Showing titles in Renaissance

The page-turning historical saga that began in The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, which now continues with Ken Follett's magnificent, masterful A Column of Fire. A World in Turmoil 1558, and Europe is in revolt as religious hatred sweeps the continent. Elizabeth Tudor has ascended...

**LISTEN TO HAMNET STAR JESSIE BUCKLEY'S UNFORGETTABLE NEW RECORDING BEFORE YOU SEE THE FILM** 'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times 'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART...

Bloomsbury presents The Pretender by Jo Harkin, read by John Hollingworth. Wolf Hall meets Demon Copperhead in a sharply ambitious, brilliantly imagined and hugely entertaining story of intrigue, deceit, revenge and ambition ‘A vivid, transporting feat of imagination’ Maggie Shipstead...

Ten-year-old Agata’s world is shaken at the sudden death of her mother. Left only with her egregious father, a working musician in Venice, her ailing grandmother sends her to the well-known orphanage, hidden from everything she’s ever known. Agata auditions for the conservatory style music school where music is both salvation and spectacle.

Written in the winter of 1849, The Scarlet Letter unfolds the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman branded as an adulteress in the harsh Puritan world of seventeenth-century New England. As Hester calls on her inner strength to transcend her shame, the scarlet letter ceases to be a stigma and...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Paterson Joseph, known for his roles in the forthcoming BBC adaption of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses, Peep Show, and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Richard Pevear. Young...

England, 1685. Decades after the end of the civil war, the country is once again divided when Charles II's illegitimate son, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, arrives in Dorset to incite rebellion against his Catholic uncle. Armed only with pitchforks, Monmouth's army is quickly defeated by King James II's superior forces and charged with high treason. Those found guilty will be hanged, drawn and quartered. As Dorset braces for carnage, the redoubtable Lady Jayne Harrier and a small group of trusted allies contrive ways to save men from the gallows.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of M.M. Kaye’s epic novel of love and war. M.M. Kaye’s masterwork is a vast, rich and vibrant tapestry of love and war that spans over twenty years, moving from the foothills of the Himalayas, to the burning plains, to the besieged British Mission in...

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the most iconic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo's fiercest rival - the young, beautiful, brilliant painter of perfection, Raphael. Orphaned at age 11, Raphael is determined to keep the deathbed promise he made to his father: become the greatest artist in history. But to be the best, he must beat the best, the legendary sculptor of the David, Michelangelo Buonarroti. 

For years d’Artagnan shared his adventures with his three comrades - Athos, Porthos, and Aramis - but now, in Between Two Kings, the First Musketeer returns to the forefront. This is truly d’Artagnan’s novel, bringing to a dramatic climax the story that began when he first arrived in Paris 30 years earlier in The Three Musketeers.

'I devoured this book!' Alison Weir 'A fresh and intriguing take on Boleyn's story ... Borman's deep knowledge of her characters, of how they lived and loved, is evident in every line. This is an Anne to cherish' The Times Behind the walls of Hever Castle history was being made ... but who was...

David Copperfield es un niño al que su padrastro abandona tras la muerte de su madre. Sin embargo, el chico hace todo lo posible para demostrar que tiene lo necesario para triunfar. Ambientada en 1840, David viaja por un mundo que trata de apartarle mientras él busca un hueco en el que encajar.

The Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Winning Author City of Vengeance is an explosive debut novel in an historical thriller series by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Florence. 'An impressive and immersive debut set in a beautifully realized sixteenth-century Florence' – Antonia...

Brought to you by Penguin. Florence, New Year’s Day 1557. As dawn breaks, a painter is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him, the paintings he laboured over for more than a decade. At his home, a hidden painting scandalously depicting Maria de Medici...

The Scarlet Letter is one of the great classics of American literature. Set in the harsh Puritan environment of 17th-century Boston, it describes the plight of Hester Prynne, an independent-minded woman who stands alone against society. Having given birth to a child after an illicit affair, she refuses to name the father and is forced to wear the letter "A", for Adulteress, embroidered on her dress.

Threatened by powerful enemies, William Blackburn, Earl of Ketterham, lives in exile in the Scottish Highlands with his daughter Vanessa. When she comes of age, William urges her to return to her mother in England to make her debut. Raised with all the advantages and freedom a boy would have, Vanessa doubts she can fit into the mold of a proper young lady. Still, she agrees to re-enter fashionable society, determined to end the vendetta against her father, never imagining the high price she will have to pay. 

In Monte Guano, a ridiculously small and penniless principality in Renaissance Italy, Prince Ludovico II finds his rule constantly undermined by those around him: his shrewd wife, his official mistress and his three disappointing—if not outright humiliating—sons. As well as having to manage the ever-increasing tributes demanded by the Pope, Prince Ludovico must also contend with feeble conscripts in search of war booty, getting on the pilgrim map, fake currency, religious battles and worst of all, English tourists. 

1560: Amy Robsart is trapped in a loveless marriage to Robert Dudley, a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Surrounded by enemies and with nowhere left to turn, Amy hatches a desperate scheme to escape – one with devastating consequences that will echo through the centuries. Present Day: When Lizzie Kingdom is forced to withdraw from the public eye in a blaze of scandal, it seems her life is over. But she’s about to encounter a young man, Johnny Robsart, whose fate will interlace with hers in the most unexpected of ways.

It's 1593, Elizabeth I is Queen and everyone is terrified of the worst outbreak of plague in a generation. Shakespeare has only written six plays and is lagging behind his friend Christopher Marlowe, London's leading playwright. When Marlowe is stabbed to death in mysterious circumstances, rumours abound—but the one that won’t go away is that Shakespeare did it to remove his greatest rival. Will is determined to clear his name, and teams up with his old flame, Marlowe’s sister Ann, who has plenty of secrets of her own.

'Alison Weir has this astonishing ability to make history come alive and jump right off the pages' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ 'Thomas's story is incredible' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ 'A gripping tale of power and downfall, passion and principle, it is Alison Weir at her best' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ 'Accessible and...