Other books that might interest you

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  Rise of Islam in the Balkans...

  Editors Charles River

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  In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the 4th century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity’s greatest empire. Naturally, the Ottoman Empire would also use Constantinople as the capital of its empire after their conquest effectively ended the Byzantine Empire. 
  In the wake of taking Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire would spend the next few centuries expanding its size, power, and influence, bumping up against Eastern Europe and becoming one of the world’s most important geopolitical players. It was a rise that would not truly start to wane until the 19th century. In fact, its decline would be brought about not just because of military setbacks and government corruption, but also because of nationalist uprisings among its multiethnic territories. The fact that the other existing multicultural empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also did not survive World War I makes clear just how hard governing such a vast expanse of land can be. The Ottoman Empire’s inability to create a shared identity, a weak central state, and growing inner dissensions were some of the main factors explaining its long demise. 
  Of course, before that demise, the Ottomans brought plenty of their own cultural influence to the lands they reached, and nowhere is that more evident than in the spread of Islam. While Ottoman conflicts with European powers were often portrayed as religious conflicts, the fact is that the Ottomans managed to bring Islam with them into parts of Europe, especially the Balkans, and Islam took hold in various regions, adding even more demographic complexity to a place that already had no shortage of it.

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  The Age of Innocence

  Edith Wharton

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  "They lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only uttered by a set of arbitrary signs."
  
  Newland Archer is a man of the elite, a gentleman lawyer perfectly aligned with the rigid social codes of 1870s New York. His life is meticulously planned, beginning with his engagement to the beautiful, conventional May Welland. But when May's cousin, the scandalous Countess Ellen Olenska, returns from Europe seeking a divorce, Archer's world is upended. Drawn to Ellen's independence and intellectual fire, he begins to question the very foundations of the society that sustains him.
  
  The Invisible Chains of Convention: Wharton brilliantly portrays a world where "the tribal ritual" of social life is more powerful than any individual passion. As Archer and Ellen's forbidden attraction grows, the weight of family expectation and the subtle, unspoken threats of social exile begin to close in. It is a story where a dinner party can be as deadly as a duel, and a raised eyebrow can signal the end of a reputation.
  
  A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Masterpiece: The Age of Innocence is a lush, satirical, and ultimately heartbreaking exploration of the sacrifice required to belong. Wharton, an insider of the world she describes, uses her exquisite prose to dissect the hypocrisy and the hidden beauty of a vanished era. It remains the definitive novel of the American Gilded Age—a timeless study of the conflict between the heart's longing and the world's demands.
  
  Step behind the velvet curtain of Old New York. Purchase "The Age of Innocence" today and experience the elegance and the agony of a world bound by decorum.

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  Death of the Moth

  Virginia Woolf

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  'Oh yes, he seemed to say, Death is stronger than I am.'
  
  A deeply reflective and profound collection of essays meditating on the beauty, fragility and fleeting nature of life, from one of the most pioneering modernist voices in literary history: Virginia Woolf.
  
  First published in 1942 after Woolf's death, The Death of the Moth and Other Essays effortlessly blends candid personal reflection, social critique and literary analysis. Across the collection, Woolf explores everything from life, death, the creative process, politics, nature and the role of women in contemporary society, always told with her characteristic lyrical style and sharp intellect. The title essay, 'The Death of the Moth', written in the midst of Woolf's own depression, utilises the image of a moth's final moments as a powerful metaphor for the fleeting nature of life. The result is a profoundly moving and exquisitely written exploration to the meaning of life as we know it. This audiobook edition is skilfully read by Georgia Maguire.
  Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941) was one of the most significant novelists of the twentieth century. A modernist writer and progressive thinker, she is known for her stream of consciousness narrative style and influence on feminist criticism. Her works have been translated into over fifty languages and are widely read and adapted to this day.

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  Big Book of Virginia Ghost Stories

  L. B Taylor

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  “Packs big entertainment, from famous ghosts and weird hauntings to bizarre but riveting true stories that will give you quite a chill.” —Rosemary Ellen Guiley, author of The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits   Hauntings lurk and spirits linger in the Old Dominion State . . .    Reader, beware! Turn these pages and enter the world of the paranormal, where ghosts and ghouls alike creep just out of sight. Author L. B. Taylor shines a light in the dark corners of Virginia and scares those spirits out of hiding in this thrilling collection. From poltergeists that make trouble at Blue Ridge Pottery, to a phantom light on Holston Mountain, to specters haunting the battlefield of Cedar Creek, there’s no shortage of bone-chilling tales to keep you up at night. Around the campfire or tucked away on a dark and stormy night, this big book of ghost stories is a hauntingly good read.

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  Today's Authors Series: Alfred C...

  Alfred C. Martino

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  Hear a lecture given by young adult author Alfred C. Martino to high school students as he discusses the craft of writing and his novels, Pinned, Over the End Line, and Perfected By Girls.

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  Book Marketing for Authors - Get...

  Terri Ann Leidich, Julie Bromley

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  The biggest challenge for authors is transitioning from being a writer to being an author, which are two totally different occupations. Many authors have the mindset that once they are published, their publisher handles all marketing and the sales come in like magic. In today's world, that is not reality, no matter how you are published. 
   
  Written by publisher and author, Terri Ann Leidich, and author marketing coach and support, Julie Bromley, this book simplifies marketing by taking the approach of Get Ready, Get Set, Succeed, putting marketing tasks into a logical order of what needs to be done and when so authors don't have to figure that out for themselves

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