The surprising and compelling story of two rival geniuses in an all-out race to decode one of the world's most famous documents--the Rosetta Stone--and their twenty-year-long battle to solve the mystery of ancient Egypt's hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum ever year, and yet most people don't really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries. Carved in ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone carried the same message in different languages--in Greek using Greek letters, and in Egyptian using picture-writing called hieroglyphs. Until its discovery, no one in the world knew how to read the hieroglyphs that covered every temple and text and statue in Egypt. Dominating the world for thirty centuries, ancient Egypt was the mightiest empire the world had ever known, yet everything about it--the pyramids, mummies, the Sphinx--was shrouded in mystery. Whoever was able to decipher the Rosetta Stone, and learn how to read hieroglyphs, would solve that mystery and fling open a door that had been locked for two thousand years. Two brilliant rivals set out to win that prize. One was English, the other French, at a time when England and France were enemies and the world's two great superpowers. The Writing of the Gods chronicles this high-stakes intellectual race in which the winner would win glory for both himself and his nation. A riveting portrait of empires both ancient and modern, this is an unparalleled look at the culture and history of ancient Egypt and a fascinating, fast-paced story of human folly and discovery unlike any other.

Are you tired of the same old boring god you've worshipped for years? Looking for something new and exciting? The Book of the Gods has the answer! Explore hundreds of deities of all shapes, sizes, genders, colours with myriad powers.This is the official book of the leading mythological website Godchecker and is packed full of extraordinary facts and mythological trivia. Who is the god of shoes? The god of football? The god of fluff?From the gods of Greece and Rome to the bizarre and often downright scary gods of Oceania and the Aztecs you will find there is a deity for every occasion. Alongside the A-Z listings are 20 introductory essays that give an entertaining and accessible overview of each pantheon.

What are gods and why do people believe in them? Where did they come from and what do they do? This book answers all those questions and more! David G. McAfee, who studies religions and writes books, has teamed up with writer and cartoonist Chuck Harrison to help everyone learn about beliefs, gods, and religion! The first book in this series was The Belief Book, which is all about why people believe the things they do, and now they are taking the next step by bringing you The Book of Gods... It doesn't matter how old you are. If you want to learn more about gods from around the globe, including where they came from and how belief in them has spread over time, this easy-to-read book is for you! The fully illustrated and interactive Book of Gods is for readers and thinkers of all ages, including kids and kids at heart.

With no memory of his past, a lone hero must fight two battles—one to understand his identity and one to defeat the demon that now plagues Faerûn Demascus wakes up on the cold stone slab of an ancient altar. He doesn’t know who he is. He doesn’t know where he’s from. He doesn’t even know his own name until a stranger tells it to him. But someone—or something—wants to kill him. This he knows with the certainty of the grave. At the same time, a demon from a dead universe—a gift from the Chained God—is freed from its fossilized prison. Its essence takes root in the nightmare reality of the living, sparking a transformation once thought halted by forgotten heroes. Dodging knives, uncovering clues left by his past life, and dueling demons, Demascus must figure out who he is, who his enemies are, and what battles he is fighting. Along the way, he will discover that he is the last of the forgotten heroes—the only thing that stands between the light of the world and the phantasmagorical torments of the Abyss.

* Chicago Tribune "Fall literary preview: books you need to read now" * Vulture "The Best and Biggest Books to Read This Fall" * The Guardian "A best book of 2019" After moving with his wife and two children to a smallholding in Ireland, Paul Kingsnorth expects to find contentment. It is the goal he has sought — to nest, to find home — after years of rootlessness as an environmental activist and author. Instead he finds that his tools as a writer are failing him, calling into question his foundational beliefs about language and setting him at odds with culture itself. Informed by his experiences with indigenous peoples, the writings of D.H. Lawrence and Annie Dillard, and the day-to-day travails of farming his own land, Savage Gods asks: what does it mean to belong? What sacrifices must be made in order to truly inhabit a life? And can words ever paint the truth of the world — or are they part of the great lie which is killing it?

the final book of this fabulous trilogy from the bestselling author of the Magicians' Guild.As protector of the Siyee, Auraya goes to investigate when a landwalker stranger is seen in Siyee lands and meets a mysterious woman claiming to be a friend of Mirar's, the founder of the Dreamwalkers. Auraya's growing respect for this woman puts her on a path of direct conflict with the gods. the Pentadrians, frustrated by their defeat at the hands of the Circlians, plot and scheme to bring down their enemies by means other than direct conflict. the White send the Siyee into Southern Ithania to assist in fighting the Pentadrians and the gods allow Auraya to accompany them ... under certain conditions.In the south, Mirar enjoys acceptance and respect as he reclaims his place among his people. But that freedom will come at a cost.

Why cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics: men and women had sex, and sometimes babies followed. But beyond that the origins of life were a colossal mystery. The Seeds of Life is the remarkable and rollicking story of how a series of blundering geniuses and brilliant amateurs struggled for two centuries to discover where, exactly, babies come from. Taking a page from investigative thrillers, acclaimed science writer Edward Dolnick looks to these early scientists as if they were detectives hot on the trail of a bedeviling and urgent mystery. These strange searchers included an Italian surgeon using shark teeth to prove that female reproductive organs were not 'failed' male genitalia, and a Catholic priest who designed ingenious miniature pants to prove that frogs required semen to fertilize their eggs. A witty and rousing history of science, The Seeds of Life presents our greatest scientists struggling-against their perceptions, their religious beliefs, and their deep-seated prejudices-to uncover how and where we come from.