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At one time Race Cargill had been the best Terran Intelligence agent on the complex and mysterious planet of Wolf. He had repeatedly imperiled his life amongst the half-human and non-human creatures of the sullen world. And he had repeatedly accomplished the fantastic missions until his name was emblazoned with glory. But that had all seemingly ended. For six long years he’d sat behind a boring desk inside the fenced-in Terran Headquarters, cut off there ever since he and a rival had scarred and ripped each other in blood-feud. But when THE DOOR THROUGH SPACE swung suddenly open, the feud was on again—and with it a plot designed to check and destroy the Terran Empire. (Original book blurb)

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Published in 1912, the fantasy novel focuses on the exciting adventures of Trot, Cap’n Bill and Button Bright, as they are accidentally transported to a mysterious island in the sky, where they encounter its eccentric residents, an unscrupulous ruler, and a strange set of laws. The story sets into motion when Trot, a little girl from the southern coast of California, and Cap’n Bill meet a peculiar young boy carrying a large umbrella. Introduced as Button Bright, the young boy reveals that the umbrella is in fact magical and has the power to transport anyone from one place to another, claiming to have used it to journey across various long-distance destinations until finally reaching California. Furthermore, the young boy provides details on how the magical item works, explaining that the umbrella takes him to any destination that he voices. Consequently, the trio is inspired to take a journey to a nearby island, but instead they are transported to an entirely different and quite literal take on the referred destination. Subsequently, the group find themselves on the magical Sky Island, which they later discover is divided into two distinctive regions inhabited by the Blues and Pinkies. Though the regions are separated only by the Great Fog Bank, both races are disinclined to cross the area, which is sufficient in keeping the two races apart. Incidentally, the three travelers land on the blue side of the island and acquaint themselves with its population, a blue race known as the Blueskins, whose color successfully convey the prevailing grim atmosphere across the region. Later, they deduce the reason behind the Blueskin’s widespread misery, as they meet Boolooroo of the Blues, a ruthless tyrant who employs a creative method of punishment for any sort of disobedience. In an attempt to escape the tyrant’s threats, the unlucky travelers must make their way through multiple obstacles in order to reach the other side of the island, while also figure out a way back home. Nevertheless, the piece offers a vast array of delightful characters, intense magical moments, and unforeseen predicaments, which only further strengthen Baum’s magical appeal. Certain to mesmerize with its effective incorporation of various elements, Sky Island successfully engages audiences of all ages, as it encourages them to embark on a magical experience of their very own.

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Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Kids, L. Frank Baum, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Sky Island

The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. The first six of the poem’s twelve books tell the story of Aeneas’ wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem’s second half treats the Trojans’ ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. The poem was commissioned from Vergil by the Emperor Augustus to glorify Rome. Several critics think that the hero Aeneas’ abandonment of the Cartheginian Queen Dido, is meant as a statement of how Augustus’ enemy, Mark Anthony, should have behaved with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.

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As the last published novel of a writer whose career spanned over a dozen novels, innumerable short stories, plays and nonfiction, Our Mutual Friend is indeed a great composition by Charles Dickens. Considered to be one of his most mature, insightful and refined works, Our Mutual Friend takes a long, hard look at what many Victorians loved but hated to admit they did—money. Dickens uses satire, irony, symbolism and biting wit to portray this unlovely picture of a society obsessed with material comforts and its hypocrisy about the means it uses to achieve its ends. In his fourteenth novel Dickens is writing at the height of his abilities. He brings all his legendary gifts for plot and characterization to bear in this book. It tells the story of young John Harmon, who inherits the fabulous fortune of his dead father, a miserly millionaire who made his fortune literally from garbage, as a dust contractor. However, the nasty and ill-tempered old man had alienated his entire family including his son. John Harmon, the heir will inherit provided he marries the woman his father has commanded him to. He lives away from England and is on his way home, but goes missing en route. A body is found floating in the Thames and presumed to be his. The entire fortune passes on to his father’s servant, Nicodemus Boffin (aka the Golden Dustman), a naïve and gullible man. However, John Harmon is far from dead. The rest of the story follows his quest for the truth, how he finds true love and true riches. In Our Mutual Friend, we encounter some of Dickens’ most horrifying villains and also some of his most noble characters. Unforgettable people like the sweet Jenny Wren and Bella Wilfer, the evil Bradley Headstone, the repulsive Silas Wegg, the avaricious Fascination Fledgeby and a host of others populate this wonderful Dickensian universe and keep the reader enthralled. In addition to these, the River Thames itself features as a wonderful symbol of renewal and resurrection. Dickens was inspired by several incidents in his own life and in the lives of his friends while creating the plot of Our Mutual Friend. During the writing of it, his personal life was marked by several huge upheavals and he was involved in a serious railway accident. Our Mutual Friend is indeed a brilliant novel, sweeping in its scale and scope and would certainly appeal to readers of all ages.

