In this remarkable book, the historian Jack Rakove shows how the private lives of these men were suddenly transformed into public careers--how Washington became a strategist, Franklin a pioneering cultural diplomat, Madison a sophisticated constitutional thinker, and Hamilton a brilliant policymaker. Rakove shakes off accepted notions of these men as godlike visionaries, focusing instead on the evolution of their ideas and the crystallizing of their...

A RITA award-winning novel from the New York Times bestselling author of An Unwilling Bride. Two of the strongest wills in England clash when Lord Rothgar is commanded by the king to escort the fiercely independent Diana Westmount, Countess of Arradale, to London. Though Rothgar has become a master at resisting temptation, Diana proves a challenge to his steely resolve. A moment of peril - and a night of passion - melt his icy self-control, and he...

A detailed account of the most famous mutiny in history aboard the H.M.S. Bounty in 1787 between Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh. The Bounty was sent on a two-year voyage to the South seas to procure bread-fruit trees for transplanting to the West Indies as cheap food for slaves.

First published in 1837, Carlyle initially was asked to write this account by his overworked friend John Stuart Mill. Taking the commission to heart, Carlyle proceeded to write a historical masterpiece, combining a scrupulous consideration for facts with a unique style of writing. Rather than a detached account of this turbulent time, Carlyle uses poetic prose that makes readers feel almost as though they are participants in the riots, public executions,...

"Jasper Sullivan, Earl of Blackwater, needs a prostitute. Not in the usual way, however. His wealthy uncle's will promises to divide his huge fortune among his nephews if each rescues a fallen woman...by marrying her! And since Jasper's estates were already mortgaged to the hilt before he inherited them, when he catches a pretty young prostitute trying to pick his pocket, he immediately makes his proposal. Clarissa Astley is not at all what Jasper...

On a cold day in eighteenth-century England, a poor young boy agrees to watch a stranger's fine horse for a golden guinea but soon finds himself in a difficult situation when the king's guard appears and wants to use him as bait in their pursuit of a notorious highwayman.

A shard of crimson stone, a magical elixir, and a painted doorway that opens to the past . . . During what seems like an ordinary museum visit, a tour guide lures Sunni and Blaise through a painted doorway, where they discover they've stepped into eighteenth-century London. When they realize their "tour guide" will do anything to learn what Sunni and Blaise know about magical paintings, they attempt to flee and encounter body snatchers, art thieves,...

"A fluent, intelligent history...give[s] the reader a feel for the human quirks and harsh demands of life at sea."—New York Times Book Review

Before the ink was dry on the U.S. Constitution, the establishment of a permanent military became the most divisive issue facing the new government. The founders—particularly Jefferson, Madison, and Adams—debated fiercely. Would a standing army be the thin end of dictatorship?...

"Ensconced in the woods of rural England, 1784, American anatomist Dr. Thomas Silkstone hunts for justice amid a maelstrom of madness, murder, and social upheaval"--