The book that inspired the stories of Gladiator & Gladiator II: Step into the ring with this classic, in-depth account of the ancient Romans' obsession with the bloody and brutal games.

[The Way of the Gladiator is] this crazy, tawdry, wild book about the Coliseum. . . . It hardwired in my brain the absolute similarities between who we are and who we were. --David Franzoni, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of Gladiator and producer of Gladiator II

Originally published under the title Those About to Die.

If you can imagine a superior American sports writer suddenly being transported back in time to cover the ancient Roman games, you will have some idea of the flavor and zest of The Way of the Gladiator, said the Los Angeles Times about Daniel P. Mannix's century-by-century--and nearly moment-by-moment--narrative of the Roman Empire's national institution. Putting the games in the context of Rome's rise and dramatic fall, Mannix captures all the history, planning, and savage pageantry that went into creating the first spectator sports.

The games began in 238 BC as nearly county fair-like entertainment, with trick riding, acrobats, trained animals, chariot racing, and athletic events. The contests then evolved into slave fights thanks to wealthy patricians Marcus and Decimus Brutus, who wanted to give their father an unforgettable funeral by reviving an old tradition. What the brothers wrought, Rome devoured, demanding even greater violence to satisfy the bloodlust of the crowd. Architectural wonders in themselves, massive arenas like Circus Maximus and the Colosseum were built, able to host sea battle reenactments on actual water. Successful gladiators found fame, fortune--and freedom.

But as Rome began to fall in the fifth century, so did the games, devolving into nothing more than pointless massacres. In the end, millions of humans and animals were sacrificed in barbaric displays. What were once ceremonies given in honor of gods met an inglorious fate, yet they still captivate--in book and in film--the imagination of people today.

The international-bestselling winner of the National Book Award and the basis for the Academy Award-winning film directed by John Ford.

Huw Morgan remembers the days when his home valley was prosperous, verdant, and beautiful--before the mines came to town. The youngest son of a respectable mining family in South Wales, he is now the only one left in the valley, and his reminiscences tell the story of a family and a town both defined and ruined by the mines.

Huw's story is both joyful and heartrending--a portrait of a place and a people existing now only in memory.

Full of memorable characters, richly crafted language, and surprising humor, How Green Was My Valley is the first of four books chronicling Huw's life, including the sequels Up into the Singing Mountain, Down Where the Moon is Small, and Green, Green My Valley Now.

The reader emerges from these tense pages strangely aglow with sharing the happiness of the characters . . . The simplicity of the language and its delicately strange flavor give the book added charm. --Chicago Tribune

This true story of a revolt at a Nazi death camp, newly updated, is a memorable and moving saga, full of anger and anguish, a reminder never to forget (San Francisco Chronicle).

On October 14, 1943, six hundred Jews imprisoned in Sobibor, a secret Nazi death camp in eastern Poland, revolted. They killed a dozen SS officers and guards, trampled the barbed wire fences, and raced across an open field filled with anti-tank mines. Against all odds, more than three hundred made it safely into the woods. Fifty of those men and women managed to survive the rest of the war. In this edition of Escape from Sobibor, fully updated in 2012, Richard Rashke tells their stories, based on his interviews with eighteen of the survivors. It vividly describes the biggest prisoner escape of World War II. A story of unimaginable cruelty. A story of courage and a fierce desire to live and to tell the world what truly went on behind those barbed wire fences.

The National Book Award-winning historian's vivid and moving eyewitness account of the fall of France to Hitler's Third Reich at the outset of WWII (The New York Times).

As an international war correspondent and radio commentator during World War II, William L. Shirer didn't just research the fall of France. He was there. In just six weeks, he watched the Third Reich topple one of the world's oldest military powers--and institute a rule of terror and paranoia. Based on in-person conversations with the leaders, diplomats, generals, and ordinary citizens who both shaped the events and lived through them, Shirer constructs a compelling account of historical events without losing sight of the human experience.

From the heroic efforts of the Freedom Fighters to the tactical military misjudgments that caused the fall and the daily realities of life for French citizens under Nazi rule, this fascinating and exhaustively documented account brings this significant episode of history to life.

