War Makes Monsters of Everyone. Foolish Cur, once named Wen Alder, finds that his allies in the rebellion might cross any line if it means freedom from the Empire. But he can't overcome a foe as strong as Emperor Tenet alone. Rebellion Has Unintended Consequences. Koro Ha, Foolish Cur's former tutor, discovers the Empire is not so forgiving of those who raise a traitor. And their suspicion may cost him and his people more than he can imagine. The Gods are Lurking in the Shadows. As war against the Empire rages, Foolish Cur knows there is a greater threat. The emperor plans his own coup against the gods, and they will wreak destruction if he tries. To stop him, Foolish Cur might have to risk everything - and resort to ancient magics that could tear the world apart.

My name is Wen Alder. My name is Foolish Cur. All my life, I have been torn between two legacies: my father's, whose family trace their roots back to the right hand of the Emperor. My mother's, whose family want to bring the Empire to its knees. I can choose between them - between the safety of empire or the freedom of rebellion - or I can seek out a better path… one filled with magic and secrets, unbound by suffocating legacy, but one which could shake my world to its very foundation. For my quest will bring me face to face with the gods themselves. And they have been watching. Waiting to make their move…

Gardens have been fruitful settings for stories ever since Adam and Eve were ejected from Paradise. This delightfully wide-ranging collection brings together all sorts of tales of the tilled earth, featuring secret gardens, enchanted gardens, gardens public and private, grand and humble. Spectacular gardens are viewed from the perspective of a snail in Virginia Woolf’s “Kew Gardens” and from that of a sheltered teenage girl in Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden-Party.” The family in Doris Lessing’s “Flavours of Exile” hauls succulent vegetables and fruits from the rich African soil, and Colette in “Bygone Spring” luxuriates in extravagantly blooming flowers. Children discover their own peculiar paradises in Sandra Cisneros’s “The Monkey Garden” and Italo Calvino’s “The Enchanted Garden,” while adult gardeners find things that move and haunt them in William Maxwell’s “The French Scarecrow” and Jamaica Kincaid’s “The Garden I Have in Mind.” Gardens of the imagination round out the anthology: the beautiful but fatal garden of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” the crystal buds of J. G. Ballard’s “The Garden of Time,” ravenous orchids in John Collier’s “Green Thoughts,” and Matsudo Aoko’s “Planting,” in which a young woman plants each day whatever she has been given—roses and violets, buttons and broken cups, love and fear and sorrow. Garden Stories is an abundant crop of entrancing stories and the perfect gift for gardeners of all kinds.

Follow Chaol on his sweeping journey to a distant empire in this next instalment of the Throne of Glass series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since Aelin sh... Follow Chaol on his sweeping journey to a distant empire in this next instalment of the Throne of Glass series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since Aelin shattered the glass castle, since Chaol's men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken. Now he and Nesryn sail for Antica - the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire and of the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme. It's Chaol's one shot at recovery, and with war looming back home, Dorian and Aelin's survival could depend on Chaol and Nesryn convincing Antica's rulers to ally with them. But what they discover there will change them both - and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today. The Galactic Empire has prospered for twelve thousand years. Nobody suspects that the heart of the thriving Empire is rotten, until psychohistorian Hari Seldon uses his new science to foresee its terrible fate. Exiled to the desolate planet Terminus, Seldon establishes a colony of the greatest minds in the Empire, a Foundation which holds the key to changing the fate of the galaxy. However, the death throes of the Empire breed hostile new enemies, and the young Foundation's fate will be threatened first.

The first part of his trilogy on the Spanish Empire, Hugh Thomas's Rivers of Gold brings the rise of Spain's global empire vividly to life, capturing the spirit of an ebullient age. Inspired by hopes of both riches and of converting native people to Christianity, the Spanish adventurers of the fifteenth century convinced themselves that an Earthly Paradise existed in the Caribbean. This is the story of the hundreds of conquistadors who set sail on the precarious journey across the Atlantic - taking with them wheat, the horse, the guitar and the wheel as well as guns, malaria and slaves - to create an empire that made Spain the envy of the world.

The old gods are growing restless... Mercenary Casia Greythorne cares about two things: completing her latest job and earning enough coin for the expensive medicine that's keeping her mentor alive. So when the king commands her to investigate a strange plague devastating the empire, she can't resist the massive reward he offers - even if it does mean working with the arrogant and infuriating Captain Elander. But as the death toll rises and strange monsters wreak havoc across the realms, Cas and Elander find themselves up against meddling gods and very old magic. Because an ancient evil is stirring in the shadows. And their empire will not survive its full unleashing. The first book in the thrilling Shadows & Crowns series - perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass and Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows!

The Great Kings of Persia ruled over the largest Empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the Steppes of Asia, and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. At the heart of the Empire was the fabled palace-city of Persepolis where the Achaemenid monarchs held court in unparalleled grandeur. From here, Cyrus the Great, Darius, Xerxes, and their heirs passed laws, raised armies, and governed their multicultural Empire of enormous diversity. The Achaemenids, however, were one of the great dysfunctional families of history. Brothers fought brothers for power, wives and concubines plotted to promote their sons to the throne, and eunuchs and courtiers vied for influence and prestige. Our understanding of the Persian Empire has traditionally come from the histories of Greek writers such as Herodotus - and as such, over many centuries, our perspective has been skewed by ancient political and cultural agendas. Professor Llewellyn-Jones, however, calls upon original Achaemenid sources, including inscriptions, art, and recent archaeological discoveries in Iran, to create an authentic 'Persian Version' of this remarkable first great empire of antiquity - the Age of the Great Kings.