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George Eliot’s seventh and perhaps most famous novel almost didn’t get written! It took birth as a short novella titled Miss Brooke but she was unhappy with its progress and finally in despair, she decided to put it aside for a couple of years. Meanwhile, personal problems intervened and when she took up the project again, it was with a renewed sense of creativity. Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life first appeared as an eight-part serial novel in 1871-72. In 1874, it was finally compiled into a full length novel and attained instant fame and success. Planned and executed on an epic scale, it is a monumental work that brings together many streams, plot ideas, characters, social and economic concepts and the author’s deep concern for the issues of the day. Women’s status, the industrial revolution, the disappearance of rural England and the rise of the newly rich and brash middle class, politics, sexual mores, morality, religion and marriage were some of the many viewpoints explored in this very significant work. Set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch, the plot contains three main themes which are connected through a complex maze of relationships and devices. Dorothea Brooke is a gentle and idealistic young woman who seeks a noble cause that she can dedicate her life to. She is well-off, good-looking and engaged to be married to a wealthy neighbor, Sir James Chettam. However, her life takes an unexpected twist when she meets the older, scholarly Edward Casaubon, an equally wealthy clergyman who has undertaken to write an important thesis on mythology. A hurried marriage and honeymoon in Rome follow, during which Dorothea is rapidly disillusioned by Casaubon’s cold and emotionless personality. Her emotions are now centered on Casaubon’s young cousin Ladislaw but her husband becomes furiously jealous of this friendship. Another plot concerning an idealistic doctor, Tertius Lydgate and the mayor of Middlemarch’s beautiful daughter Rosamund, is woven with the story of Rosamund’s feckless brother Fred and his childhood sweetheart, Mary Garth. These three plot lines are skilfully brought together in what many have called “the greatest novel in the English language.” Peopled with a host of interesting characters, Middlemarch has remained one of the must-reads in English by virtue of its magnificent scale and scope. It won great acclaim for its author, Mary Ann Evans who chose to write under the pseudonym George Eliot. The book has been adapted for stage, screen and television several times and each succeeding generation has found something of great depth and relevance in it. George Eliot’s wry wit and subtle humor make it a delightful read for young and old alike.

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“Nature” is a short essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson published anonymously in 1836. It is in this essay that the foundation of transcendentalism is put forth, a belief system that espouses a non-traditional appreciation of nature. Recent advances in zoology, botany, and geology confirmed Emerson’s intuitions about the intricate relationships of nature at large. The publication of “Nature” is usually taken to be the watershed moment at which transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. Henry David Thoreau had read “Nature” as a senior at Harvard College and took it to heart. It eventually became an essential influence for Thoreau’s later writings, including his seminal Walden. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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The Happy Prince and Other Tales (also sometimes called The Happy Prince and Other Stories) is an 1888 collection of stories for children by Oscar Wilde. It is most famous for The Happy Prince, the short tale of a metal statue who befriends a migratory bird. Together, they bring happiness to others, in life as well as in death. The stories included in this collection are:The Happy PrinceThe Nightingale and the RoseThe Selfish GiantThe Devoted FriendThe Remarkable RocketThe stories convey an appreciation for the exotic, the sensual and for masculine beauty.