This is a companion effort to Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, also voluminous but very readable, reflecting once again both Shirer's own experience and an enormous mass of historical material well digested and assimilated. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Never has a President of the United States, or any head of state for that matter, been so totally revealed, so completely documented (Robert A. Arthur).

Plain Speaking is the bestselling book based on conversations between Merle Miller and the thirty-third President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. From these interviews, as well as others who knew him over the years, Miller transcribes Truman's feisty takes on everything from his personal life, military service, and political career to the challenges he faced in taking the office during the final days of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. Using a series of taped discussions from 1962 that never aired on television, Plain Speaking takes an opportunity to deliver exactly how Mr. Truman felt about the presidency, and his thoughts in his later years on his accomplishments and the legacy he left behind.

The values of Plain Speaking, on the whole, are those of the highest form of political communication: the bull session. As with all good bull sessions, what is said here ranges widely in quality and seriousness, as one should expect when dealing with a complex man. --The New York Times

Plain Speaking has a nostalgic, downhome quality of good friends gossiping over the back fence, or saying their piece of a twilight eve rocking on the porch--and if those fellas back in Washington have their secret machines running, well, they won't like what they overhear. Not one little bit. --Kirkus Reviews

Predating the earliest manned space mission: the first full-length science fiction novel from the acclaimed author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

First published in 1951, before the achievement of space flight, Arthur C. Clarke created this visionary tale. Renowned science fiction writer Martin Gibson joins the spaceship Ares, the world's first interplanetary ship for passenger travel, on its maiden voyage to Mars. His mission: to report back to the home planet about the new Mars colony and the progress it has been making.

In The Sands of Mars, Clarke addresses hard physical and scientific issues with aplomb--and the best scientific understanding of the times. Included are the challenges of differing air pressures, lack of oxygen, food provisions, severe weather patterns, construction on Mars, and methods of local travel--both on the surface and to the planet's two moons.

[Clarke is] one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age. --The New Yorker

Outstanding . . . An attention to forensic and procedural detail unmatched outside of Ed McBain's best . . . A read-through-the-night story (Kirkus Reviews).

Police Sgt. Lou Boldt heads a special task force within Seattle's homicide bureau. His job: find and stop the Cross Killer, a twisted, perverse serial murderer who has eluded police for six months and paralyzed the city. But when a body washes up on the shore of Puget Sound, Boldt thinks the killer has finally made a mistake. This body shows some of the work of the Cross Killer--but a job badly botched. Did this woman die while trying to escape? Did she knowingly jump in the water to preserve a clue? And is she now desperately trying to tell Boldt something? With the help of the alluring Daphne Matthews, a police psychologist, Boldt must piece together the complex puzzle.

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Chris Klick series and the Walt Fleming series, this thriller reveals an authentic feeling for police investigation and forensic medicine, and a remarkable insight and understanding of the motivations of the criminal mind (Publishers Weekly).

Pearson has done well at putting together the grueling steps in an investigation . . . His characters are believable, and it's an enjoyable entertainment. --Chicago Tribune

A superbly ingenious classic of space survival from the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey--one of science fiction's most influential grandmasters (Daily Express).

Expanding the Moon's population hinges on building a thriving tourist industry. But when a prototype tourist craft called the Selene encounters a moonquake, the ship plummets under a vast body of liquid-fine moondust called the Sea of Thirst. While time runs out for the passengers and crew, rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the unpredictable conditions of the lunar environment.

Nominated for the Hugo Award in 1963, this brilliantly imagined story of human ingenuity and survival is a tour-de-force of psychological suspense and sustained dramatic tension sure to appeal to fans of Andy Weir's The Martian.

The best book yet about man's most dramatic journey, the most exciting science fiction novel for years. --Evening Standard

Expertly told and cruelly exciting to the end. --The Sunday Times

Extremely good . . . with some superbly ingenious and exciting new twists. --Daily Express

A gem trader and a feline mutant unite to find the truth behind a mysterious stone rumored to be the key to all the power in the universe.

Apprentice gem trader Murdoc Jern lives on Angkor, a thriving hub of interstellar trade. One day, a furtive visitor brings him a ring discovered on an alien corpse. It's made of age-pitted metal surrounding a dull and lifeless stone. Yet it exerts a powerful hold on Murdoc. And when his father is killed, Murdoc begins a quest, taking with him his only legacy, the mysterious ring, which he knows is the key to his dad's death.

