Renaissance Fiction

Henry Dumas' fiction is a masterful synthesis of myth and religion, culture and nature, mask and identity. From the Deep South to the simmering streets of Harlem, his characters embark on surreal and mythic quests armed only with wit, words, and wisdom. Championed by Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, and Quincy Troupe, Dumas' books have long been out of print. All of his short fiction is collected here, for the first time, and includes several previously unpublished stories.

Travel back in time to the 1920s and 1930s to the sounds of jazz in nightclubs and the 24-hours-a-day bustle of the famous Black neighborhood of Harlem in uptown Manhattan. It was a dazzling time when there was an outpouring of the arts of African Americans - the poetry of Langston Hughes; the novels of Zora Neale Hurston; the sculptures of Augusta Savage; and that brand-new music called jazz as only Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong could play it.

Marion, la parfumeuse attitrée de la reine est victime d’un enlèvement ! La favorite de Louis XIV pourrait-elle être l’instigatrice d’un tel complot ? Un classique de la littérature jeunesse.

Al joven Ross Wilbur, refinado miembro de la alta sociedad de San Francisco, un “Manhattan suave” tomado en mala compañia le va a cambiar la vida radicalmente: se va a ver embarcado en una goleta donde se espera de el que trabaje como un marinero más.....

London, 1647: Es ist die Blütezeit des strengen Puritanismus. Dessen Anführer Oliver Cromwell lässt sogar das Weihnachtsfest verbieten, mit der Begründung, es sei mit heidnischen Bräuchen vermischt und daher unbiblisch. Auch der junge John ist ein Puritaner. Sein Vater starb an Trunksucht, und von seinen Zieheltern hat er gelernt, dass ein gottgefälliges Leben aus Entsagung und Disziplin besteht. Er ist fest entschlossen, alles zu tun, um nicht das Schicksal seines Vaters zu teilen.

Som a lany 1553. En Max, un jove tan atractiu com estafador, senamora d una de les dames de companyia de Lady Jane Grey, cosina del rei Eduard VI. La Margaret, la jove dama, sembla correspondrel. Disfressat de noble, en Max assisteix a les noces de Lady Jane per ser a prop de la noia. Un fet inesperat, però, trasbalsa la cerimònia. Una enigmàtica dona apareix de sobte i formula un misteriós presagi a la núvia.

During a late-night hunt for a wolf, Ulric and Daciana are attacked. Before their bodies can fully succumb to the wild animal inside, the town witch claims she holds the cure. Instead of healing their wounds, she places a curse on Ulric and Daciana, so they must live with who they truly are. In a town where secrets can’t be kept and betrayal runs thick, Ulric and Daciana are hunted for the monsters they’ve become, even by those they love.

Tal como los alquimistas medievales se obsesionaron con la piedra filosofal, un sacamuelas sevillano, que llega hasta el virreinato peruano huyendo de la Inquisición, se afana en la búsqueda del gusano de los dientes que taladra las muelas y anida en las encías, precipitando la corrupción del cuerpo y flagelando a los cristianos con una espina del dolor de la Pasión, porque el imperio español de los siglos XVI y XVII era también el imperio del dolor.

In the late 1590s, Scotland was on the verge of many changes that would shape its future, such as religious reformation and the union of the crowns with England. But in many ways the country, was still rooted in its medieval past, and fear of witches and demons was still a large part of everyday life. Seton confronts his demons, both internal and external, as he wanders on the fringes of history.

A.D. 1526. Il racconto segue le paradossali peripezie tra l'Umbria e la Toscana del famoso poeta Pietro Aretino, ritratto in una veste tanto inaspettata per un cortigiano rinascimentale, quanto autentica: arguto, libertino, volgare e sfacciato, come si addice a quello che viene storicamente riconosciuto come l'ipotetico fautore del genere letterario ‘puttanesco'.

The pathetic but perceptive Lewis Raycie is sent on a grand tour of Europe with instructions to collect great art. He returns with Italian paintings not yet recognized in America as Renaissance masterpieces.

Zora Neale Hurston is best remembered today for her work as a novelist, but she was also an accomplished dramatist, short story writer, and folklorist. That range of interests and styles is on full display in this collection.

A new edition of one of the most important books in American history - Common Sense, by Thomas Paine. The audiobook is expertly read by Daniel Adam Day. "No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style, in perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple and unassuming language." (Thomas Jefferson). Published by American Renaissance Books.

The United States endured a bitter civil war and embarked on the complex process of Reconstruction, aiming to eliminate slavery and secure civil rights for African Americans in the South. Despite the ratification of constitutional amendments guaranteeing these rights, their full realization would not come for another century. Johnson, who assumed the presidency only after Lincoln's assassination, bears significant responsibility for this delay. His actions enabled the growth of Jim Crow laws and entrenched racial inequality throughout the South in Reconstruction's aftermath.

Nichts ist so spannend wie die Wirklichkeit - nichts abenteuerlicher als die Geschichte! Wie sah die Welt nach dem Mittelalter aus, wie dachten die Menschen im Humanismus, wie kam es zum Sklavenhandel? Was waren die Bauernkriege, was verbirgt sich hinter dem Namen "Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation"?

Defiant, eloquent, and thoroughly modern, Claude McKay’s early collection of celebrated poems is widely recognized as having helped to spark the Harlem Renaissance. In Harlem Shadows, McKay gives precise and poignant expression to the injustices of white oppression in many forms. He also paints a vivid picture of Harlem at the dawn of its rebirth and shows the tremendous vitality of the neighborhood as well as the many threats it faced.

Georgia Douglas Johnson was a key contributor to the Harlem Renaissance - hosting an influential salon, breaking new ground as a Black playwright, and playing an important role as an anti-lynching activist. Her poetry, however, is what first brought her to national attention, and in the early works collected here, her wide-ranging talents are already quite evident. In The Heart of a Woman, Johnson’s exquisite verse captures the full emotional terrain of womanhood. These are poems about love and disillusionment, empowerment and fulfillment, loneliness and joy.

Before Langston Hughes and his literary prowess became synonymous with American poetry, he was a seventeen-year-old on a train to Mexico City, seeking funds to pursue his passion. His early poems, beloved verses like “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” were written without formal training, often on the back of napkins and envelopes, and were inspired by the sights and sounds of Black working-class people he encountered in his early life. Blues in Stereo is a posthumous collection of these early works, in which we see Langston Hughes like we’ve never seen him before.

Per Nina, Caravaggio è il pittore più grande di tutti. E quasi non crede ai suoi occhi quando con Lori e Jamal scopre proprio lui, il Maestro, sotto una barca rovesciata sulla spiaggia della Feniglia. Ma l'artista è febbricitante e malconcio, e farfuglia parole sconnesse. Cosa gli è successo? Qual è il segreto custodito nel prezioso carico con cui viaggiava? Ancora una volta, saranno gli indovinelli del magico merlo Mercurio a guidare i tre amici nella loro emozionante avventura nella Maremma del Seicento.

Spanien, Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts. Lázaro schildert dem Leser seinen Aufstieg aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen zum angesehenen Ausrufer in der damaligen spanischen Hauptstadt Toledo. Bis zu diesem Ziel ist jedoch ein langer Weg zu gehen, und Lázaro muss vielen verschiedenen Herren dienen und oft schlechte Behandlung und Leid erdulden. Allerdings lernt er von seinem ersten Herren, einem blinden Wahrsager, auch viele listige Tricks, die ihm den steinigen Weg erleichtern. Welche das sind, verrät er in seinen Erzählungen.