Medieval English

Beginning with their introduction in the 11th century, and ending with their widespread abandonment in the 17th, Marc Morris explores many of the country's most famous castles, as well as some spectacular lesser-known examples. At times this is an epic tale, driven by characters like William the Conqueror, King John, and Edward I, full of sieges and conquest on an awesome scale.

Her heart belongs to the five children she has raised, all of them orphans from the Welsh-English war. Her beauty as enchanting as her magic, the proud Wynne ab Gruffydd, Seeress of Radnor, would wage war to protect her children, regardless of the cost to herself. When Sir Cleve FitzWarin is dispatched to Wales to reclaim his liege lord’s orphaned offspring - and secure the handsome riches that come with his success - he meets Wynne head-on and quickly finds himself ensnared in her magical trap.

July 1346. The Hundred Years' War has begun, and King Edward and his lords are on the march through France. But this war belongs to the men on the ground. Swept up in the bloody chaos, a tight-knit company from Essex must stay alive long enough to see their home again. With sword, mace and longbow, the Essex Dogs will fight, from the landing beaches of Normandy to the bloodsoaked field of Crécy.

In the Robin Hood reimagining, a beautiful maiden poaches to feed the poor, while a handsome forester is on a mission to catch her.

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife charts the lives and times of four medieval women writers—Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a no-good wife—who all bucked convention and forged their own paths. Largely forgotten by modern readers, these women have an astonishing amount to teach us about love, marriage, motherhood, friendship, and earning a living.

Commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf is an epic poem that traces the exploits of the titular hero. After coming to the aid of the king of the Danes, whose mead hall is under constant attack by the monster Grendel, Beowulf slays Grendel's mother and goes on to become the king of the Geats.

Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization, they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It is of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (artha or 'purpose', kama or 'pleasure', dharma or 'duty' and moksha or 'liberation') takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'self') and the workings of karma.

Moses Ben Maimon, frequently called Maimonides, was a medieval philosopher who revolutionized thinking about ethics, reason, and the Jewish Torah through his emphasis on reason and evidence. His works were broadly accepted by the Sephardi Jewish community and spread across the medieval world, reaching the Jewish populations as far as Yemen, and though he lived in the 12th century, Maimonides continues to be one of the most studied scholars of Jewish law, philosophy, and theology.

We live in an era rife with cultural conflict. The 21st century is by no means free of wars, terrorism, riots, famine, nor epidemics. We may attempt to solve the challenges of our times by uniting the humanistic disciplines of philosophy, science, and technology. Our modern reality requires a fundamental understanding of the problems beleaguering our existence. Science and literature are key tools for gaining this insight. The wisdom accumulated throughout the centuries by scientists, philosophers, and writers is a solid foundation on which modern man can build the future.

A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.

Aristotle’s Poetics is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first fully intact philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. The respected Greek sage offers an account of what he calls "poetry" (which the Greeks understood to literally mean "making"), examining its "first principles" and identifying its genres and basic elements, including what he terms drama-comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play - as well as lyric poetry, epic poetry, and iambic pentameter, which he always associates with wit.

A reckless princess. An enemy kingdom. And a mistake that could cost her everything.

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. His writings cover many subjects including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and government.

For centuries, the Crusades have been central to the story of the medieval Near East, but these religious wars are only part of the region's complex history. As The Mongol Storm reveals, during the same era the Near East was utterly remade by another series of wars: the Mongol invasions. In a single generation, the Mongols conquered vast swaths of the Near East and upended the region's geopolitics. This is the definitive history of the Mongol assault on the Near East and its enduring global consequences.

Beginning in prehistoric times, West Africa has always been an incredible region. Early nomadic tribes settled into some of the earliest communities on Earth and learned how to work with metal. Various West African tribes then became adept at working with metal and were some of the most skilled artisans in the world. As civilizations developed in West Africa, nomadic tribes turned into urban societies that built kingdoms. Eventually, some of the greatest leaders in the world created mighty West African empires.

The life of Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), ruler of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America, has long intrigued biographers. But the elusive nature of the man (despite an abundance of documentation), his relentless travel and the control of his own image, together with the complexity of governing the world's first transatlantic empire, complicate the task.

The Iliad is one of the most enduring creations of Western Civilization and was originally written to be recited or chanted to the accompaniment of various instruments. Properly performed, this work today is just as meaningful, just as powerful, and just as entertaining as it was in the ninth century BC, and it casts its spell upon modern listeners with the same raw intensity as it did upon the people of ancient times.

Shakespeare had an ear and hand that was able to capture our everyday thoughts and emotions, pin them to a page, and express them so well that still today they can make us feel stunned to be seen. With a quote for every day of the year, this beautiful book gathers the finest lines from the lesser-known corners of Shakespeare's plays and poems. While you may not be familiar with these 400-year-old phrases, you will be surprised by the immediate, easy resonance they have with modern day-to-day life.

Medieval feudalism is one of those subjects which most of us are familiar with, and yet have difficulty describing. Was is a political, military, economic, or social system? And how did it develop? All these questions are answered in this superb book. Carl Stephenson has done a magnificent job of paring away all extraneous subjects and focusing on just the key elements. This short book, a masterpiece of brevity, succinctly sums up medieval feudalism better than anything ever written.