Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe (Audiobook)
John Julius Norwich-who the Wall Street Journal called "the very model of a popular historian"-has crafted a big, bold tapestry of the early sixteenth century, when Europe and the Middle East were overshadowed by a quartet of legendary rulers, all born within a ten-year period.
Little attention has been paid to the political and ideological significance of the exemplum, a brief narrative form used to illustrate a moral. Through a study of four major works in the Chaucerian tradition (The Canterbury Tales, John Gower's Confessio Amantis, Thomas Hoccleve's Regement of Princes, and Lydgate's Fall of Princes), Scanlon redefines the exemplum as a 'narrative enactment of cultural authority'.
The Happy Prince (SB+WB+mp3)A classic story adapted for beginners. 12 short chapters.
A beautiful sad tale unfolds when an unusual friendship between a statue of a prince and a swallow is developed. Torn between the need for a warmer climate and his love for the Prince, the soft-hearted Swallow agrees to become the Prince's messenger and helps the poor people in the city. The reader will be highly moved by the Prince's kindness and the Swallow's devotion to the Prince
You’d think being a Prince in a vast intergalactic empire would be about as good as it gets. Particularly when Princes are faster, smarter, and stronger than normal humans. Not to mention being mostly immortal. But it isn’t as great as it sounds. Princes need to be hard to kill—as Khemri learns the minute he becomes one—for they are always in danger. Their greatest threat? Other Princes. Every Prince wants to become Emperor, and the surest way to do so is to kill, dishonor, or sideline any potential competitor. There are rules, but as Khemri discovers, rules can be bent and even broken.