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A children’s book detailing early American history from the Norsemen to the Revolution, meant for educational use. (Description by the reader) More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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A wandering king who’s a war-hero doomed to roam the earth by a vengeful God, a plethora of fantastic experiences, a wife battling the invasion of suitors who wish to replace her missing husband, a son in search of his father – the Odyssey is a rich tapestry of incredible experiences and unforgettable characters. A must-read classic for anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals of Western mythology, it is a sequel to the Illiad which recounts the magnificent saga of the Trojan War. The Odyssey continues on, describing the trials and tribulations of the Greeks under the leadership of Odysseus. Reputed to have been composed nearly three thousand years ago, its authorship is still being debated by scholars, though much of it is attributed to the blind poet Homer about whom very little is known. Yet the Illiad and The Odyssey remain the definitive foundations of all Western literature. The Odyssey is a magnificent epic tale that portrays the journey called life. In fact the word “odyssey” in English itself has come to mean a long and eventful journey. In the preceding book The Illiad, Odysseus called Ulysses in Roman mythology, the king of Ithaca, gets embroiled in the Trojan War through the trickery of the Greeks. But once inside, his wonderful qualities of intellect, strategy and leadership come to the foreground as he leads his soldiers to victory. The story of the Odyssey begins when the war of The Illiad ends. Odysseus and his men embark to return to Ithaca but his sworn enemy, the sea god Poseidon, stymies him at every turn, sending storms and foul weather, forcing the wanderers to take shelter in strange and sinister lands. The Odyssey is, besides, the story of Odysseus’ beautiful wife Penelope, whose life becomes a struggle, fighting off the innumerable hopefuls who wish to take over her kingdom and her fortune in the absence of her husband. It is also the poignant growing-up tale of Telemachus, a faithful and steadfast son, who refuses to believe that his father won’t return. There are many notable translations from the original Greek and it has also been extensively portrayed in art, literature, television and television in languages around the world. Full of human tragedy, bizarre and fantastic creatures, gods and magical beasts, the Odyssey is a treasure-chest of marvelous events. For modern-day readers, young and old alike, it provides exciting, interesting and relevant ideas of war, politics, exile and identity. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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Written in classical Chinese some time during the sixth century BC, The Tao Teh King or The Tao and its Characteristics is a classical Chinese text that is one of the important keystones in understanding the thought systems of Asia. Though no clear records exist, it is traditionally thought to have been the work of the sage Lao Tzu, the founder of classical Taoism. He is reputed to have been a contemporary of Confucius, though this is also shrouded in mystery. However, many succeeding emperors and dynasties have claimed that he lived in their eras. The term Lao Tzu itself means only “Ancient Master” and though his historicity remains in doubt, his work is revered and honored even today. Taoism is the tradition of ethics, philosophy, politics and religious tradition of Ancient China in which the emphasis is on living in harmony with the principles of Tao or the “path.” It has had a deep and abiding influence on Chinese literature, art, music and culture. As it spread throughout Asia, it also had a great impact on astrology, alchemy, martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Zen Buddhism, feng shui and many other schools of thought. This translation was undertaken by James Legge, a Scottish missionary who worked in Malacca and Hong Kong besides mainland China and went on to become a professor of Chinese Studies at Oxford University. He is most famous for co-authoring The Sacred Texts of the East in collaboration with Max Mueller, a monumental work that spanned fifty volumes and took almost fifteen years to complete. The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics by Lao Tze is part of that series and was published in 1880. The Tao Teh King…. has been translated more than 250 times into English, German, French and a host of Western and Eastern languages. However, one of the enduring issues with translating ancient Chinese texts is the cryptic nature of the language itself. Ancient Chinese language is based in delicate nuances, allusions, metaphors and subtexts which are wide open to interpretation. There are no punctuation marks in the language and the syntax itself is vague and provides a puzzle for the translator. Hence, there is no definitive translation of this work. The original was written on bamboo strips joined with silk and it is no longer available in its complete form. James Legge was deeply knowledgeable and well-versed in Chinese philosophy and language, hence his work enjoys a solid reputation. For readers interested in a rich and enduring way of thought that seeks to blend man and his environment, this is indeed a treasure trove!

