Set during the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, The Golden Cord -- the second book in The Long-Aimed Blow series -- opens with unbridled cruelty. Caradoc's lust to rule Albion drives him to eliminate all in his path. He murders his father and his own wife, then he exiles his brother, Amminus, the rightful heir to the throne. Left behind are his twin sons, Boaz and Jachin. Each mistakenly believes the other has been killed by their father. As they mature into adults, their lives take very different paths -- with one becoming a Greek physician and the other a Roman legionnaire. Now High King of Albion, will Caradoc be dethroned when Amminus resurfaces? Will the twins reunite? Will Jachin sate his thirst for revenge by killing his father? Or will Caradoc's ruthless ambition continue to destroy his sons' lives? The Golden Cord taps into the age-old themes of familial love, unrestrained ambition, breathtaking adventure, and reckless revenge intertwined with hope and redemption, recovery and faith. It's a tale vast in scope, conveying an ancient world where loyalties and passions violently collide, culminating in total war.

This book contains not only more than 400 sea shanties but as much of their history as Stan Hugill could collect in his extraordinary career as sailor, scholar, author, artist, and inspiration to new generations of sea-music enthusiasts and performers.

Wrenched by tragedy from a peaceful and respectable middle-class home in Victorian London, Hannah Kemball finds herself accompanying her father, Captain “Cracker Jack” Kemball, aboard the tea-clipper Erl King on a voyage to China. It is 1869. In shanghai and Foochow, the crack British tea-clippers are loading the season’s tea, preparing for the annual race to bring their valuable cargoes and the fortunes of their swaggering crews halfway around the world to the London market. Unfortunately for Hannah, only one thing matters t the iron-willed captains about to pit their skills against the perils of three oceans: to be the first to make it home. Overconfident of victory, Captain Kemball strikes a wager with the sinister Captain Richards of the Seawitch. The stakes: Hannah’s hand in marriage. The race is on, and as the sails unfurl, so do the dangers for Hannah aboard her father’s ship. As the fastest sailing vessels ever built storm across the world’s oceans, she learns that this is a race with no rules, and that murder, mayhem and deceit are all part of the game.

The theme of this volume is the American relationship with Macao and its region through trade, politics and culture, and the focus is mainly on the late 18th and 19th centuries. The essays address topics such as the role of the China trade in US pacific expansion and exploration, US consuls, smuggling networks, missionary and educational work, and American women's perceptions of China. In all of the encounters, Macao emerges as a central player, adding a new dimension to our understanding of Sino-American relations.

The proof, says Stilgoe, is all around us.

Reveals a fascinating story of how Chinese fish curers successfully dominated Australia's fishing industry; how they lived, worked, organised themselves, participated in colonial society, and the reasons why they suddenly disappeared.