Accompanied by Eet, a feline mutant with paranormal powers, Murdoc hurtles through space, where he's pursued by a religious order called the Green Robes. His journey takes him to distant planets and once-great armies marooned on vanished worlds. In a desperate battle to learn the ultimate meaning of the Zero Stone, Murdoc must bargain for his freedom--and his life--and confront the fate that befalls seekers of knowledge.

This grand space adventure explores the fate of humanity a billion years in the future- A visionary classic by one of science fiction's greatest minds.

Far in the future, Earth's oceans have evaporated and humanity has all but vanished. The inhabitants of Diaspar believe their domed city is all that remains of an empire that had once conquered the stars. Inside the dome, the citizens live in technological splendor, free from the distractions of aging and disease. Everything is controlled precisely, just as the city's designers had intended.

But a boy named Alvin, unlike his fellow humans, shows an insatiable-and dangerous-curiosity about the world outside the dome. His questions will send him on a quest to discover the truth about the city and humanity's history-as well as its future.

A masterful and awe-inspiring work of imagination, The City and the Stars is considered one of Arthur C. Clarke's finest novels.

A groundbreaking novel of its time and a National Book Award winner: [A] fine, honest, and moving a study of a young doctor (The Atlantic Monthly).

The Citadel follows the life of Andrew Manson, a young and idealistic Scottish doctor, as he navigates the challenges of practicing medicine across interwar Wales and England. Based on A.J. Cronin's own experiences as a physician, this book boldly confronts traditional medical ethics, and has been noted as one of the inspirations for the formation of the National Health Service.

This story has been adapted into several successful film, radio, and television productions around the world, including the Oscar-nominated 1938 film starring Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson, and Rex Harrison.

One of the most popular authors in the English-speaking world. -The New York Times

A futuristic tale of intergalactic love and politics from the legendary colossus of science fiction and creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey (The New Yorker).

In the year 2276, Duncan Makenzie travels from Saturn's moon, Titan, to Earth as a diplomatic guest at the United States' Quincentennial. As a member of Titan's 'First Family' descended from the moon's original settlers five hundred years before, Duncan finds himself welcomed back to Mother Earth and into Washington's glittering political and social scene.

But Duncan isn't just on Earth for ambassadorial reasons. Haunted by the memory of a woman from Earth he once loved, Duncan is also on a mission to continue his family line . . . despite a devastating genetic defect.

A tour-de-force of vivid characterization, futuristic vision, and suspense, Imperial Earth is one of Arthur C. Clarke's most ambitious and thought-provoking novels.

Clarke at the height of his powers. --The New York Times

A young woman rises from the streets to battle a sinister evil in this magical fantasy adventure by the bestselling author of the Darwath series.

Something is amiss with the world's magic. Spells don't work the way they used to--when they work at all. Only the powers of the Crystal Mages remain as they were, powers founded on the use of the mystical element adamis, the harvesting of which has enslaved the peoples of the Twilight Lands.

They need a hero.

At the same time, ravenous beasts have begun to appear, legendary creatures that seem to be proof against any magic. And Clea Stylachos, granddaughter of a great sage of the Twilight people, has reason to fear that the Crystal Mages, instead of seeking to defeat these insanely destructive monsters, are attempting to weaponize them in their quest for power.

Clea's only hope to save her people is a wizard who retains his power, one who will not betray her, either to the great merchant houses or to the all-entangling web of the Crystal Mages. But that wizard--Ithrazel the Cursed, destroyer of a city and magically imprisoned to suffer undying, unremitting torment--wants nothing to do with saving the world, helping a hero, or unraveling the terrible secret at the heart of the Crystal Mages' plans.

From the slums and tunnels of the slave-city of Morne, to the watery wilderness of the Twilight lands, to the halls of her father's palace and the spell-soaked mysteries of the Crystal Mages' House of Glass, Clea works to untwist the deadly riddles of magic and monsters--to free her mother's disenfranchised people from slavery under her father's conquering forces. To save her mageborn brother from the Crystal Mages' power; to control a sorcerer legendary for his deed of evil; to keep her own small band of friends one step ahead of her father's troops and the Crystal Order's spells.