Sparrow tells the story of Jacob, son of no one, last survivor of an abandoned British Roman town. Raised in a brothel on the Spanish coast in the waning years of the Roman Empire, a boy of no known origin creates his own identity. He is Sparrow, who sings without reason and can fly from trouble. His world is a kitchen, the herb-scented garden, then the loud and dangerous tavern, and finally the mysterious upstairs where the ‘wolves’ – prostitutes of every ethnic background from the far reaches of the empire – do their mysterious business. When not being told stories by his beloved ‘mother’ Euterpe, he runs errands for her lover the cook, while trying to avoid the blows of their brutal overseer or the machinations of the chief wolf, Melpomene. A hard fate awaits Sparrow, one that involves suffering, murder, mayhem, and the scattering of the little community that has been his whole world. Through meticulous research and bold imagination, Hynes brings the entirety of the Roman city of Carthago Nova – its markets, temples, taverns of the lowly and mansions of the rich – to vivid life. Sparrow recreates a lost world of the last of old pagan Rome as its codes and morals give way before the new religion of Christianity, and introduces readers to one of the most powerfully affecting and memorable characters of recent fiction.

Thracia, AD30: Even after four years of military service at the edge of the Roman world, Vespasian can't escape the tumultuous politics of an Empire on the brink of disintegration. His patrons in Rome have charged him with the clandestine extraction of an old enemy from a fortress on the banks of the Danube before it falls to the Roman legion besieging it. Vespasian's mission is the key move in a deadly struggle for the right to rule the Roman Empire. The man he has been ordered to seize could be the witness that will destroy Sejanus, commander of the Praetorian Guard, and ruler of the Empire in all but name. Before he completes his mission, Vespasian will face ambush in snowbound mountains, pirates on the high seas, and Sejanus's spies all around him. But by far the greatest danger lies at the rotten heart of the Empire, at the nightmarish court of Tiberius, Emperor of Rome and debauched, paranoid madman.

'This book is bloody brilliant'V.E. Schwab'A ripping read'Joe AbercrombieThe SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestseller from the award-winning author of the Nevernight ChronicleIt has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise.Ever since, vampires have waged war against humanity building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Gabriel de Leon, half man, half monster, and last remaining silversaint - a sworn brother of the holy Silver Order dedicated to defending the realm from the creatures of the night - is all that stands between the world and its end.Imprisoned by the very monsters he has vowed to destroy Gabriel is forced to tell his story - a story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the War of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity's last remaining hope:The Holy Grail.Featuring the darkly beautiful illustrations of Bon Orthwick (@monolimeart)

'This book is bloody brilliant'V.E. Schwab'A ripping read'Joe AbercrombieThe SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestseller from the award-winning author of the Nevernight ChronicleIt has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise.Ever since, vampires have waged war against humanity building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Gabriel de Leon, half man, half monster, and last remaining silversaint - a sworn brother of the holy Silver Order dedicated to defending the realm from the creatures of the night - is all that stands between the world and its end.Imprisoned by the very monsters he has vowed to destroy Gabriel is forced to tell his story - a story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the War of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity's last remaining hope:The Holy Grail.Featuring the darkly beautiful illustrations of Bon Orthwick (@monolimeart)

Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, a billionaire with interests in property, sports and entertainment, and soon to be the 45th President of the United States. Now the property titan, bestselling author and President-elect of the United States reveals the secrets of his success in this candid and unprecedented book of business wisdom and advice. Trump tells all: about his experience on the hit American reality television series The Apprentice; how he built up his massive property empire; and how you can create new wealth the Trump way. In his characteristic no-nonsense style, Trump offers insights on how to invest wisely, maintain the quality of your brand and negotiate anything.

Empire explains why there are millions of Britons living worldwide. Empire explains Brexit and the feeling that we are exceptional. Empire explains our distrust of cleverness. Empire explains Britain's particular brand of racism. Strangely hidden from view, the British Empire remains a subject of both shame and glorification. In his bestselling book, Sathnam Sanghera shows how our imperial past is everywhere: from how we live and think to the foundation of the NHS and even our response to the COVID-19 crisis. At a time of great division, when we are arguing about what it means to be British, Empireland is a groundbreaking revelation - a much-needed and enlightening portrait of contemporary British society, shining a light on everything that usually gets left unsaid.

The greatest science fiction adventure of all time Now an Apple Original series from Apple TV+ The Galactic Empire has prospered for twelve thousand years. Nobody suspects that the heart of the thriving Empire is rotting, until psychohistorian Hari Seldon uses his new science to foresee its terrible fate. Exiled to the desolate planet Terminus, Seldon establishes a colony of the greatest minds in the Empire, a Foundation which holds the key to changing the fate of the galaxy. However, the death throes of the Empire breed hostile new enemies, and the young Foundation's fate will be threatened first. The FOUNDATION series is Isaac Asimov's iconic masterpiece, testament to an extraordinary imagination that shaped science fiction as we know it today.

A mouthwatering journey across the centuries and continents to discover how food drove the British Empire and shaped the world 'A wholly pleasing book, which offers a tasty side dish to anyone exploring the narrative history of the British Empire' Max Hastings, Sunday Times WINNER OF THE GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS BOOK AWARD 2018 The glamorous daughter of an African chief shares a pineapple with a slave trader. Surveyors in British Columbia eat tinned Australian rabbit. Diamond prospectors in Guyana prepare an iguana curry. In twenty meals The Hungry Empire tells the story of how the British created a global network of commerce and trade in foodstuffs that moved people and plants from one continent to another, reshaping landscapes and culinary tastes. The Empire allowed Britain to harness the globe's edible resources from cod fish and salt beef to spices, tea and sugar. Lizzie Collingham takes us on a wide-ranging culinary journey, revealing how virtually every meal we eat still contains a taste of empire.