One man’s greed can change the course of history forever... FIFTH CENTURY BC, ATHENS Humble sculptor, Nikodimos, toils away in his workshop to create a sumptuous marble masterpiece of Athena Parthenos destined for the Parthenon. NINETEENTH CENTURY AD, ATHENS Lord Quimby, blinded by greed, plunders the ancient Parthenon of its dearest treasures, watched by his helpless nephew. PRESENT DAY Young Cambridge student, Max Perceval, discovers a dark secret about his late ancestor and realises all is not what it seems in the Museum of Classical Antiquities.

Based in Celtic Ireland, approximately 400-450 A.D., Lia Dán – Stone of Destiny entwines the old gods of the emerald isle in a desperate attempt to rid their land of a power-hungry pre-Viking Norse invader. Using the magical Lia Dán to reach into the future, the Mother Goddess of Celtic Ireland foresees her land dying under waves of invading Norsemen, and so draws herself and her fellow gods into a risky plan to rid the land of this Viking Dreadlord’s presence. Through cautious seeds cultivated when the white-haired invader first arrived, the goddess’s efforts produce Breanna Ban Morna, a skilled warrior who bears a geas of hate against the lord of the Norsemen, a hate fueled by the magic of the druids. The bizarre spell draws Breanna into a web of magic that leads her on a quest to kill the Dreadlord, a quest that would warp the very fabric of time if she carries out the goddess’s plans—plans which could claim her very soul.

Presenting the ancient Holy Grail lineage from Asia and how the Knights Templar were initiated into it, this book reveals how ancient Asian wisdom became the foundation for the Holy Grail legend.

After leaving her abusive ex, American scholar Brielle DeVolt embarks on a career-changing opportunity, the renovation of Laird Colin MacDougall’s Chapel ruin. The attractive, broad-shouldered Laird leaves her weak-kneed, but can she trust herself to love again? Dusted in construction dirt, the curvy beauty in his study captivates Colin. As Brielle steps to the window, her brunette tresses halo in the sunlight, and he sees her as his dream soul mate. When he learns his hereditary duty is safeguarding magic Fae stones, all he wants is to protect Brielle from the evil forces of the Fae. Traveling to the past to assume his forefather’s identity and find a missing magic stone is challenging enough. When Brielle appears, an undeniable attraction to his ancestor ignites, causing her confused passion. Faced with fighting an evil Fae to save the realms, Colin must choose between saving the stone or saving his love.

Constructed in 1297−1300 for King Edward I, the Coronation Chair ranks amongst the most remarkable and precious treasures to have survived from the Middle Ages. It incorporated in its seat a block of sandstone, which the king seized at Scone, following his victory over the Scots in 1296. For centuries, Scottish kings had been inaugurated on this symbolic ‘Stone of Scone’, to which a copious mythology had also become attached. Edward I presented the Chair, as a holy relic, to the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, and most English monarchs since the fourteenth century have been crowned in it, the last being HM Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. The Chair and the Stone have had eventful histories: in addition to physical alterations, they suffered abuse in the eighteenth century, suffragettes attached a bomb to them in 1914, they were hidden underground during the Second World War, and both were damaged by the gang that sacrilegiously broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone in 1950. It was recovered and restored to the Chair, but since 1996 the Stone has been exhibited on loan in Edinburgh Castle. Now somewhat battered through age, the Chair was once highly ornate, being embellished with gilding, painting and colored glass. Yet, despite its profound historical significance, until now it has never been the subject of detailed archaeological recording. Moreover, the remaining fragile decoration was in need of urgent conservation, which was carried out in 2010−12, accompanied by the first holistic study of the Chair and Stone. In 2013 the Chair was redisplayed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Coronation of HM The Queen. The latest investigations have revealed and documented the complex history of the Chair: it has been modified on several occasions, and the Stone has been reshaped and much altered since it left Scone. This volume assembles, for the first time, the complementary evidence derived from history, archaeology and conservation, and presents a factual account of the Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone, not as separate artifacts, but as the entity that they have been for seven centuries. Their combined significance to the British Monarchy and State – and to the history and archaeology of the English and Scottish nations – is greater than the sum of their parts. Also published here for the first time is the second Coronation Chair, made for Queen Mary II in 1689. Finally, accounts are given of the various full-size replica chairs in Britain and Canada, along with a selection of the many models in metal and ceramic which have been made during the last two centuries.

This is a reissue of a popular text, for Standard Grade History exams. We have added 8 pages 'Into the Millennium' to update the text, and added exam questions under the new headings of Knowledge and Understanding and Line of Enquiry, at General and Credit levels.