USED BOOK. MAY CONTAIN MARK-UP

By Ron Hansen

"Scrupulously researched. Hansen's informed interpretation of events makes convincing, if melancholy, reading." -Boston Sunday Globe

"A novel that reads like history." -Austin American-Statesman,

"A carefully crafted and distinctly macabre work of fiction." -Village Voice

"Hansen has written a convincing novel that is provocative, disturbing, and illuminating." -Raleigh News & Observer

"Hansen is a fearless storyteller. . .. [He] creates a savagely human portrait of Hitler. . .. [Hitler's Niece] reads, like all good books, as a vehicle for the writer's obsession--an intelligent, haunting, an‹ oddly devotional exploration of the unimaginable Hitler in love. -BookForum

NY. Perennial. 1999. 321p.

USED BOOK. MAY CONTAIN MARK-IP

By Robert Graves

“The troublesome reign of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, emperor of the Romans (born 10 b.c., died a.d. 54), as described by himself; also his murder at the hands of the notorious agrippin a (mother of the emperor nero) and his subsequent deification, as described by others.”

NY. Vintage Random House. 1962. 584p.

USED BOOK. MAY CONTAIN MARK-UP

By Hilary Mantel

FROM CHAPTER 1:

“So now get up."

Felled, dazed, silent, he has fallen; knocked full length on the cobbles of the yard. His head turns sideways; his eyes are turned toward the gate, as if someone might arrive to help him out. One blow, properly placed, could i kill him now. Blood from the gash on his head--which was his father's first effort is trickling across his face. Add to this, his left eye is blinded; but if he squints sideways, with his right eye he can see that the stitching of his father's boot is unraveling. The twine has sprung clear of the leather, and a hard knot in it has caught his eyebrow and opened another cut.”

NY. Henry Holt and Company. 2009. 548p.

By Madeline Miller

FROM USA TODAY: “"It takes a truly gifted writer to make a song this old feel this beauti- fully new. What's startling about this sharply written, cleverly reimagined, enormously promising debut novel from Madeline Miller is how fresh and moving her take on the tale is--how she has managed to bring Achilles and his companion Patroclus to life in our time without removing them from their own."

NY. Harper Collins. 2012. 426p. USED BOOK. CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Colleen McCullough

FROM THE COVER: “The publication thirteen years ago of Birds was a landmark event, a remarkable achievement now surpassed by a novel in which storytelling and scholarship combine to bring to life one of history's most important epochs. The First Man in Rome sweeps the reader into an irresistibly vivid world of political intrigue, danger, wars, assassinations, devas- tating upheaval, intricately passionate family alliances and rivalries - and undeniable reality. It is New Year's Day of 110 B.C., and two of the latest in a long line of noble Roman mediocrities are assuming the coveted mantle of consul. But among those watching are two very different men, men whose vision, ruthlessness, and courage will force shattering change upon the Roman Republic, strug- gling to cope with mushrooming territorial possessions and the growing resentment of the Italians it treats as third-class citizens. One of these two men is Marius, a wealthy rustic barred by his low birth from grasping his prophesied destiny, to become the First Man in Rome- he who stands above all his peers through sheer excellence. The second is (continued on back flap)…..”

NY. William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1960. 897p. USED BOOK CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Steele Rudd

Sydneeele Ruddy. Angus and Robertson. 1899. 258p.

"On Our Selection" is a play and a collection of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd (real name Arthur Hoey Davis) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The stories are based on Rudd's own experiences growing up in rural Queensland and revolve around the trials and tribulations of a farming family, the Rudds.

The character of Dad Rudd, the patriarch of the family, has become an iconic figure in Australian literature and is known for his wit, wisdom, and resilience in the face of adversity. The stories offer a humorous and affectionate portrayal of rural life in Australia at the turn of the century, and explore the themes of family, community, and the struggle for survival in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

"On Our Selection" was first published in 1899 and became an instant success, both in Australia and overseas. The stories have been adapted into several films, plays, and television series over the years, and continue to be celebrated as a classic example of Australian literature.

By Courtney Collins

This moving debut novel was inspired by the life of Australian Elizabeth Jessie Hickman, a runaway convict born in 1820. In Collins poetically reimagined tribute, 22-year-old Jessie is on the run after killing her brutal husband. She has recently given birth to a stillborn child whose spirit is somehow tethered to her mother and who narrates the story. Jessie has already lived a dramatic life; she once worked as a circus acrobat and then as a horse rustler but is now desperate to escape the posse of men who want to hang her for murder. While she runs, she thinks of her short, sweet relationship with the Aboriginal stockman Jack Brown, whose gentle ways were a welcome relief from the beatings administered by her drunken husband. She finds an idyllic camp in the mountains made up of desperate boys who steal horses and thinks she might finally have found a refuge, but the lawmen are not far behind. This intense read, with dark undertones of death and foreboding, contains breathtaking descriptions of the Australian bush and a lyrical homage to Jessie’s desperate quest for freedom.

NY. Berkley Books. 2012. 284p.

By Sir Walter Scott.

“Edinburgh, 1736: an indignant crowd has gathered in the Grassmarket to watch the execution of a smuggler...” Opening with the start of the Porteous Riots, The Heart of Midlothian is one of Walter Scott's most famous historical novels, featuring murder, madness and seduction. Following his brutal suppression of the spectators, John Porteous, Captain of the Guard, is charged with murder and locked up in Edinburgh's Tolbooth prison, also known as the Heart of Midlothian. When news comes that he has been pardoned, an angry mob breaks into the jail, liberating its inmates and bringing Porteous to its own form of justice. But one prisoner who fails to take this opportunity to flee is Effie Deans, who, wrongly convicted of infanticide, has been sentenced to death. Jeanie, her older sister, sets off to London on foot to beg for her pardon from the queen.