She is the Iron Princess, and she knows she must prevail or die.

But at what cost to herself?

Rich and complex, The Iron Princess is an absolute treat for fantasy fans. With thrilling characters and lush, nuanced world-building, this one will burn a hole through the nightstand and leave readers with wild dreams of family secrets, dynastic intrigue, and unexpected heroes who are so much more than they appear. --Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker

Praise for New York Times-bestseller Barbara Hambly

A fabulously talented writer. --Charlaine Harris, bestselling author

I think what is really special about [Hambly's] books . . . is a richness of setting combined with a cast of characters that you'd love to actually know. --SFSite

Elegant, intelligent, and entertaining. --Publishers Weekly, starred review on Dragonshadow

A German actor conscripted into WWII will play the role of his life as he makes a daring escape in this espionage thriller inspired by true events.

When the SS orders banned entertainer Max Kaspar to impersonate a US officer during the Battle of the Bulge, Max devises his own secret mission to escape the war and flee to America. With his career in Germany over, this plan is his big break--and his last chance.

But Max's mission is doomed from the start. Trapped between the lines in the freezing Ardennes Forest, he must summon all of his acting talents and newfound courage to evade perilous traps laid by both sides. Inspired by a real-life 1944 operation, this gripping wartime thriller is the first book in the Kaspar Brothers series.

From the bestselling author of Plain Speaking and Lyndon comes this vivid and consistently absorbing record of Dwight D. Eisenhower's military career (Kirkus Reviews).

Bringing together thousands of hours of interviews with the men and women who were closest to him, Merle Miller has constructed a revealing and personal biography of the man who would become the supreme commander. From his childhood in Kansas to West Point, World War I, and Europe where he led the Allied Forces to a hard-won victory in World War II, Ike the Soldier goes behind the historic battles and into the heart and mind of Ike Eisenhower.

Miller has crafted the defining biography on the life of the thirty-fourth president, bringing more depth to the man many thought they knew. His strained relationships with his father, brothers, and son are brought into focus; as well as his love affair with his wife Mamie, and his relationship with Kay Summersby--his driver turned companion and confidante during WWII.

An informed and balanced tribute to a world-class leader whose remarkable character gains greater luster with the passage of time. --Kirkus Reviews

This is a highly enjoyable look at Ike's personal and official relationships with the people most important to him during the first 55 years of his life, including family, Army and Allied colleagues and heads of state. --Publishers Weekly

Neuroscientist Bea Hudson fears she is a bad mother and that her career will be thwarted by family life. When her husband suspects Bea of having an affair with her best friend, a chain of events is triggered, leading to a crisis in Bea's life.

Bea Hudson, a neuropsychologist living in Godalming, is struggling to cope with the challenging behaviour of her obsessive husband Kurt and their disruptive four-year-old daughter Fran. On top of this, her boss is pressuring her to get results from her research. Bea has her work cut out.

Things come to a head when Kurt goes away on an extended business assignment. While sacking staff and drinking heavily, Kurt's insecurities run amok and he becomes convinced that Bea's close friend Madeleine is seducing his wife and unduly influencing his daughter.

Meanwhile, childless artist Madeleine sees her friend torn between the demands of work and offers to help with Fran. But when she reveals a startling desire to her unsympathetic therapist Mr Rowley, he advises her to focus on the attention of Colin, a man she met in a lift.

Can Bea survive the demands of her career and the turmoil in her marriage without having a breakdown? Can Madeleine survive Kurt's anger and find happiness with Colin? And can love survive marriage, middle-age, alcohol and ambition?

Not Having It All is about a scientist torn between her stalling career and the demands of her family. With themes of trust, deception and obsession, it is a mercilessly playful take on modern friendships, relationships and family life.

A teenager risks everything to protect an abandoned baby in this thriller from the bestselling author of The Face on the Milk Carton.

