"A novel set in Renaissance Italy, and centering on the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici"-- "Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia...

"The Arden Shakespeare is the established edition of Shakespeare's work. Justly celebrated for its authoritative scholarship and invaluable commentary, Arden editions guide you to a richer understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's plays. This edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream provides a clear and authoritative text, detailed notes and commentary on the same page as the text and a full introduction discussing the critical and historical background...

A humanities professor describes the impact had by the translation of the last remaining manuscript of "On the Nature of Things" by Roman philosopher Lucretius, which fueled the Renaissance and inspired artists, great thinkers, and scientists.

"Virginia Woolf's exuberant 'biography' tells the story of the cross-dressing, sex-changing Orlando who begins life as a young noble in the sixteenth century and moves through numerous historical and geographical worlds to finish as a modern woman writer in the 1920s. The book is in part a happy tribute to the 'life' that her love for Vita Sackville-West had breathed into Virginia Woolf's own day-to-day existence; it is also Woolf's light-hearted...

Homeschooled by Renaissance Fair enthusiasts, eleven-year-old Imogene has a hard time fitting in when her wish to enroll in public school is granted.

Kant seeks to define the nature of reason itself and builds his own unique system of philosophical thought with an approach known as transcendental idealism.

The bestselling author of Brunelleschi's dome and Michelangelo and the Pope's ceiling captures the excitement and spirit of the Renaissance in this chronicle of the life and work of 'the king of the world's booksellers" and the technological disruption that forever changed the ways knowledge spread.

The acclaimed author of "Are We Rome?" brings his highly praised blend of deep research, colorful travelogue, and insightful political analysis to a new history of the Inquisition. Exploring the Inquisition from its establishment in 1231 onwards, Murphy argues that not only did its offices survive into the twentieth century, its spirit lingers on in the modern world too.

In the year 1643, a violent storm in the South Pacific leaves Roberto della Griva shipwrecked-on a ship. Swept from the Amaryllis, he has managed to pull himself aboard the Daphne, anchored in the bay of a beautiful island. The ship is fully provisioned, he discovers, but the crew is missing. As Roberto explores the different cabinets in the hold, he looks back on various episodes from his life: Ferrante, his imaginary evil brother; the siege of...

While sick in bed with cancer, Lucien begins making journeys to Belleza, a place in a parallel world resembling Renaissance Venice, and becomes caught up in the political intrigues surrounding the Duchessa who rules the city.