Medieval Life

Here, National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages - from the fifth to the 15th centuries - beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and cities, from the peasants to the bourgeoisie to the nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

In 14th-century England, on the day that William Wallace of Scotland was executed, King Edward I knighted one of his faithful warriors, Walter de Burton. At the same time, Sir de Burton’s son, Milton, was a squire to the king and later realized his dream of riding with his father in formation. Christian faith and Scripture passages intersperse this story, along with a warning from Sir de Burton to his son that the church frowned upon anyone other than clergy reading the Holy Scriptures.

In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves.

The epic conclusion to the Reign of Secrets series is here.... Allyssa was raised as royalty. Savenek had been trained as a spy. Alyssa grew up doted on by her parents. Savenek's adoptive father had often shown his love through strict training and discipline. Allyssa died too soon, loved and mourned by her kingdom. Savenek is supposed to take her place, but struggles to win the hearts of the people and parents who don't know him. When Savenek finally settles in to life at court, Alyssa shows up alive, in time for their 70th birthday celebration.

A girl known only as Brat has no family, no home, and no future until she meets Jane the Midwife and becomes her apprentice. As she helps the short-tempered Jane deliver babies, Brat—who renames herself Alyce—gains knowledge, confidence, and the courage to want something in life for the first time.

When the filly is eventually given to a titled baron in the castle town of Athenry, Lara, determined to stay with the horse no matter what, goes along. Together, she and her beloved horse face seemingly insurmountable challenges, but all along Lara keeps two things in mind. One day, she will manage to flee, and will set off in search of the family that she was taken from. And she will not leave without her silver mare.

Two Years Before the Mast is an 1840 memoir by the author Richard Henry Dana. A Harvard graduate, he spent the years 1834 to 1836 as a sailor on a merchant ship on a voyage from Boston to California. The journey took them past Cape Horn on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet. Dana provides detailed descriptions of ship life and the technical aspects of sailing. A chapter on California and its inhabitants offers valuable historical insights on the state which was then a foreign land.

Nine-year-old Lara is the daughter of the the leader of her cattle-raising clan. While she spends her days tending to the cattle, her heart lies with her beloved gray mare. When Lara goes to the highlands to set the cattle out to graze, she finds the mare in the process of a difficult birth. Lara vows to take care of the foal as a dying promise to the gray mare, and with the help of a childless milk-cow, she cares for the spindly-legged filly. But just when she is confident that the foal can survive, a rival clan captures them both, and throws Lara's life into turmoil.

Nine-year-old Lara is the daughter of the leader of her cattle-raising clan. While she spends her days tending to the cattle, her heart lies with her beloved gray mare. When Lara goes to the highlands to set the cattle out to graze, she finds the mare in the process of a difficult birth. Lara vows to take care of the foal as a dying promise to the gray mare, and with the help of a childless milk-cow, she cares for the spindly-legged filly. But just when she is confident that the foal can survive, a rival clan captures them both.

This audiobook is a collection of Stoic sayings organized to allow daily reference and inspiration. The Stoic advice covered in this volume runs the gambit from personal problems, to interpersonal relationships, to advice on work and productivity, to dealing with the hand of fate.

The name Giotto di Bondone may not be as well-known as Leonardo da Vinci, but it was Giotto who made da Vinci and his contemporaries of the Renaissance possible. Giotto, born in the late 13th century, was the first painter to escape the artistic chains of the Dark Ages and revive the natural art of Ancient Greece. Instead of creating flat, expressionless figures, as was the custom of the Middle Ages, Giotto painted characters with personalities and emotions.

In a sense, Cnut the Great was practically destined for greatness, if only because he came from a distinguished Danish royal family. Cnut's father was Sweyn Forkbeard, and his grandfather was Harald Bluetooth, both prominent and legendary kings of Denmark. Thanks to his background and his abilities, Cnut became the most prominent of the Danish kings of England, but he was also, at times, king of Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden.

In addition to lending the name Dracula to Bram Stoker's famous vampire, Vlad is known around the world by the cognomen Vlad the Impaler, due to his reputation for impaling thousands of his enemies. Vlad was reputed to be such a tyrant that his reputation and stories of his deeds spread across Germany and the rest of Europe during his lifetime.

Life on the streets of turn-of-the-century London hurls the orphan Oliver Twist into a danger-filled adventure! With him we meet the Artful Dodger and Fagin, and learn the ways of the hard world...

William Shakespeare is a name that every English speaking person has heard. He is considered to be the most famous English man, the greatest playwright in history and a literary genius. However, how much do you really know about Shakespeare other than the fact that he wrote Romeo and Juliet? Do you know what he really looked like? That he invented a lot of the words that you use when you write your next social media post?

If your best friend is named Huckleberry Finn, and there's a girl in your life named Becky Thatcher, a villain named Injun Joe, and you and your friends get into all kinds of mischief and adventures, then you must be that ever-lovin' charmer from Missouri, Tom Sawyer!

"Wisdom in the Shadows" is a captivating exploration of the lives and ideas of the most influential medieval Jewish philosophers. From Saadia Gaon to Hasdai Crescas, this book takes listeners on a journey through the intellectual landscape of the Middle Ages, a time when Jewish thinkers grappled with profound questions about God, the universe, and the human soul.

This entertaining introduction to Shakespeare's work weaves biographical information with excerpts from 33 of his plays. Informative, well-researched commentary, written by two Royal Shakespeare Company actors, provides a glimpse of the man and little-known lore about his work.

"La vida es sueño", de Pedro Calderón de la Barca, es una obra teatral barroca escrita en el año 1635 y referente de la literatura universal. Su protagonista, el príncipe Segismundo, se cuestiona sobre el sentido de la vida mientras se encuentra en cautiverio.Se trata de una obra caracterizada por las ideas filosóficas sobre la vida, el uso de la escenografía para contrastar ideas antagónicas y la importancia que se da a la civilización por sobre la barbarie.

Today is a gift - that’s why it’s called the present, or as Ella Wheeler Wilcox says, it’s the "privilege". This timeless poetical work of art is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s "All the World’s a Stage", for both poems chronicle the various stages of life, however, this one ends with an air of optimism and sage advice. The poem was first published in the early 1900s and is every bit as relevant today as it was at the time of its conception. "Life Is a Privilege" is a mental elevator laced with exquisite poetic devices. Nutritional psychological food for the soul.