“Sing, Goddess, of the wrath of Pēleús’ son Akhilleús, the accursed wrath that caused Akhaíans countless woes and hurled headlong To Hāḯdēs a host of heroes’ souls And left their bodies spoil for dogs and all The birds of carrion. The will of Zeús Was brought to pass from when Agamémnōn, The Lord of men, opposed the consummate Akhilleús. Which God was it that set the two At odds?” So begins the Íliad, Homer’s epic song about the invasion of Troy by a force of Greeks led by Agamémnōn, King of Mykḗnē. They are seeking revenge for the abduction from Spártē of Helénē, the most beautiful woman on earth, by Páris, Prince of Troy. The walls of Troy seem to be impregnable and the fortunes of the Greeks are further set back when their greatest warrior, the fleet-of-foot Akhilleús, falls out with King Agamémnōn and withdraws from the battle. The Íliad recounts what happens in the next fifty days at the beginning of the tenth and final year of the war. By the end of this first volume, the fortunes of the Greeks are at a low ebb. The Trojans are storming the Argive wall and breach it to pour through and fight close to the ships, though Akhilleus still refuses to join the battle. This new translation adheres closely to the original text, rendering it in iambic pentameter, with attention to the dramatic similes characteristic of Homer. A detailed Introduction is provided together with Notes for Books I-XII.

"As Mercury dwelleth near the Sun, so I abide in the heart of my Lord. My feet run upon His errands and by my mouth are His words spoken." Thus wrote Brother XII in the preface to "The Three Truths," describing his role as the divinely-ordained agent of an ancient mystical Brotherhood known as the Great White Lodge. As the agent of this mysterious fraternity, Edward Arthur Wilson, aka Brother XII, a slight, soft-spoken former English sea-captain, embarked on a dramatic and sensational career that established him as one of the most fascinating figures in the history of modern religion. "Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th-century Prophet" chronicles the life and exploits of the enigmatic figure who established a utopian community in southern British Columbia in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The tales of gold, sex and black magic associated with Brother XII and his flamboyant mistress, a whip-wielding devotee of ritual magic with the pulp-fiction name of Madame Z, have gripped people's imaginations for years, and the story has been described as a "Gone with The Wind" of the occult, an evocative mixture of the sacred and profane. Though other religious figures may be better known, for pure drama, nothing rivals the story of Brother XII. Though Brother XII largely fell through the cracks of history, his amazing chronicle is being rediscovered, for it rings with contemporary relevance; not only was he a prototypical cult leader, he was a genuine mystic and seer, while also writing on political issues in a way that eerily foreshadows the world today. Brother XII was both a forerunner of the New Age and one of the few spiritual teachers of his time to give expression to the geopolitical and conspiratorial concerns that dominate the cultural debate today. Both mystic and mountebank, seer and charlatan, he was a complex, contradictory individual, the ultimate "man of mystery." The story of Brother XII features an intriguing cast of characters who find themselves irresistibly drawn to the power of this classic rogue messiah, a spiritual anti-hero possessed of a Nietzschean will to power. After the destruction of his colony, Brother XII and Madame Z fled with nearly half-a-million dollars in gold, outwitting the authorities and escaping justice. Brother XII's fate is uncertain, for his death in Switzerland remains a matter of speculation. For all that is known about him, he's still an elusive figure, leaving his metaphysical teachings and the provocative legend that has grown up around him as his legacy. Praise for "Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th-century Prophet " "I found myself totally absorbed...a book that will become a classic of its kind. I know of no more fascinating or better researched study of a 'false messiah.'" From the Foreword by Colin Wilson "Sex, sadism, black magic and mystery upon mystery. It sounds like the recipe for a Stephen King potboiler, and author John Oliphant has made the most of it. The difference is that Oliphant's Brother XII is a true story...a marvelous web of suspense and intrigue...riveting stuff." "The Vancouver Sun" ""Brother XII" is a fascinating read " William Gibson "A tremendously exciting story of the religious mania in extreme form. Brother XII is a type who recurs throughout human history, and Oliphant provides not only a great horror tale, but a warning as to how we can recognize such types and be armed against them. I heartily recommend this book." Robert Anton Wilson "Sharing the brilliance of an L. Ron Hubbard, the destructiveness of a Jim Jones, and the hypnotic hold of a Rasputin, E. A. Wilson ranks as one of the most intriguing, mysterious, and infamously charismatic and prophetic cult leaders to grace the annals of North American history...a well-documented...thoroughly fascinating book." "Theosophical History "

The 'long twelfth century' (1075–1225) was an era of seminal importance in the development of the book in medieval Europe and marked a high point in its construction and decoration. This comprehensive study takes the cultural changes that occurred during the 'twelfth-century Renaissance' as its point of departure to provide an overview of manuscript culture encompassing the whole of Western Europe. Written by senior scholars, chapters are divided into three sections: the technical aspects of making books; the processes and practices of reading and keeping books; and the transmission of texts in the disciplines that saw significant change in the period, including medicine, law, philosophy, liturgy, and theology. Richly illustrated, the volume provides the first in-depth account of book production as a European phenomenon.

Over the past eleven years, the photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber has published the book series All-American, an independent portfolio of work by artists, photographers, essayists, poets, and personalities whose lives and accomplishments warrant celebration. The latest volume in the series is again a collection by Weber that is motivated equally by admiration and a desire to connect. Sometimes the subjects are already wellknown in their own right, but just as often the participants are relatively unknown, noteworthy because their stories or accomplishments reveal something that resonates on a deeper, more personal level. All-American XII explores the true characters of the American landscape. SELLING POINTS: *The All-American series is a curiosity cabinet of the contemporary American vernacular, seen through the lens of one of its quintessential image makers *Compelling for current collectors of the series, as well as admirers of contemporary photography ILLUSTRATIONS: 51 colour & 144 tritone photographs

Giovanni Villani’s New Chronicle traces the history of Europe, Italy, and Florence over a vast sweep of time – from the Tower of Babel to the great earthquake of 1348. In the eleventh and twelfth books, Villani depicts a particularly eventful period in the history of Florence, whose grandeur is illustrated in several famous chapters describing the city’s income, expenses, and magnificence. The dramatic account follows Florence’s internal affairs as well as its conflicts with powerful lords like Castruccio Castracani and Mastino della Scala. The chronicler’s perspective, however, ranges beyond his city, as he documents such events as the imperial coronation of Louis of Bavaria, the penitential pilgrimage of Venturino da Bergamo, and the first campaigns of the Hundred Year’s War.