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If you’ve watched and loved Winona Ryder playing the innocent May Welland in the 1993 film adaptation of Edith Wharton’s sweeping novel about class-consciousness in nineteenth century America, you will certainly enjoy reading the original. Though Martin Scorcese’s brilliant work was certainly true to the spirit of the original novel, no film can reproduce the charm of language and turn of phrase employed by one of America’s greatest writers. The Age of Innocence was Edith Wharton’s 12th novel and is located in familiar Wharton territory. The genteel snobbery of the upper classes with its underlying cruelty and heartless judgments passed on those who cross the line is wonderfully depicted in The Age of Innocence. The story opens at a glittering music concert, featuring the wonderful opera singer Christine Nilsson singing Faust at the Music Academy in New York. In the high-society club boxes, the leading lights of New York society train their opera glasses on the crowd, occasionally throwing a sniping remark or two. Newland Archer, a young, handsome, wealthy lawyer whose privileged background is matched only by that of his new fiancée, May Welland. As the self satisfied and complacent Archer surveys the crowd in the opera theater, he overhears two men gossiping about a lady who has just entered a nearby opera box. She is Ellen Olenska, the recent widow of a Polish count, who had shocked society a few years earlier by first marrying a complete outsider and then running away from him to live alone in various cities across Europe. For Archer, the issue is complicated by the fact that Ellen is his beloved May’s first cousin. What follows has a devastating impact on the lives of everyone who is connected with the cousins. The story traces the roots of social prejudices and is an absolutely frank and fearless look at the hypocrisy, double standards and betrayals that people indulge in, in the name of “good form.” The Age of Innocence is filled with memorable characters like the elderly gossip Sillerton Jackson, who is not just considered to be an authority on “families” but also possesses an indelible memory about every single scandal and mystery that has occurred in the claustrophobic Manhattan society of the day. The Age of Innocence won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921 and takes its title from a famous eighteenth century English painting by Joshua Reynolds. It was initially serialized in 1920 in the Pictorial Review magazine, but later compiled into a book and published in the following year. As a ruthless and bitter commentary on the social mores of the day, The Age of Innocence is certainly an insightful book to enjoy.

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Robbery, murder and treason. Strange happenings in quiet English villages. A book critic who happens to find a corpse with its head crushed, an Irish freedom fighter framed for a crime, the disappearance of a valuable coin, a strange dispute over a property claim and a host of other intriguing situations make up the contents of G K Chesterton’s collection of short stories The Man Who Knew Too Much. For fans of Chesterton’s immortal clerical sleuth, Father Brown, these stories are equally delightful and intricately wrought. The man who knows too much is in fact, the protagonist, Horne Fisher, who is doomed to solve mysteries, but faces a moral dilemma each time he arrives at the solution. He is connected by blood and friendship to all the leading political figures of the country and a wrong move on his part could bring the government down. Hence, in all these stories, Horne Fisher’s intelligence allows him to unravel the most complex of enigmas and then discover that things are not as simple as they seem. Often the victims deserve their fate and are in fact more criminal than their killers. Fisher is accompanied in his investigations by a young reporter, Harold March, with whom he engages in long philosophical conversations. These are another attractive feature of the stories. Apart from the mystery element the stories provide deep insights into the murky world of politics and the darker side of human nature. They have continued to delight readers since they first appeared in 1922. The stories are also brilliant examples of Chesterton’s craft. His mastery over the language, brilliant style and deeply humanitarian outlook make these stories a delight for readers of any age. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a multitalented English genius. He was a poet, biographer (he wrote a detailed biography of Charles Dickens) theologian, playwright, hymn writer, novelist, art and music critic and political philosopher. He authored more than eighty books, thousands of essays, hundreds of poems and contributed extensively to several newspapers. As the contemporary of Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Hilaire Belloc, G K Chesterton often engaged in public and deeply philosophical debates with many of them. For modern day readers, The Man Who Knew Too Much provides valuable insights into the workings of both Edwardian and present day governments. It can be read on several levels and above all, certainly appeals to mystery story fans of any age!

