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  John Dee: The Life and Legacy of...

  Charles River Editors

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  With the golden glow of the candlelight kissing his cheeks, he hovered over a spirit mirror, a flat, exquisitely lustrous “shew-stone” fashioned out of raven-black obsidian. Gazing intently upon his reflection in the dark volcanic glass, he chanted in hushed tones as he ran his fingers across the engravings on the oat-colored wax wheel next to him, the Sigilla iEmeth, which featured a septogram and runic carvings and symbols in minuscule print. Contrary to what one might expect, it was not a phantom, hobgoblin, or demon that he sought, but rather, the seraphic voice, and perhaps even the face of an angel – the one bridge between mankind and their Creator, one who holds the key to all of life's unanswerable questions. 
  Was this man delusional? Perhaps so, but perhaps not. But there was no question among those on hand that this was not an ignorant, philistine, unlettered buffoon of a man who readily boarded the train of groundless superstition. Far from it, this was a man who held not only a master's degree, but a doctorate, and his simultaneously stimulating and mesmerizing lectures drew crowds of royals and nobles from near and far. This was a man who was well-versed in a host of academic fields, and he would go on to serve as one of his queen's foremost personal advisers. He was also a prolific author whose revolutionary ideas helped charted the path for the burgeoning British Empire. 
  The man in question is none other than John Dee, one of the greatest scientific minds of his time, but also one of the most controversial. He was a learned man in fields as varied as mathematics and astronomy, centuries before they became formalized fields of study, but he is better remembered for performing magic and alchemy. Instead of astronomy, he became renowned across England for astrology, and he was one of the country’s most notorious occult writers during his life.

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  At The Front - A General's...

  Jannie Geldenhuys

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  General Jannie Geldenhuys is widely regarded as one of the leading military commanders South Africa has produced. As Chief of the South African Defence Force from 1985 to 1990, he brought his experience to bear on the Border War in Namibia, and was part of the negotiating team that brought an end to the conflict in 1989. In this completely revised and updated edition, Geldenhuys reflects on a military career spanning more than four decades. At the Front covers the years before and during the protracted Border War, and consists of Geldenhuys' personal experiences and insights. He sheds light on the final years of the conflict and the negotiated settlement, and also writes of his early years, as he evolved from a rugby-mad young officer to a deep-thinking, reflective man with ever-sharpening insights into war, peace, politics and, most of all, himself.

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  A Taste for Murder

  Burl Barer, Frank C. Girardot

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  As seen on Investigation Discovery: “A true crime murder mystery that will leave you gasping for breath.” —Steve Jackson, New York Times–bestselling author of No Stone Unturned   Frank Rodriguez, a much-loved counselor of troubled teens, lies dead on the bedroom floor. His wife and stepdaughter are in shock, and so is the medical examiner when he performs the autopsy. Aside from being dead, Frank is in perfect health.   Demanding to know the cause of her husband’s death, Angie Rodriguez badgers the police, insisting that Frank was murdered. The cops attribute her assertions to overwhelming grief, but soon they too believe that Frank didn’t die of natural causes.   When the police enlist their number one suspect to help in the investigation, things spiral out of control until law enforcement is dealing with a daring plot to murder Angie’s best friend, and allegations of another homicide so evil and perverse that even seasoned LA County Detectives are shocked beyond belief . . .  New York Times–bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author “Burl Barer, with co-author Frank Giradot, has hit yet another home run with this crime story. A smart and well-written who-dunnit tale” (Cathy Scott, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of The Killing of Tupac Shakur).   “A doozy of a murder.” —Suzy Spencer, New York Times–bestselling author of Breaking Point

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  Success After Failure

  Tavis Smiley

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  Is there success after failure? Talk show greats Tavis Smiley and Phil Donohue discuss.

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  The Countess of Saint-Geran -...

  Alexandre Dumas

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  To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times.In this, the fourteenth of the series, Dumas, the novelist-historian, brings his story-telling skills to a famous subject: the background of one of the most famouse of French lawsuits, that centering around the secret abduction of Bernard de la Guiche, later Count of Saint-Geran, from the child-bed of his mother Suzanne de Longaunay, by the Marquis de Saint-Maixant--a notorious womanizer, schemer, and probably murderer. Dumas gives us the whole story, basing his tale on well-established historical sources, from the time when the Marquis first insinuated himself into the family to the outcome of the lawsuit contesting Bernard's identity and legitimacy as the heir of the La Guiche fortune. It is a story of remarkable perfidy, cruelt and betrayal of trust.Of course, Dumas, the dramatist and novelist, cannot help embellishing the work of Dumas, the historian. He gives us words and actions that cannot possibly be part of the historical record from scenes that are as effectively histrionic as they are undocumented. However, all his melodrama is well based on his history, and he certainly makes a wonderful tale out of his materials.Dumas may have collaborated on this, as he frequently did in his works, with other writers. Nevertheless, it is clearly Dumas who has the final say on this work, as with all the other works in this series.Enjoy!

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  Thomas Henry Lyon - Architect...

  Michael Yelton

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  Thomas Henry Lyon (1869–1953) was an important architect whose work has often been ignored, because he did not take up the Modernist ideas of many of his contemporaries. His work was also almost entirely concentrated in either Cambridge or the edge of Dartmoor. His contribution to the inter-War development of the Colleges of Cambridge was immense and often overlooked: this book seeks to restore his reputation.
  
   
  The book restores to public consciousness the extensive architectural work carried out by Lyon, particularly in Cambridge, and does not gloss over the disaster of a church in Wembley which had to be closed after less than 30 years. It also looks at the important work he carried out in South Australia in the pre-1914 age, as well as his masterly reconstruction and furnishing of Sidney Sussex College chapel, which established his reputation. It has been extensively researched in archives across England, but particularly in those of the Colleges of Cambridge.

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