In the beginning, says the ancient Hindu text the Rg Veda, was man. And from man’s sacrifice and dismemberment came the entire world, including the hierarchical ordering of human society. The Head Beneath the Altar is the first book to present a wide-ranging study of Hindu texts read through the lens of René Girard’s mimetic theory of the sacrificial origin of religion and culture. For those interested in Girard and comparative religion, the book also performs a careful reading of Girard’s work, drawing connections between his thought and the work of theorists like Georges Dumézil and Giorgio Agamben. Brian Collins examines the idea of sacrifice from the earliest recorded rituals through the flowering of classical mythology and the ancient Indian institutions of the duel, the oath, and the secret warrior society. He also uncovers implicit and explicit critiques in the tradition, confirming Girard’s intuition that Hinduism offers an alternative anti-sacrificial worldview to the one contained in the gospels.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

The epic historical saga of the most powerful nation in the Forgotten Realms— as told by the world's co-creators Aided and abetted by a powerful family of wizards, the Obarskyr family has ruled Cormyr since its inception one and a half millennia ago. Now, Cormyr's benevolent king, Azoun IV, lies overcome by a deadly malady from which he may not recover. When the vultures begin to circle, hoping to usurp the throne for their own, many question the loyalty of the king’s wizard and advisor, Vangerdahast. It is against this crisis of state that the history of the Forest Kingdom unfolds, relaying the previously untold story of a nation, its rulers, and its wizards.