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Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, G. K. Chesterton, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Man Who Knew Too Much

A woman in prison awaiting a death sentence is given a reprieve because she is pregnant. She migrates to America abandoning the baby to the care of a foster mother. The child, a girl, grows up and begins working as a servant in a wealthy household. Here she is pursued by the two sons of the house and ultimately marries the younger one. When he dies, leaving her with two young children to look after, she begins a life of deception and confidence trickery which ends in great tragedy and disgrace. In her old age, events take a less tragic turn and her redemption comes from sources she least expects. First published in 1762, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe is not as well known as his most famous novel, Robinson Crusoe. However, it gained enormous popularity as a social and psychological document of the traditions, customs and manners of the eighteenth century, and was reputed to be based on a true story. The full title of the book is almost a mini-synopsis! The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu’d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a ——, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest, and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums. Peopled with a collection of interesting characters, the book is thought-provoking and unusually bold for its time, with the heroine being quite different from the good, chaste, long-suffering lady of that era. However, her boundless optimism, strength, self-assertiveness and matter-of-fact shrewdness are attractive in their own way. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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For more than a century and a quarter, fans of detective fiction have enjoyed the doings of the iconic sleuth, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. In the company of his faithful companion, Dr Watson, Holmes has consistently delighted generations of readers. Created by a Scottish writer and physician, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this immortal private eye has solved cases for kings and commoners, lovely damsels and little old ladies, engineers and country squires and a legion of others who come to him in distress and perplexity. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 12 stories featuring the pipe-smoking, violin-playing eccentric central character. The collection first appeared in 1894 in serial form in The Strand Magazine and then was later compiled into a single volume. The stories featured here include such gems as The Silver Blaze which is about the disappearance of a famous race-horse. This story is memorable for its “curious incident of the dog in the night-time” remark by Holmes. Other riveting tales in the book include The Adventure of the Gloria Scott – a rare story narrated by Holmes himself. Also there is The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter where we finally get to meet a member of Holmes’ family, his brother Mycroft, who is reputed to have an even sharper brain than Sherlock’s. Additionally there is The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, with a spy-versus-spy plot. Then there is also The Adventure of the Yellow Face in which Holmes gets it all wrong, and a host of other compelling tales culminating in the story that shook the nation when it first came out – The Final Problem. In The Final Problem, Holmes meets his death at the hands of the evil criminal kingpin, Dr Moriarty. The two engage in a deathly duel at the edge of the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland and a broken-hearted Dr Watson returns to England, having lost his dearest friend forever. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of unique stories that showcase Holmes’ prodigious intellect, Victorian London, wonderful descriptions of rural landscapes and above all, gems of deductive wisdom. The stories are a fore-runner to many investigative methods that were adopted in police practice later. If you’ve never read a Holmes story before, this could be the start of a wonderful new literary adventure and if Holmes is an old favorite, these stories will only add to the appeal. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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One of the most controversial and censored books in English literature, Fanny Hill is regarded as the first original English prose pornography. Notorious for its vivid depiction of sexual exploits in all possible forms, the novel digs up the most thrilling erotic fantasies and pieces them together in a most seductive manner. Published in two installments in 1748 and 1749, the novel was attacked for its obscene content and was consequently banned and withdrawn from publication, due to disparaging moral values whilst promoting debauchery and sexual promiscuity. It is indisputably a tantalizing, erotic novel guaranteed to stir up the imagination and senses. The novel, which is written through the perspective of fifteen-year-old Fanny Hill, records details of her most intimate experiences. Following the death of her parents, Fanny decides to leave her home village in search of employment in the bustling city of London. In hopes of finding work as a maid, she encounters Mrs. Brown who hires the young girl. However, the job offering is not Fanny’s anticipated position as a maid, and instead realizes that Mrs. Brown is in fact a madam in charge of a brothel. Her intentions are quite clear as she plans to sell the young girl’s virginity to a wealthy client. During her stay with the madam, Fanny shares a bed with prostitute Phoebe Ayers, who introduces her to the world of carnal pleasure. After a near rape ordeal, she witnesses the sexual intercourse between Mrs. Brown and a large man of intriguing physical characteristics. Enticed by such a view, Fanny turns to self-pleasure as a means to subdue her sexual desire. It is not until she falls in love with a wealthy young man that she experiences sex for the first time, however, after her lover vanishes she discovers that love is not an element required for sexual pleasure. Consequently Fanny enters the enigmatic world of lust and sexual hunger, as she experiences pleasure in all its possible occurrences. An arousing piece of literature, Cleland uses many instances of euphemisms in the novel as a technique to express images, which in turn leaves the audience to the mercy of their imagination. A novel of exploration, experimentation and sexual freedom, Fanny Hill depicts the true nature of passion.

