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Posted: Wed September 21st, 2011, 10:20 pm
by Tanzanite
[quote=""Tanzanite""]Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison. US and UK release March 6, 2012.

Saint Petersburg 1917. As the new year dawns a diver pulls the murdered body of Rasputin, the Mad Monk, from the icy waters of the Neva River. Hours later, Rasputin's daughters are taken to the tsar's palace as wards of the Romanovs where the tsarina makes a shocking request: would Masha, 18, take the place of her father at the sickbed of the tsaravitch Alyosha? Shaken, Masha agrees to do what she can for the imperious young prince. Two months later, the Bolsheviks force the tsar to abdicate, placing the royal family under house arrest.

Trapped together in increasingly harsh conditions, Masha and Alyosha take solace in each other's company. The two teenagers, with radically difference experiences of Russia, Rasputian and Alyosha's parents unlucky reign, create a private realm of magic and love as Masha introduces the tsaravitch to a wild and beautiful land he will never live to rule.[/quote]

updated cover

Posted: Wed September 21st, 2011, 10:23 pm
by Tanzanite
Empire of the Moghul #4 by Alex Rutherford. UK release May 10, 2012.

The brutal battle for power continues in the fourth book in the epic Empire of the Moghul series.

Agra, India, 1606. Jahangir, the triumphant Moghul Emperor and ruler of most of the Indian subcontinent, is doomed. No amount of wealth and ruthlessness can protect him from his sons' desire for power. The glorious Moghul throne is worth any amount of bloodshed and betrayal; once Jahangir raised troops against his own father; now he faces a bloody battle with Khurram, the ablest of his warring sons.

Worse is to come. Just as the heirs of Timur the Great share intelligence, physical strength and utter ruthlessness, they also have a great weakness for wine and opium. Once Jahangir is tempted, his talented wife, Mehrunissa, is only too willing to take up the reins of empire. And with Khurram and his half-brothers each still determined to be their father's heir, the savage battle for the Moghul throne will be more ferocious than even Timur could have imagined...

Posted: Wed September 21st, 2011, 10:23 pm
by Tanzanite
Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth by M.C. Scott. UK release May 24, 2012.

They are known as the Legion of the Damned...

Throughout the Roman Army, the XIIth Legion is notorious for its ill fortune. It faces the harshest of postings, the toughest of campaigns, the most vicious of opponents. For one young man, Demalion of Macedon, joining it will be a baptism of fire. And yet, amid all of the violence and savagery of his life as a legionary, he realises he has discovered a vocation – as a soldier and a leader of men. He has come to love the Twelth and all the bloody-minded, dark-hearted soldiers he calls his brothers.

But just when he has found a place in the world, all that he cares about is ripped from him when, during the brutal Judaean campaign, the Hebrew army inflict a catastrophic defeat upon the legion – not only decimating their ranks, but taking away their soul - the eagle.

There is one final chance to save the legion's honour – to steal back the eagle. To do that, Demalion and his legionnaries must go undercover into the city of Jerusalem, into the very heart of their enemy, where discovery will mean the worst of deaths, if they are to recover their pride.

And that, in itself, is a task worthy only of heroes.

Posted: Wed September 21st, 2011, 10:24 pm
by Tanzanite
The Wild Queen: The Days and NIghts of Mary Queen of Scots (Young Royals) by Carolyn Meyer. Young Adult. US and UK release June 19, 2012.


Mary is only six days old when she is crowned after the death of her father, five years old when she is sent to France to be raised alongside her future husband. Surrounded by friends and beloved by the royal family, Mary absorbs the culture, becoming more French than Scot. But when her frail young husband dies, Mary, now eighteen, is stripped of her title as Queen of France and set adrift in the harsh world, alone.

Determined to reign over what is rightfully hers, as well as to claim the throne of England to which she believes she is entitled, Mary returns to Scotland. The fiery young queen must sometimes go to brutal lengths to establish her sovereignty. And she is just as willful when it comes to her love life. Hoping that a husband will help her secure the coveted English throne, Mary marries again, but the love and security she longs for elude her. Instead, she finds herself embroiled in a murder scandal that could cost her the crown. And her attempts to bargain with her formidable "sister queen," Elizabeth I of England, could cost her her very life.

