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Andrew Jackson was easily one of the most mercurially energetic personalities in American history. Along with Washington and Lincoln, Jackson also ranks as one of the three most consequential US presidents. After Jackson, the nation would never be the same. His life in the Tennessee wilderness as lawyer, planter, and soldier was legendary, as were his duels, his racing stables, his whirlwind romance with Rachel Donelson, and his victory over the British at New Orleans. Born in South Carolina in 1767, Jackson came of age during the hardship and cruelties of the Revolutionary War.

Nicolaus of Damascus was a Hellenized Jewish scholar who lived contemporaneously with Octavius and lived to see him become Caesar Augustus. The work itself takes us through young Octavius’ life and shows how he was carefully brought up and eventually adopted by his uncle, Julius Caesar. But what is remarkable about this short biography is the care and detail with which Nicolaus goes about in describing the plot and assassination of Caesar. The aftermath of Caesar’s murder is explained quite clearly as Octavian steps up to claim his uncle’s inheritance.

Though often derided today for his cruelty, sensual pursuits, and despotism, Henry VIII was, in reality, much better in those respects than his contemporaries, and he compares well with the personal behavior of many historic leaders we now deem heroic. It was well that England in her hour of need had a man as king who counted the cost, who faced the risks, and successfully brought his country out of Europe's religious maelstrom.

In Volume Seven, we come to the dramatic conclusion of George Washington's magnificent life. Reluctantly taking up the burdens of a second presidential term, Washington deferred a return to his beloved Mount Vernon in order to complete the crucial tasks of stabilizing the republic. With factionalism growing at home and European powers proceeding toward an alarming conflict, Washington attempted to navigate a perilous path of strict neutrality and firm control of federal power.

Vanity Fair is a satirical novel of manners which takes place during, and in the decade after, the battle of Waterloo in 1815. The various scenes in the novel range across Europe and England. It was first published in serial form beginning in 1847. The work is by turns witty, scintillating, brutally realistic, tragic, humorous, and always fascinating. The title of the book stems from Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”, where Vanity is a town along the pilgrim’s route, and which holds an eternal fair of the vanities. It is a place where people are ensnared by worldly things.

The weaver Silas Marner is a member of a small Calvinist congregation in Lantern Yard, a slum street in an unnamed city in Northern England in the early 19th century. He is falsely accused of stealing the congregation's funds, leaves the city in disgrace, and accumulates a small fortune in another town…only to lose it to theft. But he soon adopts an orphan child quite by accident. The exchange of one treasure for another is the heart of the story.

Considered his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter is Hawthorne's story of Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl, conceived through an adulterous affair with a Puritan pastor in 17th century Boston. From start to finish, the book explores the themes of law, guilt, and sin. Since its appearance in 1850, this magnificent book has been a perennial favorite among young and old, though it was extremely controversial when it was first published.

Dickens never employed greater skill or more consummate craftsmanship on any other of his works than he did on A Tale of Two Cities, his magnificent historical novel set during the turbulent era marking the end of Louis XVI's reign. His passionate portrayal of the lives of two groups, one English, one French, caught up in the net of revolutionary intrigue and cruelty, has never been equalled. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy.

The story of Daniel Boone is an excellent example of the courage and tenacity of the early settlers, as well as a compelling look at how those colonists managed to survive and eventually flourish under conditions modern Americans can scarcely imagine. The intrepid spirit of Daniel Boone lives on in this magnificent biography as we travel through the trackless forests, majestic mountains, and pristine rivers of 18th century Kentucky.

"The South is not quite a nation within a nation. But it is the next best thing," writes F. B. Simkins in this celebrated history, the most complete account of Southern history ever attempted. It is a masterpiece of scholarship combined with elegant style. Within its searing pages are some of the most dramatic episodes of American history.

