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The first volume of The Ptolemies Quartet, the start of a spellbinding saga that triumphantly spans the ancient world. Chronicles the golden years of the first three Ptolemies and their tragic queens, pampered mistresses and turbulent children.
Writing Historical Fiction: A Writers' & Artists' Companion is an invaluable companion for a writer working in this challenging and popular literary genre, whether your period is Ancient Rome or World War II. PART 1 includes reflections on the genre and provides a short history of historical fiction. PART 2 contains guest contributions from Margaret Atwood, Ian Beck, Madison Smartt Bell, Ronan Bennett, Vanora Bennett, Tracy Chevalier, Lindsay Clarke, Elizabeth Cook, Anne Doughty, Sarah Dunant, Michel Faber, Margaret George, Philippa Gregory, Katharine McMahon, Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Hilary Mantel, Alan Massie, Ian Mortimer, Kate Mosse, Charles Palliser, Orhan Pamuk, Edward Rutherfurd, Manda Scott, Adam Thorpe, Stella Tillyard, Rose Tremain, Alison Weir and Louisa Young. PART 3 offers practical exercises and advice on such topics as research, plots and characters, mastering authentic but accessible dialogue and navigating the world of agents and publishers.
'Our Lady of the Potatoes' is a brilliant re-examination of eighteenth-century France, seen through the eyes of Marie-Louise Murphy, an Irish adventuress who gets caught up in all the dramas of the age of enlightenment and revolution, becoming the mistress of Louis XV and narrowly escaping death at the hands of the revolutionaries in 1789. Part objet trouvé, part recycled history, part grotesque variation on a fairy-tale, 'Our Lady of the Potatoes' is a highly entertaining and vivid novel, a tour de force of historical story-telling, which more than confirms this talented writer's great promise.
A fictional re-creation of the early years of the House of Ptolemy, a dynasty of Greek pharaohs in Egypt, begins with Ptolemy Soter, a general who, in the wake of the death of Alexander the Great, seizes control of Egypt.
The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Powerful. Irresponsible. Dangerous. It's 279 BC. and Ptolemy Philandelphus finds his wife ousted by his reptillian sister, who wants to marry him herself . . . A generation later, and Berenike Beta murders her husband and marries Ptolemy Euergetes instead. But with the glory of the Ptolemies at its height after Egypt wins victories at Syria, it is the turn of the murderess to be murdered. Meanwhile, the people of Egypt are thinking about revolution . . .
Mr Warde, an apparently respectable Victorian country gentleman, is accused by his neighbours of seducing the local girls of the village and is brought to trial. Based on a real life trial that took place in 1847, the book explores sexual hypocrisy.
The historical novel is an enduringly popular genre that raises crucial questions about key literary concepts, fact and fiction, identity, history, reading, and writing. In this comprehensive, focused guide, Jerome de Groot offers an accessible introduction to the genre and critical debates that surround it, including: the development of the historical novel from early eighteenth-century works through to postmodern and contemporary historical fiction different genres, such as sensational or ‘low’ fiction, crime novels, literary works, counterfactual writing and related issues of audience, value, and authenticity the many functions of historical fiction, particularly the challenges it pos...
"This book takes an integrative approach to the understanding of drug use and its relationship to social-cultural factors. It is lucidly and powerfully argued and constitutes a significant achievement. The authors sensibly argue that in order to fully understand and explain drug use and abuse it is necessary to take into account different levels of analysis, reflecting distinct domains of human functioning; the biological, psychosocial, and cultural-historical....Overall, this book represents an exceptional achievement and should be of interest to drug clinicians and researcher as well as social scientists and students." --Professor Tony Ward, University of Melbourne Substance use and abuse ...
The life of Arsinoë II (c. 316-c.270 BCE), daughter of the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, is characterized by dynastic intrigue. This book provides the first accessible biography of this fascinating queen.
'Mackrell's enthralling biography restores Lydia Lopokova to her rightful position centre-stage' DAILY MAIL 'Superb ... Mackrell, with her insider's knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia's many worlds' GAY & LESBIAN REVIEW 'A hugely entertaining and informative study of the Ballets Russes star' SPECTATOR Born in 1891 in St Petersburg, Lydia Lopokova lived a long and remarkable life. Her vivacious personality and the sheer force of her charm propelled her to the top of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. Through a combination of luck, determination and talent, Lydia became a star in Paris, a vaudeville favourite in America, the toast of Britain and then married the world-renowned economist, and formerly homosexual, John Maynard Keynes. Lydia's story links ballet and the Bloomsbury group, war, revolution and the economic policies of the super-powers. She was an immensely captivating, eccentric and irreverent personality: a bolter, a true bohemian and, eventually, an utterly devoted wife.