Describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. Frequently giving rise to colorful digressions, this book blends fact and legend to offer a compelling Greek view of the world of the fifth century BC.

Composed towards the end of the first millennium of our era, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf is a Northern epic and a classic of European literature. In this new translation, Seamus Heaney has produced a work that is true, line by line, to the original poem.

Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History' was completed in 731 and still ranks among the most popular of history books. In this edition, the Latin text is accompanied by a English translation; the introduction provides an historical background and a survey of surviving manuscripts

Between 58 and 50BC Caesar conquered most of the area now covered by France, Belgium and Switzerland, and twice invaded Britain. This title records of his campaigns.

Asser's Life of King Alfred, written in 893, is a revealing account of one of the greatest of medieval kings. Composed by a monk of St David's in Wales who became Bishop of Sherborne in Alfred's service and worked with him in his efforts to revive religion and learning in his kingdom, this life is among the earliest surviving royal biographies. It is an admiring account of King Alfred's life, ...

Gregory of tours wrote this dramatic narrative of sixth-century French history as a chronicle of the events leading up to and including his 21-year tenure as bishop of tours.

A translation of the complete correspondence of Abelard and Heloise, this volume also includes a translation of The Calamities of Abelard , of the letters of Heloise and Peter the Venerable, and of selected songs, hymns, and laments of Abelard. It also includes a chronology, map, and index.

New edition.

A chronicle of one of the most powerful and dynamic of all medieval rulers, Charlemagne. It describes his personal life, details his achievements in reviving learning and the arts, recounts his military successes and depicts one of the defining moments in European history: Charlemagne's coronation as emperor in Rome on Christmas Day 800 AD.

In the first years of the thirteenth century Villehardouin served as an envoy in the Fourth Crusade. Half a century later, Joinville accompanied the French king, Louis IX, on crusade to Egypt and the Near East. This book offers narratives of these campaigns and provides insights into the characters and beliefs of the crusaders.

The chronicles of Froissart are one of the greatest contemporary records of 14th-century England and France. Depicting the great age of Anglo-French rivalry from the deposition of Edwards II to the downfall of Richard II, Froissart portrays the deeds of knights in battle at Sluys, Crecy, Calais and Poitiers during the Hundred Years War.

Chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors.

In 1771, at the age of 65, Benjamin Franklin sat down to write his autobiography, having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity. The result is a classic of American literature.

Tells the story of Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge - although knowing this will ensure his own early death.

Tocqueville examines the structures, institution and operation of democracy, and analyzes the lessons that Europe could learn from American successes and failures. It continues to be an influential text on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.

Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is the world's oldest epic. The story tells of Gilgamesh's adventures with the wild man Enkidu. This text is translated by Andrew George.

A narration of the reign of the author's father, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I. It provides information on the Byzantine war with the Normans, and on the First Crusade in which Alexius participated. It reveals the character of its author as it does about the fascinating period through which she lived.