Gaius Julius Caesar was intelligent, courageous, and connected. For the majority of his adult life, though, he took little advantage of his gifts. Then, in his early forties, he came into his own as an orator, politician, general, writer, and statesman. Caesar dedicated himself to a singular mission: building Rome into an empire over which he would rule. As he realized his grand vision, the world he had created crashed down on him. Friends and foes alike turned against him. A group of cons...

Nothing in history sounds grander than a trade route, one of those thick bold lines on the statistical maps by which people have exchanged the products of their hands, minds, and sporadically, even hearts. Some of the routes have shaped history, rather than merely reflecting it. Primary among them is the Silk Road, the overland route across Asia that endured for more than 1,000 years as a crossroad from East to West. Here, in this essay by historian David Grace is the story of one of the g...

They were never meant to exist.Born of a forbidden union between two ancient bloodlines, three sisters carry the rarest and most dangerous power their world has ever known. Torn apart as children, each has lived unaware of the others-until fate forces their paths to cross on Earth.Kate only wanted a normal life. Larissa only wanted her visions to stop. Milda wanted to belong. But when a shadow from their mother's past hunts them down, the sisters are thrust...

This book discusses in-depth the concept of distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) and its application to cognitive communicationsIn this book, the authors present an overview of cognitive communications, encompassing both cognitive radio and cognitive networks, and also other application areas such as cognitive acoustics. The book also explains the specific rationale for the integration of different forms of distributed artificial intelligence into cognitive co...

A unique book with systematic and thorough coverage of HAP related issues, problems and solutions. Handbook of Broadband Communications from High Altitude Platforms provides a thorough overview and state of the art of the HAP enabling technologies, as well as describing recent research activities with most promising results. It outlines the roadmap for future development of HAPs.Focuses on placing HAPs in the perspective of current and future broadband wireless commu...

Veteran Homicide Detective James "Big Jim" Donegan and his partner, Chris Hunter, have been called to the scene of their latest case, a strangled call girl who has been put halfway through a wood chipper that was left unattended in one of the city's parks.Today Big Jim intends to use this case, like every other crime that they have worked together, as an opportunity to teach the technically brilliant but socially awkward Hunter how to be a great cop. The training, like the work, is...

Full Liquid DietA full liquid diet is a type of dietary plan that involves consuming only liquids or foods that are liquid at room temperature. This diet is commonly recommended by healthcare professionals for individuals who are recovering from certain medical procedures or surgeries, experiencing digestive issues, or have difficulty swallowing solid foods.The purpose of a full liquid diet is to provide essential nutrients while resting the digestive syste...

When eight immigrants arrived at the Baltimore Federal Courthouse to be sworn in as new citizens they didn’t give a thought to the trial next door of five terrorists charged with blowing up a federal building. Baltimore Sun Reporter Mark Shrader did care about that trial. His wife and unborn child had been killed in that explosion, but in spite of his pleas to cover the case he was instead ordered to write a Sunday-Supplement article on the new citizens. Then the terrorists escaped their g...

Jubal Dark has been the Sheriff of Francine County, Texas for twenty years, but Dark's enemy, Texas Ranger Buck Nevins, has convinced a Houston homicide detective to run against him. Dark's failure to solve a two-year-old rape and murder, coupled with his approaching sixtieth birthday, have led many voters to decide that Jubal should be replaced.Four years earlier Dark had captured the wanted killer, Carl Alvin Spence, and shown him up for the back-stabbing coward he was. Spence vo...

Christopher Columbus did more than discover a new world. He changed the Old World. Through his adventures, he launched Europe's most powerful nations into an era of exploration and colonization - and, in the process, touched off a brutal period of genocide and slavery that would continue for centuries. But while we all think we know everything we need to know about Columbus, he remains an enigmatic figure. Only scholars are familiar with some parts of his remarkable life. Here, from histor...

Here, from New York Times bestselling historian Vincent Cronin, is the extraordinary story of Italy - from the birth of the Roman Empire to the rise of the city-states through the Renaissance and the making of modern Italy.

In three years, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, leading a few hundred Spanish soldiers, overcame a centuries-old empire that could put tens of thousands of warriors on the field. Even after his god-like reputation had been shattered, and his horses and cannons were no longer regarded as supernatural, his ruthless daring took him on to victory. Yet in the end, his prize was not the gold that he had sought, but the destruction of the entire Aztec civilization.