The conquest of Mexico, an extensive empire with a numerous and warlike population, by a mere handful of Spaniards, is one of the romances of history. Indeed, a writer of fiction would scarcely have dared to invent so improbable a story. Even the bravery of the Spaniards, and the advantage of superior arms would not have sufficed to give them the victory, had it not been that Mexico was ripe for disruption."

Screenwriter David Fuller spent eight years researching Sweetsmoke, in the process discovering that members of his family fought on both sides of the Civil War. Cassius Howard is a skilled slave, once his master's favorite. But his master Hoke is now little more than a fragile old man, depressed about an ever-shrinking plantation and losing a son to war. When an old freedwoman who once saved Cassius from Hoke's wrath is killed, Cassius risks everything...

An enduring classic of Holocaust literature, Night offers a personal and unforgettable account of the appalling horrors of Hitler's reign of terror. Through the eyes of 14-year-old Eliezer, we behold the tragic fate of the Jews from the little town of Sighet. Even as they are stuffed into cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, the townspeople refuse to believe rumors of anti-Semitic atrocities. Not until they are marched toward the blazing crematory at...

Tomorrow I shall leave by the Messina boat, which calls at Paola. It is now more than a twelvemonth since I began to think of Paola, and an image of the place has grown in my mind. I picture a little marina; a yellowish little town just above; and behind, rising grandly, the long range of mountains which guard the shore of Calabria. Paola has no special interest that I know of, but it is the nearest point on the coast to Cosenza, which has interest...

After returning home with her horse from Connemara, Lara now feels that her old life has anything to offer, so she tries to find another place for herself and her horse which is safe from the warring clans.

John Fox (1862-1919) was an American novelist, journalist and short story writer. Influenced by his childhood in the Kentucky's Bluegrass Region and his life among the coal miners of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Fox's novels were historical romances or period dramas set in that region. "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come" (1903) is arguably one of his most well known and successful works. It entered the New York Times top ten list of bestselling novels...

Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.

At the end of The Winter King Arthur fought the battle that forces unity on the warring British kingdoms and now he sets out to face the real enemy - the English (it is one of the great ironies of the Arthur stories that he should have become an English hero when, if he existed at all, he was a great war-leader who opposed the invading Sais). First, though, Merlin leads a perilous expedition into the mysterious west to retrieve a cauldron, one of...

The journalistic production in "An Englishman Looks at the World" reflects Wells's turn from novel-writing to journalism, which began in the years before the outbreak of the Great War. He was more and more frequently invited to write articles for popular periodicals like the Daily Mail. Included in the collection are an account of "My First Flight," a long essay entitled "The Great State" that prefigured many of the themes of The Outline of History,...

Jennie Hall is most noted for her fascinating travel memoirs of the late eighteenth century. She produced vibrant narratives and brilliantly vivid descriptions that have made her popular among readers who wish to be transported into another area or time period. Her "Viking Tales" is an excellent example of that. The story follows the life of the Viking Harald from infancy to his crowning as King of Norway. It focuses on the Vikings' eagerness for...