Offers a new perspective on Byzantine imperial imagery, demonstrating the role foreign styles and iconography played in the visual articulation of imperial power.

Set against an extraordinary historical backdrop, The Emperor's General is the all too human story of a young man's turbulent coming of age and of the conflicting demands of duty, honour and love. 'Spellbinding . . . this is the sort of book that makes history . . . Unmissable' Times *** As the Second World War enters its final days, Jay Marsh is an eager young aide-de-camp to the great General MacArthur, helping him to engineer the Allies' triumph in the Pacific and the surrender of Japan. But the arrogant, majestic MacArthur has a more ambitions aim in mind: supreme control over Japan and its eighty-three million inhabitants. Trusted with his secrets, Jay becomes ensnared in a labyrinthine world of diplomacy, double-dealing and corruption, as he negotiates with the Japanese of behalf of his mentor and hero. All the while he is unravelling the web of deceit that MacArthur and the royal courts and geisha houses of Japan would trap him in, Jay is desperate to get back to Manila and find his beautiful fiancée Divina Clara. But, as each side gets more desperate for power, Jay becomes a helpless pawn in a tragic game that is out of his control. Praise for The Emperor's General: 'A Madame Butterfly of our time' Financial Times 'Gripping, martial and, almost subliminally, achingly romantic' Daily Mail

As absolute as Hitler's control over the German war machine was, it depended on the ability, judgment and unquestioning loyalty of the senior officers charged with putting his ideas, however difficult, into effect.Top military historian James Lucas examines the stories of fourteen of these men: all of different rank, from varied backgrounds, and highly awarded, they exemplify German military prowess at its most dangerous. Among his subjects are Eduard Dietl, the commander of German forces in Norway and Eastern Europe; Werner Kampf, one of the most successful Panzer commanders of the war; and Kurt Meyer, commander of the Hitler Youth Division and one of Germany's youngest general officers.The author, one of the leading experts on all aspects of German military conduct of the Second World War, offers the reader a rare look into the nature of the German Army a curious mix of individual strength, petty officialdom and pragmatic action.

Winner of the 2015 David Gemmell Award for Best Fantasy Debut. An explosive fantasy debut, The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley is a fast-paced, thrilling epic. If you like Joe Abercrombie and George R. R. Martin, you'll love this. 'Will keep you turning the pages late at night' – Pierce Brown, Sunday Times bestselling author of Red Rising The circle is closing. The stakes are high. And old truths will live again . . . The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire in turmoil. Now his progeny must prepare to unmask a conspiracy. His son Valyn, training for the empire's deadliest fighting force, hears the news an ocean away. And after several 'accidents' and a dying soldier's warning, he realizes his life is also in danger. Yet before Valyn can act, he must survive the mercenaries' brutal final initiation. The Emperor's daughter, Minister Adare, hunts her father's murderer in the capital. Court politics can be fatal, but she needs justice. Lastly Kaden, heir to the empire, studies in a remote monastery. Here, the Blank God's disciples teach their harsh ways, which Kaden must master to unlock ancient powers. But when an imperial delegation arrives, has he learnt enough to keep him alive, as long-hidden powers make their move? 'A vividly imagined story of conspiracy and empire' – Col Buchanan 'A fantastic and compelling fantasy world' – Io9 The Emperor's Blades is the first novel in Brain Staveley's epic Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series. Continue the story with The Providence of Fire.

Russell J. Barber and Frances F. Berdan have created the ultimate guide for anyone doing cross-cultural and/or document-driven research. Presenting the essentials of primary-source methodology, The Emperor's Mirror includes nine chapters on paleography, calendrics, source and quantitative analysis, and the visual interpretation of artifacts such as pictographs, illustrations, and maps. As an introduction to ethnohistory, this book clearly defines terminology and provides practical and accessible examples, effectively integrating the concerns of historians and anthropologists as well as addressing the needs of anyone using primary sources for research in any academic field. A leading theme throughout the book is the importance of a researcher's awareness of the inherent biases of documents while doing research on another culture. Documents are the result of people interpreting reality through the filter of their own experience, personality, and culture. Barber and Berdan's reality mediation model shows students how to analyze documents to detect the implicit biases or subtexts inherent in primary-source materials. Students and scholars working with primary sources will particularly appreciate the case studies that Barber and Berdan use to illustrate the practical implications of using each methodology. These case studies not only apply method to actual research but also are fascinating in their own right: they range from a discussion of the debate over Tupinamba cannibalism to the illustration of Nahuatl, Spanish, and hybrid place names of Tlaxcala, Mexico.

The Emperor's Elephant by Tim Severin is the exciting second book in Saxon, the historical adventure series full of exploration and captivating characters. Sigwulf, a Saxon prince exiled to the court of Carolus, King of the Franks, is summoned by the royal advisor Alcuin of York. Carolus has received magnificent gifts from the Caliph of Baghdad and is determined to send back presents that will be equally sensational. White is the royal colour of Baghdad so the most important gifts will be rare white animals from the Northlands. Sigwulf, having proved himself as a royal agent to Moorish Spain, has been selected to obtain the creatures, then take them to Baghdad. He must find white gyrfalcons and two white polar bears and – as Carolus has seen its picture in a book of beasts – a unicorn. He and his companions travel far into the north. Though they obtain some of the animals, they quickly realize that not all are even real. Setting out for Baghdad with their menagerie, they encounter danger after danger and it seems that someone is trying to wreck their mission, with each stage of the long journey bringing a new and unexpected peril . . .

The portraits of kings that we present in this book allow us to think about the complex relationship between law, religion and sovereign power in the Middle Ages. We seek to answer the question about how medieval artists saw the relationship between king, law and faith and how these works of art helped to build, on the visual plane, the symbolic legitimacy of sovereign power. Following the historical trail of Peterson, Schmitt, Kantorowicz and Agamben, we can observe today the relationship between the body and the acclamation and glorification of the sovereign inscribed in these works of art. They are paintings, frescos and illuminations that constitute the founding political iconography of the image that we have and make of Law and the State. The chronological organization of the images corresponds to Kantorowicz's thesis, according to which the mystical body of the king had first, a Christocentric, then a legal and, finally, a governmental foundation. First, the king as an image of Christ, then, as an image of Law and Justice, and finally, in the early Middle Ages, the king as a government.

On the verge of a second marriage, a divorcee discovers her first husband has returned, and murder ensues in this chilling tale, which the New York Times Book Review hailed as “one of the most ingeniously constructed mystery stories John Dickson Carr has ever told” After divorcing her husband, Ned, Eve Neill falls in love with banker Toby Lawes and quickly agrees to marry him. But news of the engagement brings Ned back, intent on reclaiming his bride, whatever the cost. The price of passion proves too high when a dead body is found—and beside it, the shattered fragments of a snuff-box that once belonged to Napoleon. These fragments tell two tales, one true and one false. And in order for Eve to know whether her future holds a white bridal gown or a black hangman’s cloak, she will have to trust that an expert in criminology will be able to force the evidence to tell the truth and point out the real murderer.

Friedrich der Grosse / Pathographie.