When Kit Innes's frazzled ex-stepmother, Dusty, leaves her with an unnamed baby boy and a lot of questions, she's not sure what to do. She's doesn't know if the adorable child is even Dusty's, or if she plans on returning. But when an angry, frightening man comes looking for the baby, Kit decides that the most important thing is to keep him safe--at all costs.

With the help of her maybe-boyfriend, Rowen, and his little sister, Muffin, Kit is determined to figure out what's really going on. But as they attempt to return the mysterious baby to wherever it is he belongs, they discover that he's part of something that could put them all in incredible danger . . .

Filled with mystery and suspense, this riveting story proves why multimillion-copy bestselling author Caroline B. Cooney is a thriller master (Publishers Weekly).

As Europe prepares for the Nuremberg trials, a killer stalks a broken city
Nuremberg is a dead city. In the aftermath of World War II, two-thirds of its population has fled or is deceased, with thirty thousand bodies turning the ruined industrial center into a massive open grave. Here, the vilest war criminals in history will be tried. But in Nuremberg's dark streets and back alleys, chaos rules.
Captain Nathan Morgan is one of those charged with bringing order to the home of the war crime trials. A New York homicide detective who spent the war in Army intelligence, he was born to be a spy--and now, in 1945, there is no finer place for his trade than Nuremberg. As the US grapples with the Soviets for postwar supremacy, a serial murderer targets the occupying forces. Nathan Morgan may be the perfect spy, but it's time for him to turn cop once more.

Three lonely people come together in this poignant, witty novel of star-crossed romance from the New York Times-bestselling author of Jane and Prudence.
After being jilted by her fiancé, Dulcie Mainwaring despairs of ever finding true love. For a distraction, she goes to a publishing conference, where she meets Viola Dace, a dramatic woman who refuses to live without romance, as well as Aylwin Forbes, an editor whom Viola adores. The fact that Aylwin is married doesn't stop Viola. When her amorous pursuit prompts Aylwin's wife to leave him, the academic heartthrob is wide open to Viola's romantic attentions. That is, until Dulcie's eighteen-year-old niece moves in with Viola, and the young girl soon catches Aylwin's roving eye. Set in London in the early 1960s, No Fond Return of Love is a delightful comedy of manners that comes full circle as Dulcie discovers a love as unexpected as it is liberating.

From the author of The Physician and Shaman now comes this story of a young man-the grapes he grows, the wine he fashions, the women he loves, and his struggle against an evil that seeks to destroy him. Already an international bestseller. Josep Alvarez is a young man in the tiny grape-growing village of Santa Eulalia, in northern Spain, where his father grows black grapes that are turned into cheap vinegar. Joseph loves the agricultural life, but he is the second son, and his father's vineyard will be inherited by his brother Donat, the firstborn. Josep needs to keep his hands in the soil. He yearns for a job growing grapes and for an opportunity to marry Teresa Gallego. In Madrid, an assassination plot, conceived against the political leader of Spain by men of wealth and power, creates a storm of intrigue that sucks into its vortex a group of innocent young farm workers in Santa Eulalia. How Josep's life is changed drastically by these events, and how, ironically, they gradually turn him into an inspired vintner with an evolving vision of life, is the fascinating story of The Winemaker. Conciseness is Gordon's greatest skill. He unfolds a plot branching out far, until a panoramic view of a world past emerges-as vivid as the great realistical novels of the 19th century. -Welt am Sonntag (Germany) So suspenseful that you cannot put it down. -Leipziger Volkszeitung (Germany) Gordon's healthy obsession with research, his ability to create extremely realistic characters, and that innate literary talent of his for which there's no explanation are certain to make this book another best seller. -Elle Magazine (Spain) A wonderful book. Enjoy it with a good bottle of wine. -Bucher (Germany) Noah Gordon has had outstanding international success. The Physician, soon to be a motion picture, has been called a modern classic, and booksellers at the Madrid Book Fair voted it one of the 10 best-loved books of all time. Shaman was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction. Both of these books, and five of the author's other novels-The Rabbi, The Death Committee, The Jerusalem Diamond, Matters of Choice, and The Winemaker-are published in digital formats by Barcelona eBooks and Open Road Integrated Media. Gordon's novel, The Last Jew, will also be published digitally in the near future. He lives outside of Boston with his wife, Lorraine Gordon.