Posted: Wed September 21st, 2011, 10:34 pm
by EC2
[quote=""Tanzanite""]the next several posts are that I included on my blog a few weeks but forgot to post here... :(

Roger II and the Creation of the Kingdom of Sicily by Graham Loud. Non-fiction. US and UK release January 17, 2012.

[/quote]

Oooh goody, one for the research TBR shelf and very timely!

Posted: Tue October 11th, 2011, 10:53 pm
by Tanzanite
Thomas Beckett: Warrior, Priest, Rebel Victim – a 900 Year Old Story Retold by John Guy. Non-fiction. UK release April 5, 2012.

In 1120 the wife of a Norman draper's merchant gave birth to a baby boy in London's bustling Cheapside. Despite his sickly constitution, middle class background and unremarkable abilities, he rose within the space of thirty five years to become the most powerful man in the kingdom, second only to Henry II himself.

At his height, he led seven hundred knights into battle, brokered peace between nations, held the ear of the Pope and brought one of the strongest rulers in Christendom to his knees. And within a year of his bloody assassination, he was a saint whose cult had spread the length and breadth of Europe, and a legend who remains as controversial and compelling today as he was during his life.

The story of Thomas Becket is the story of an enigma, as well as of one of the most tumultuous periods in English history. Drawing on a vast array of contemporary records, personal letters and firsthand accounts, John Guy has reconstructed a psychologically compelling, stunningly nuanced and utterly convincing account of this most remarkable man, the dramatic times in which he lived and the pivotal role he played in his nation's history.

Posted: Tue October 11th, 2011, 10:54 pm
by Tanzanite
Rebel by Jack Whyte. UK release April 26, 2012.

In the pre-dawn hours of August 24, 1305 A.D., in London's Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace waits to be executed at dawn. He is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last Confession. So begins Rebel, the first epic in Jack Whyte's blazing, brilliant new historical-adventure trilogy. Packed with action, heroism, and vibrant historical detail, this is the Braveheart story as never told before -- the thrilling history of a man who was outlaw and fugitive, hero and patriot, rebel and kingmaker.

Posted: Tue October 11th, 2011, 10:54 pm
by Tanzanite
The Sultan’s Wife by Jane Johnson. UK release May 2012.

1677, Morocco. Behind the magnificent walls and towering arches of the Palace of Meknes, captive chieftain's son and now a lowly scribe, Nus Nus is framed for murder. As he attempts to evade punishment for the bloody crime, Nus Nus finds himself trapped in a vicious plot, caught between the three most powerful figures in the court: the cruel and arbitrary Sultan Moulay Ismail, one of the most tyrannical rulers in history; his monstrous wife Zidana, famed for her use of poison and black magic; and the conniving Grand Vizier.

Meanwhile, a young Englishwoman named Alys Swann has been taken prisoner by Barbary corsairs and brought to the court . She faces a simple choice: renounce her faith and join the Sultan's harem; or die. As they battle for survival, Alys and Nus Nus find themselves thrust into an unlikely alliance an alliance that will become a deep and moving relationship in which these two outsiders will find sustenance and courage in the most perilous of circumstances.

From the danger and majesty of Meknes to the stinking streets of London and the decadent court of Charles II, The Sultan's Wife brings to life some of the most remarkable characters of history through a captivating tale of intrigue, loyalty and desire.

Posted: Tue October 11th, 2011, 10:54 pm
by Divia
we havent had one of these in a long time :)

Posted: Tue October 11th, 2011, 10:55 pm
by Tanzanite
The King’s Revenge: Charles II and the Greatest Manhunt in British History by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh. Non-fiction. UK release May 3, 2012.

When Charles I was executed, his son Charles II made it his role to search out retribution, producing the biggest manhunt Britain had ever seen, one that would span Europe and America and would last for thirty years. Men who had once been among the most powerful figures in England ended up on the scaffold, on the run, or in fear of the assassin’s bullet.

History has painted the regicides and their supporters as fanatical Puritans, but among them were remarkable men, including John Milton and Oliver Cromwell. Don Jordan and Michael Walsh bring these remarkable figures and this astonishing story vividly to life in an engrossing, bloody tale of plots, spies, betrayal, fear and ambition.