire. Yet alien as it was, the Republic still holds up a mirror to us. Its citizens were obsessed by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets; they fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin; they toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence. Two thousand years may have passed, but we remain the Romans' heirs.

Book Two of the Epic Prequel to the Classic Novel Dune--A Major Motion Picture Sequel to the international bestseller Dune: House Atreides Before Dune... The epic tale of Duke Leto Atreides and his rise to power... The fierce ambitions of his mortal enemy, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen... The struggles of the young girl Jessica, the Baron's secret daughter, under the harsh training of the Sisterhood school... The schemes of Shaddam Corrino to create a synthetic spice that may bring unlimited wealth, or cause the collapse of the Spacing Guild... And the implausible dream of Planetologist Kynes to turn the desert planet Dune into a paradise, uniting the desperate Fremen into a force unlike anything the Imperium has ever seen... Dune: House Harkonnen continues the epic story that lays the foundation for Frank Herbert's masterpiece Dune, a complex tale of politics, religion, and the rise and fall of dynasties on a galaxy-spanning canvas.

The sensational story of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious families in history, by the author of The Medici. The Borgias have become a byword for evil. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice and vicious cruelty - all have been associated with their name. But the story of this remarkable family is far more than a tale of sensational depravities, it also marks a decisive turning point in European history. The rise and fall of the Borgias held centre stage during the golden age of the Italian Renaissance and they were the leading players at the very moment when our modern world was creating itself. Within this context the Renaissance itself takes on a very different aspect. Was the corruption part of this creation, or vice versa? Would one have been possible without the other? From the family's Spanish roots and the papacy of Rodrigo Borgia, to the lives of his infamous offspring, Lucrezia and Cesare - the hero who dazzled Machiavelli, but also the man who befriended Leonardo da Vinci - Paul Strathern relates this influential family to their time, together with the world which enabled them to flourish, and tells the story of this great dynasty as never before.

In 1839 Britain embarked on the first of its wars with China, sealing the fate of the most prosperous and powerful empire in Asia, if not the world. Motivated by drug profiteering and free-trade interests, the Opium War helped shaped the China we know today, sparking the eventual fall of the Qing dynasty and the rise of nationalism and communism in the twentieth century. Imperial Twilight is a riveting and revealing account of the end of China's Golden Age and the origins of one of the most unjust wars in history. 'Entertaining and well-paced... Platt's compelling book is a sobering read that should focus the minds of those who like to talk of the achievements of the Victorian age without thinking about how those were achieved, or how they were funded.' - Peter Frankopan, Spectator

The Fall Of The House Of Usher And Other Tales

The Fall Of The House Of Usher And Other Tales

Explore the long and rich history of China's great dynasties. From the clans and legends of prehistory to the last Qing emperor, this book brings China's imperial history to life through its pivotal events, political forces, and powerful people, in a stunning collaboration between British and Chinese publishing houses. Covering more than 5,000 years of history and featuring images of artefacts not previously seen outside of China, this definitive visual guide will captivate readers with the key events that shaped Chinese history and laid the foundations of the modern nation. Starting with prehistory and early humans, Imperial China sets the scene for the arrival of China's first dynasty, and reveals how the warring states of early China gave birth to the emperor-led dynasties - and China's long imperial age. With illuminating features on important historical figures, cultural achievements, and philosophy - such as the rise of Confucianism and the silk and tea trades - Imperial China explores how the Chinese empire flourished and declined over the course of two millennia - from the unifying "first emperor" of the Qin and the golden ages of Tang and Song, to the final fall of the Manchu Qing dynasty. With stunning photography of art and artefacts to bring key events to life, this exquisite and comprehensive history is ideal for anyone who wants to learn more about China's extraordinary heritage.