Annotation The stories of the Chinese great emperors reflect the ancient Chinese philosophy, ideology, their wisdom and their ways of administration. Liu Bang is an outstanding example. Rising from a peasant background to become Emperor, he founded the Han Dynasty which lasted for about four hundred years and essentially laid the foundations of China as we know it. Liu Bang (256 BC?195 BC), posthumously called Emperor Gaozu, was a low-ranking functionary in an obscure corner of the realm when he caught the wave of the great uprisings against the Qin Dynasty. First as leader of a local contingent and then as general of larger and larger armies, he eventually overthrew the despotic Qin emperor. Today, the Han are the majority ethnic identity in China. This is the story of the rise of Emperor Gaozu, his alliances and his rivalries, and the priceless partnership provided by his chief military strategist Zhang Liang, who planned victorious campaigns from a distance of 1000 miles; Xiao He, who stabilized the state, pacified the people, and assured the food supply to the army; and General Han Xin, who commanded the Han army in its conquest of the State of Wei, the State of Zhao, the State of Yan and the State of Qi and played a great role in the defeat of Xiang Yu.

An abused child, yet confident of her destiny to reign, a woman in a man's world, passionately sexual—though, as she maintained, a virgin—Elizabeth I is famed as England's most successful ruler. David Starkey's brilliant new biography concentrates on Elizabeth's formative years—from her birth in 1533 to her accession in 1558—and shows how the experiences of danger and adventure formed her remarkable character and shaped her opinions and beliefs. From princess and heir-apparent to bastardized and disinherited royal, accused traitor to head of the princely household, Elizabeth experienced every vicissitude of fortune and extreme of condition—and rose above it all to reign during a watershed moment in history. A uniquely absorbing tale of one young woman's turbulent, courageous, and seemingly impossible journey toward the throne, Elizabeth is the exhilarating story of the making of a queen.

"Focussing on the intense period of raised hopes and dashed expectations between Christmas 1602 and Christmas 1603, Leanda de Lisle tells in detail the story of Elizabeth's death and how the suffocating conservatism of her rule was replaced with that of the energetic, seemingly fair-minded James." "As James journeys south from Scotland, he is confronted with the extraordinary wealth of his new kingdom, but also with English contempt for his Scots entourage and a stubborn rejection of his hopes for the union of Britain. As the welcome turns sour, those who are disappointed in James turn to intrique and hatch plots against him before the crown is even on his head. Lives are lost and fortunes won in the struggle for power and influence."--BOOK JACKET.

This is the story of the rise of Emperor Gaozu, his alliances and his rivalries, and the priceless partnership provided by his chief military strategist Zhang Liang, who planned victorious campaigns from 1000 miles distance; Xiao He, who stabilized the state, pacified the people, and assured the food supply to the army; and General Han Xin, who commanded the Han army in its conquest of the State of Wei, the State of Zhao, the State of Yan and the State of Qi and played a great role in the defeat of Xiang Yu. Most of the material used in writing The Road to the Throne are taken from the Records of the Grand Historian (Chinese: 史記 or shiji) by the great Sima Qian (145 BC to 85 BC) of the Early Han Dynasty, which is not only a great work of history but also a great work of literature. Interwoven into the chronological narrative of battles fought and alliances forged, forced, or flouted, we find edifying examples of good leadership versus bad, hot-headed fighters versus disciplined warriors who bide their time and win the day, and lessons on how to test and win people's loyalty, and how to prevail under the most disadvantageous conditions. In an era we may think was run by sheer force and autocratic rule, the greatest achievements are credited to the person who accepts advice, who rewards wise subordinates, and who shares the spoils rather than playing winner-takes-all.

When Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-two, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea in the west all the way to modern-day India in the east. In an unusual compromise, his two heirs—a mentally damaged half brother, Philip III, and an infant son, Alexander IV, born after his death—were jointly granted the kingship. But six of Alexander’s Macedonian generals, spurred by their own thirst for power and the legend that Alexander bequeathed his rule “to the strongest,” fought to gain supremacy. Perhaps their most fascinating and conniving adversary was Alexander’s former Greek secretary, Eumenes, now a general himself, who would be the determining factor in the precarious fortunes of the royal family. James Romm, professor of classics at Bard College, brings to life the cutthroat competition and the struggle for control of the Greek world’s greatest empire.

In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them.

Revelation is often considered one of the most confusing books of the Bible, and consequently it’s regularly overlooked or ignored. But no longer. In Between the Cross and the Throne, Matthew Emerson walks us through the book of Revelation, unpacking its complex imagery and pointing out major themes. In conversational tone, he reminds us that Christ died, but he has risen. The Lord reigns, but evil persists. We live between Christ’s ascension and his final conquest—and that should give us hope.