Eschewing the "great man" theory of history, Tolstoy shows how events are determined by large numbers of people whose actions coalesce at any moment in history to determine the course of events. Arguing that the closer people are to a situation the more they believe they have exercised free will, and the farther away people are from that situation the more they realize that their actions were already determined by past events, Tolstoy demonstrates...

Hoping to find new meaning in his life, British intelligence officer Simon Duval resigns his commission and returns to England, where he finds his cousin's widow, Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron. Working as a seamstress, living in reduced circumstances among London's French émigré community, Suzanne has had a life as complicated as Simon's own. While both believe they are beyond love and passion, their sympathetic bond leads him to propose...

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education comes the fifth volume of the Temeraire series, as Will Laurence and Temeraire struggle to reunite and face the Napoleonic army on London's doorstep.
“A story about friendship that transcends not only time and class, but species.”—NPR
For Britain, conditions are grim: Napoleon’s resurgent forces have breached the Channel and successfully...

From SWO Tenure Faculty Selection: Nicole Freim "This book started my love affair with magical realism, sending me on an reckless journey into the likes of Angela Carter, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Italo Calvino, and Isabel Allende. Reading it reminds me why I strive to capture thoughts and feelings in the net of language. There are so many moments in the story where I feel like something is revealed, something is said exactly the way I would have said...

Convicted of treason despite their heroic defense against Napoleon's invasion of England, Temeraire the dragon and his friend and rider, Capt. Will Laurence, are transported to the prison colony in Australia. They carry with them three dragon eggs intended to help establish a covert in the colony

"Naomi Novik's beloved series returns, with Capt. Will Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire once again taking to the air against the broadsides of Napoleon's forces and the friendly--and sometimes not-so-friendly--fire of British soldiers and politicians who continue to suspect them of divided loyalties, if not outright treason. For Laurence and Temeraire, put out to pasture in Australia, it seems their part in the war has come to an end just...

"The Napoleonic Wars are raging, Britain is on her heels, and His Majesty's Secret Service has just lost its best agent, Thomas Grey. Left despondent by his wife's untimely death, Grey resigns from the service and accepts a job offer in Boston. But when a battle with a privateer forces the ship carrying him west to make port in neutral Portugal, Grey is approached with a counteroffer: become a wealthy man by selling out Britain's spy network to France....

This ninth volume in Patrick O'Brian's beloved Aubrey-Maturin series is full of suspense, taking on the role of both nautical adventure and spy story. The polished prose vividly evokes the nineteenth century atmosphere.

All of O'Brian's strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate-infested waters of the Red Sea. While Captain Jack Aubrey worries about repairs to his

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The Twisted Sword, the eleventh novel in Winston Graham's classic Poldark saga, now a major TV series from Masterpiece PBS.

Cornwall 1815
Demelza sees a horseman riding down the valley and senses disruption to the domestic contentment she has fought so hard to achieve. For Ross has little option but to accept the summons – and travel to Paris with his family, as an 'observer' of the French armed forces.
Parisian

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In the bitter winter of 1809, the French are winning the war in Spain. Britain's forces are retreating, being hotly pursued by Napoleon's troops. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and his detachment of riflemen, have been cut off, and are being pursued by an Irishman called Patrick Harper. Sharpe finds an ally in a Spanish cavalry officer, Blas Vivar, and companionship in an English refugee, Louisa Parker.