The aim of this Treasury is not that of presenting extracts illustrating the development of humorous poetry in the English language. If that were its purpose, the anthology might have greater value for historical students of literature, but for the average reader it would prove of necessity uninteresting...
Classic stories and dazzling illustrations of gods, goddesses, heroes and monsters come to life in a stunning tableau of Norse myths, including those of the thunder god Thor, the one-eyed god and Allfather Odin, and the trickster god Loki. The lyrical storytelling of award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli dramatizes the timeless tales of ancient Scandinavia. This book is the third in the trilogy that includes the popular National Geographic Treasury of Greek Mythology and National Geographic Treasury of Egyptian Mythology.
From the debauchery of Tiberius to the sloth of George IV, Michael Farquhar takes us on a roller-coaster journey through the history of monarchs and despots and illustrates the maxim that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Whether throwing their enemies from cliff tops or merely seducing everyone in sight, kings, queens and popes throughout the ages seem to have let their privileged positions go to their heads. This anecdotal account is both amusing and illuminating.
Added by: badaboom | Karma: 5366.29 | Fiction literature | 30 November 2011
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Doctor Who Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury
Celebrate a Doctor Who Christmas with this luxury treasury of stories, poems, games and recipes for all the family.
Join the Doctor as he visits a Christmas truce in the trenches, gets caught up in an alien plot concerning the recording of Do They Know It’s Christmas? and even manages last-minute shopping in Oxford Street!
From heartwarming to heartbreaking, witty pastiches to chilling ghost stories, these tales are the perfect seasonal journey into time and space.
In the first chapter of his book The Power of Gold, Peter Bernstein quotes the immortal words of King Ferdinand of Spain, who once declared: "Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards--get gold." As ensuing chapters reveal, man's obsession with finding, keeping, selling, and evaluating gold has rarely been a humane adventure and has always been a hazardous one. Digging deeply into history's treasury of torrid tales and complicated deals, Bernstein examines gold's lure with an economist's passion for quantification, a historian's eye for detail, and a sociologist's feel for its consequence.
