Beginning in the 1830s and ending with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Victorian Era saw the British Empire—the largest the world had seen—dominate the world. British ingenuity in
What is Europe? First, of course, it is a continent of countless disparate peoples, races, and nations, and governed by different ideas, philosophies, religions, and attitudes. Nonetheless, it has a c
At the heart of the myths and legends surrounding St. George lies the story of an early Christian martyr persecuted by the Roman Empire around the third century AD. But England is only one country to
From the unbridled sensuality of the orgy scenes in silent Italian cinema, through a topless Sophia Loren in a 1950s historical epic, to the erotic obsessions of Fellini and the more cerebral but stil
The word "Noir" is used here in its loosest sense: every major living American writer is considered (including the giants Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke, James Ellroy and Sara Parets
A comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous continent, from the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa right through to Arab SpringBeginning with the origins of the human
London, more than any other city, has a secret history concealed from view. Behind the official façade promoted by the heritage industry lies a city of esoteric traditions, obscure institutions
It's one of the most successful—and surprising—of phenomena in the entire crime fiction genre: detectives (and proto-detectives) solving crimes in earlier eras. Barry Forshaw has writt
But who were the Anglo-Saxons, and where did they come from? A Short History of the Anglo-Saxons traces the fascinating history of this era and its people, from the early European migrants from tribes
Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Flourishing principally in the Languedoc and Italy, the Cathars taught that the world is evil and must be transcended through a simple life
This history behind alchemy studies the progression of this arcane art, looks at famous alchemists, and observes the effects it has had on modern scienceAlchemy has traditionally been viewed as &q
From the beginning of cinema, things that go bump in the night have colored our collective storytelling experience. The hypothetical "monster," in whatever guise or otherworldly shape it may take, is
Covering territory from Rififi to Run Lola Run to Spiral, a guide to the edgy, gritty best of European noir fiction, films, and televisionThe invasion of foreign crime fiction, films, and TV—and not j
All major living writers, new and established, are covered and the characteristics of their different styles of writing are considered. The writers are also mapped across all regions of England as wel