Wuthering Heights is a ghost story with the atmosphere of ancient tragedy. An epic poem in prose, it is widely considered to be one of the greatest English novels. The book was published in 1848 and did not meet with approval at first because of its bleak descriptions of physical and mental cruelty. Essentially, it is a tale of revenge set in the North Yorkshire moorlands.

Volume Two begins with the accession of the Roman Emperor Valens in the year 364, a period which heralded vast movements of barbarian tribes from the north and east. The Huns move from the confines of Mongolia westward into Europe, pushing the German tribes in terror before them, who in turn move across the Rhine and Danube into Roman territory. The names of Goths, Franks, Lombards and Vandals will become part of the daily vocabulary. Gibbon describes in matchless style the dramatic events as the Western Roman Empire disintegrates under the pressure of Germanic invasion and internal corruption.

This novel centers around Mr. Dombey, a wealthy merchant who struggles to cope with the death of his wife and the care of his infant son as the story opens. He hires a nurse to bring up little Paul. Meanwhile, other new characters are brought into the story, including Captain Cuttle, Sol Gills, and Walter Gay. As their lives come into contact with the Dombey household, complications arise. When Dombey discovers that Walter, a lowly clerk in his office, is infatuated with his daughter, Florence, he sends him to the West Indies to prevent any possibility of a romance developing.

Widely considered the greatest of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles was originally serialized in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902. It is the third of only four short novels Doyle wrote about his super sleuth. Set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country, it is the gloom-enshrouded story of murder inspired by the family legend of a gigantic, demonic hound of supernatural origin.

Roanoke Hundred is an historical novel about the very first attempt to found an English colony in North America in 1585. Although it is a fictional account, the story is based on the letters, diaries, and archives of the period. Every character is based on a real person. The entire adventure centers around one of England’s greatest heroes, Sir Richard Grenville. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall, and of Bideford in Devon. He was also a soldier, an armed merchant fleet owner, privateer, colonizer, and explorer.

The seventeenth century was one of the most fascinating and seminal periods in European history, particularly with regard to France. For it was here in France that the fruits of the earlier Renaissance were to be most brilliantly realized. Although the path of "greatness" for Louis XIV was prepared for him by men like Richelieu, Mazarin, Colbert, Turenne, and Louvois, it was during his reign that French preeminence in all facets of civilization emerged.

Harold Lamb's superb story-telling and clear, sharp scholarship are focused on Peter the Great, his gigantic labors to raise Russia in one generation to cultural equality with Europe, and his efforts to mold and shape a sprawling empire. At the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, the city of Moscow had extended its sway eastward through the Asiatic continent. People began to ask, "Will the city control the continent?" or "Will the continent control the city?" These were crucial questions...questions that continue to bedevil Russians to this day.

The twelve-year period following the American civil war is referred to as “Reconstruction”. The term carries with it a lot of political and cultural baggage which is rarely understood outside of partisan criticism. All sides have legitimate claims to justice, morality, and historical accuracy. But until professor Dunning’s outstanding analysis, all discussion of the subject was focused on events in the former Confederate states. As Dunning was to demonstrate, Reconstruction was not just a regional political phenomenon…it extended to the entire nation.

After more than 2,300 years, the Greek philosopher Aristotle still remains one of the most influential thinkers who has ever lived. There was hardly any field of human knowledge in existence during his day in which he did not make a major contribution. Additionally, he probed areas which were never before examined. Indeed, one could make the claim that no individual person has ever known as much about this world as Aristotle. His analyses of zoology and logic paved the way for modern forensic techniques, and for which every scientist down to this day owes him a debt of gratitude.

Spartacus is one of the most unusual historical novels of the 20th century and certainly one of the most realistic. In a whirlwind of savagery, despair, and desperation, the listener is suddenly and violently plunged into the great Roman slave revolt of 73 BC. The author, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, does not waste time by slowly setting up his characters, nor in leisurely describing domestic scenes. From the first word, you are literally hurled into the frenetic life of an escaped Greek slave by the name of Kleon.