Boston: Dana Estes & Co., 1893.

By Sir Walter Scott.

“The Author, on a former occasion, declined giving the real source from which he drew the tragic subject of this history, because, though occurring at a distant period, it might possibly be unpleasing to the feelings of the descendants of the parties. But as he finds an account of the circumstances given in the Notes to Law's Memorials by his ingenious friend Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq., and also indicated in his reprint of the Rev. Mr. Symson's poems, appended to the Description of Galloway as the original of the Bride of Lammermoor, the Author feels himself now at liberty to tell the tale as he had it from connections of his own, who lived very near the period, and were closely related to the family of the Bride.

London: Collins Clear -Type Press, 1900. 416p.

By E. Phillips Oppenheim.

“An Englishman is enjoying his dinner at Stephano's, at which he is a regular diner. A man enters quickly, sits at his table, starts eating his food, and hands him a packet underneath the table! So begins Paul Walmsley's acquaintance - and adventures - with American adventurer Joseph H. Parker and his lovely daughter, Eve.”

Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1916.341p.

By Edgar Allan Poe.

The discovery of a message in code on a shoreline formerly infested with pirates sends William Legrand and his friends on a hunt for buried treasure.

London: Routledge, 1891. 153p.

By Wilkie Collins.

This book is a 19th-century novel by the master of sensation fiction, Wilkie Collins. A country gentleman is killed in an accident and his wife dies shortly after him. The blow is double for their daughters, who discover that they were born before their parents were married. Their sudden illegitimacy robs them of their inheritance and their accustomed place in society.

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873. 622p.

By Wilkie Collins. .

A Novel . Two of the characters which appear in these pages -- "Rosamond," and "Uncle Joseph" -- had the good fortune to find friends everywhere who took a hearty liking to them. A more elaborately drawn personage in the story -- "Sarah Leeson" -- was, I think, less generally understood. The idea of tracing, in this character, the influence of a heavy responsibility on a naturally timid woman, whose mind was neither strong enough to bear it, nor bold enough to drop it altogether, was a favorite idea with me, at the time, and is so much a favorite still, that I privately give "Sarah Leeson" the place of honor in the little portrait-gallery which my story contains.

London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857. 322p.

By G.K. Chesterton.

When two men decide to fight for their respective beliefs, they discover to their astonishment that an unbelieving world won’t let them, and they find themselves partners and fugitives from the law in this steampunk satire. Penned by G.K. Chesterton in 1909, this whimsical and biting novel eerily foreshadows a world in which “tolerance” is the only god and all those who believe ideas are worth dying for are forced to stand together to defend freedom of speech and belief.

New York: J. Lane, 1909. 436p.

By G.K. Chesterton.

It is very difficult to classify The Man Who Was Thursday. It is possible to say that it is a gripping adventure story of murderous criminals and brilliant policemen; but it was to be expected that the author of the Father Brown stories should tell a detective story like no-one else. On this level, therefore, The Man Who Was Thursday succeeds superbly; if nothing else, it is a magnificent tour-de-force of suspense-writing. However, the reader will soon discover that it is much more than that. Carried along on the boisterous rush of the narrative by Chesterton’s wonderful high-spirited style, he will soon see that he is being carried into much deeper waters than he had planned on; and the totally unforeseeable denouement will prove for the modern reader, as it has for thousands of others since 1908 when the book was first published, an inevitable and moving experience, as the investigators finally discover who Sunday is.

Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, 1908. 329p.

By Gaston Leroux.

Young engineer Raymond Ozoux, accompanied by his uncle, arrives in Peru to meet his fiancée, Marie-Thérèse. Meanwhile, descendents of the Incas are preparing a great feast during which a virgin will be sacrificed to the Sun, walled up alive in a secret temple. At the same time, a mysterious Inca bracelet is sent to Marie-Thérèse purporting to be a gift of the Sun to his future bride.. The young girl is then kidnapped by the Incas and Raymond, his uncle and Marie-Thérèse's father set out on a trek across Peru to free her while a revolution shakes the country.

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1912) 177 pages.

By Gaston Leroux.

Excerpt: “Excerpt: "The Nut lay on the scorching beach facing the terrible sea in which the hungry sharks, the warders of his prison, were disporting. The convict was like a weary animal at rest. In truth, he had availed himself of the "relaxation" at ten o'clock to seek out a little fresh air and seclusion between two precipitous crags which cut him off from the rest of the convict settlement. If only he could live alone! No longer to hear anything. No longer to see anything! No longer to think of anything. But how could he help thinking of what he had seen, of what he had been compelled to see, that morning?"

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1924) 191 pages.

By Charles Dickens..

This is a rare detective story of Charles Dickens. The main character is a smart and attentive man named Sampson. One day he sees a strange Mr. Julius Silton in his office acting strangely as though he is hiding something. Sampson suspects that a crime is occurring and and from this point he becomes a real hunter of criminals. The story's antagonist is probably based on the real life of poisoner Thomas Wainewright.

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1859) 39 pages.

By Charles Dickens.

This is Dickens’ tenth novel, published without illustrations, in Household Word, his weekly journal. Dickens continues to fly the banner of social reform, touching on themes of industrialization, education, and utilitarianism in the sweeping Industrial Revolution of the 1850's.

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1854) 302 pages.