1893: King Kamehameha III of Hawaii declares Sovereignty Restoration Day…Tension grows between China and Japan over Korea .. The Bengal Famine worsens… Senior priest at Kinkaku-ji temple is found dead in mysterious circumstances Dr John H. Watson receives a strange letter from his supposedly dead friend, and sets out for Tokyo. On the ship, his quiet, distinguished cabin-mate is murdered as he sleeps just a door away. Meanwhile, in the opium dens of Shanghai and in the back alleys of Tokyo...

"This story has great richness of voice and will take you on a fascinating journey. It is both an adventure and a colourful experience." —Calvert Markham, Treasurer of the Sherlock Holmes Society of LondonStill wondering what Sherlock Holmes was doing between his reported death at Reichenbach and his reappearance in The Empty House? Only Dr. Watson knew the truth. From 1891 to 1894, Sherlock Holmes was dead to the world—and having the grandest adventures of his car...

A SoulSearching Adventure with PatanjaliForeword by Yogacharya Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, Chairman, International Centre for Yoga Education and Research (ICYER)A restless mind is the root cause of all your troubles, but a calm mind will liberate you. Want to know how to reach that state?In this gentle elaboration of the brilliant Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Vasudev Murthy delves into life’s fundamental questions. Taking the reader through Patanjali’s 196 powerpacked sutras, he explains t...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERLaurie R. King’s New York Times bestselling novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, comprise one of today’s most acclaimed mystery series. Now the couple is separated by a shocking circumstance in a perilous part of the world, each racing against time to prevent an explosive catastrophe that could clothe them both in shrouds.In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to...

At the close of the year 1918, forced to flee England's green and pleasant land, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes enter British-occupied Palestine under the auspices of Holmes' enigmatic brother, Mycroft."Gentlemen, we are at your service." Thus Holmes greets the two travel-grimed Arab figures who receive them in the orange groves fringing the Holy Land. Whatever role could the volatile Ali and the taciturn Mahmoud play in Mycroft's design for this land the British so recently wres...

August Book Sense PickA fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed 'scientist of women.' A purring, voluptuous siren. A young shop-girl enduring the clammy touch of her boss and hating herself for accepting the modest banknotes he tucks into her pocket afterward. An earnest, devout young doorman, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism. A cynical, secretly gay newspaper editor, helplessly in love with a peasant security guard. A roof-squatting tailor, schemi...

Five nuanced and powerful historical novels depicting the clashes among Muslims, Christians, and Jews from the Crusades to twenty-first-century London.Celebrated British-Pakistani journalist and author Tariq Ali takes a mind-expanding journey through the ages with these five acclaimed works of fiction, available now in one collection.Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree : "Ali captures the humanity and splendor of Muslim...

The definitive biography, mesmerizing and “richly textured ” (Chicago Tribune), that inspired the acclaimed documentary, Letters from Baghdad. • With a new Afterword • "Desert Queen...plucks Gertrude Bell out of the shadow of Lawrence of Arabia." —The Boston GlobeHere is the story of Gertrude Bell, who explored, mapped, and excavated the Arab world throughout the early twentieth century. Recruited by British intelligence during W...

A gripping historical novel set in 11th century Persia that imagines the life of poet and philosopher Omar KhayyamAccused of mocking the inviolate codes of Islam, the Persian poet and sage Omar Khayyam fortuitously finds sympathy with the very man who is to judge his alleged crimes. Recognising genius, the judge decides to spare him and gives him instead a small, blank book, encouraging him to confine his thoughts to it alone.Thus begins the seamless blend ...

Ibn Battutah set out in 1325 from his native Tangier on the pilgrimage to Mecca. By the time he returned twenty-nine years later, he had visited most of the known world, travelling three times the distance Marco Polo covered. Spiritual backpacker, social climber, temporary hermit and failed ambassador, he braved brigands, blisters and his own prejudices. The outcome was a monumental travel classic.Captivated by this indefatigable man, award-winning travel writer Tim Mackintosh-Smit...

"A scholar and a spy whose extraordinary career spanned the heyday of the British Empire and culminated in the creation of Iraq . . . a gripping read." —Jason Goodwin, The Washington Post Book WorldShe has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. She was at one time the most powerful woman in the British Empire: a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of m...

Gertrude Bell, happily for her family and friends, was one of the people whose lives can be reconstructed from correspondence.Through all her wanderings, whether far or near, she kept in the closest touch with her home, always anxious to share her experiences and impressions with her family, to chronicle for their benefit all that happened to her, important or unimportant: whether a stirring tale of adventure or an account of a dinner party. Those letters, varied, witty, enthralling...