'Without question one of the best books ever written by an Englishman on the Turks' William Dalrymple

'Rubicon' is a narrative history which provides bloody and labyrinthine political intrigue and struggle, oratory and amazing feats of conquest and cruelty.

Frederic Lane has achieved what is the often unfulfilled dream of every historian who has devoted his entire work to the exploration of partial aspects of a single broad subject: he has given us a comprehensive, thoughtful, readable, beautifully illustrated general history of Venice from the origins to the beginning of decline. --'Speculum.'

The bestselling historian's biography of a decisive figure in England's history.

Who was Homer? When were the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" composed? What were Odysseus', Achilles, and Hector's beliefs about government, religion, and class? In this introduction to the "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the author uses both the texts and the latest research material to reconstruct the Homeric age.