By the advice of my physicians my second sea voyage was by the ship Norma, which sailed from the port of New York on the 20th of January. After a passage of fourteen days, with alternate gales and calms, we sighted Abaco, and the Hole in the Wall. We crossed the Bahama Banks; the water was of a bright blue color, with a clay bottom, which was distinctly seen. The thermometer went up to 72°, so we threw, off our winter-garments, and put ourselves in summer apparel. A cheerful sight was the ...

In "Twenty Years Around the World," John Guy Vassar embarks on an extraordinary literary journey, chronicling his extensive travels across the globe with an engaging narrative style that blends personal memoir with encounters of cultural significance. The book reflects the spirit of exploration that characterized the 19th century, positioning itself within a rich tradition of travel literature, while also offering candid reflections on the social and political climates of diverse regions. ...

A biography "as enthralling as a detective story" ( New York Times Book Review ) of the woman who reigned over sixteenth-century Scotland.Basis for the movie starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.Winner of the Whitbread AwardIn Mary Queen of Scots, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history's most famous women, depicting her world and ...

This Whitbread Award–winning biography and basis for the film Mary Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie "reads like Shakespearean drama" ( The Atlanta Journal-Constitution )."A triumph . . . A masterpiece full of fire and tragedy." —Amanda Foreman, author of GeorgianaIn the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than thirty years, J...

The Whitbread Award–winning author of Queen of Scots presents a "brilliantly observed" dual biography of Sir Thomas More and his daughter ( The New York Times).Sir Thomas More's life is well known: his opposition to Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn, his arrest for treason, his execution and martyrdom. Yet a major figure in his life—his beloved daughter Margaret—has been largely airbrushed out of the story. Margaret was her father's closest conf...

This book investigates the norms and values of Tudor and early-Stuart politics, which are considered in the contexts of law and the Reformation, legal and administrative institutions, and classical and legal humanism. Main themes include 'imperial' monarchy and the theory of 'counsel', Parliament and the royal supremacy, conciliar politics and organization, the relationship of law and equity, and the jurisdictional rivalry between the courts of common law and canon law. The author argues t...

THE BLOCKO TOWER: A DARK FANTASY HORROR.When she was six years old, one of Sally's playmates was abducted in broad daylight from a children's party. Her best friend, Eva, told her the boy had been taken to The Blocko Tower, but all the grown-ups told her that neither Eva nor the tower existed, and she was a wicked little girl for making things up.Why then, 20 years later, did Sally come across The Blocko Tower again, this time in another city?Determined to find out ...

Behind the façade of politics and pageantry at the Tudor court, there was a family drama. Nothing drove Henry VIII, England's wealthiest and most powerful king, more than producing a legitimate male heir and so perpetuating his dynasty. To that end, he married six wives, became the subject of the most notorious divorce case of the sixteenth century, and broke with the pope, all in an age of international competition and warfare, social unrest and growing religious intolerance and discord. ...

The monarchs of the Tudor period are among some of the most well-known figures in British history. John Guy presents a compelling and fascinating exploration of the Tudors in the new edition of this Very Short Introduction. Looking at all aspects of the period, from beginning to end, he considers Tudor politics, religion, and economics, as well as issues relating to gender and minority rule, and the art, architecture, and social and material culture of the time. Introducing all of...

“A fierce, scholarly tour-de-force. . . . Hunting the Falcon brilliantly shows how time, circumstance and politics combined to accelerate Anne’s triumph and tragedy." —Tina Brown, New York Times Book Review“A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue, and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of DevonshireA groundbreaking, freshly-researched work of Tudor history and a dual historical biography that examines one of the...

Charismatic, insatiable and cruel, Henry VIII was, as John Guy shows, a king who became mesmerized by his own legend - and in the process destroyed and remade England.Said to be a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most instantly recognizable of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: magnificent and vengeful; a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome; a talented, towering figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's ey...

Siberia 1923. Romantic, dreamer and revolutionary, Alexandra is a commissar in the newly formed Soviet government, hunting for a missing Agit Propaganda train. Its crew of actors, film-makers, poets and artists has disappeared in the mountainous wilderness beyond Yakutsk. More disturbing is the immense factory complex left by the retreating White army, and the bizarre machinery they abandoned that hints at a science far beyond anything she's encountered before.Banjo had it all sorte...