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Published in 1920, Thuvia, Maid of Mars is the fourth book in the Barsoom series and concentrates on Carthoris, the son of infamous John Carter, and Thuvia, the princess of Ptarth, as they find themselves entangled in a complex web of love and strict traditions of Barsoom. A typical Burroughs piece, the installment contains all the required elements of an effective pulp fiction, including a hero, a damsel in distress, unforeseen complications, and a generous supply of action. Welcoming a new protagonist to the scene, Thuvia, Maid of Mars follows the audacious feats of Carthoris, who is incidentally madly in love with the princess of Ptarth, as he gets caught up in numerous predicaments in the name of love. The installment also focuses on the beautiful Thuvia, who is betrothed to Kulan Tith, and according to Barsoomian customs, nothing can break off an engagement as it is a delicate and serious matter. So, Carthoris finds himself in quite the plight as his love appears to be both impossible and unrequited. To make matters worse, Thuvia is suddenly kidnapped, which throws the entire planet into frenzy and threatens the governing peace, as Barsoom is pushed to the brink of war. At the same time, Carthoris embarks on a quest across the planet to save his beloved from harm’s way, while endangering his own safety, as he finds himself in unexplored parts of Barsoom and encounters many obtrusions along the way. Furthermore, Carthoris must not only rescue the princess, but he must also work against the clock and return home safely before war breaks loose. Adding new intriguing elements and twists to the familiar setting of Mars, Burroughs continues to delight science fiction enthusiasts. The planetary romance offers a slower pace of action than its predecessors, therefore allowing Burroughs the opportunity to efficiently employ descriptive language to add more detail to life on the Red Planet. Consequently, the novel reveals interesting customs of its Martian residents, while offering insightful and vivid exterior descriptions, including the manners, customs, traffic patterns, and architectural elements. An undeniably enthralling fusion of adventure, fantasy, romance and danger, the novel offers a bit of everything to satisfy every appetite. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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Arthur Schopenhauer, an early 19th century philosopher, made significant contributions to metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. His work also informed theories of evolution and psychology, largely through his theory of the will to power – a concept which Nietzsche famously adopted and developed. Despite this, he is today, as he was during his life, overshadowed by his contemporary, Hegel. Schopenhauer’s social/psychological views, put forth in this work and in others, are directly derived from his metaphysics, which was strongly influenced by Eastern thought. His pessimism forms an interesting and perhaps questionable contrast with his obvious joy in self-expression, both in the elegance of his prose and in his practice of playing the flute nightly. His brilliance, poetry, and crushing pessimism can be seen immediately in this work, as for example in this claim from the first chapter: “The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other.” We see also, in this work, his misogyny, as for example in his claim that “as lions are provided with claws and teeth, and elephants and boars with tusks, . . . so Nature has equipped woman, for her defence and protection, with the arts of dissimulation; and all the power which Nature has conferred upon man in the shape of physical strength and reason, has been bestowed upon women in this form.” Given his opening comment, the translator, T.B. Saunders, seems to have been at least somewhat sympathetic to this perspective.

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Spanning a period of nearly 1500 years, this monumental work of history tracks the orbit of one of the greatest Empires of all time. The sheer scale and sweep of the narrative is breathtaking in its ambitious scope and brings to vivid life the collapse of a magnificent military, political and administrative structure. Proceeding at a brisk pace, the original fourteen volumes describe debauched emperors, corrupt practices, usurpers and murderers, bloody battles, plunder and loot, barbarian hordes, tumultuous events like the Crusades and invaders like Genghis Khan and many more. Later, it was condensed by various editors to make it available to more readers. Much of it seems like a modern battle epic or a gory scary movie with endless passages depicting power struggles, blood-drenched paths to the throne, ruthless killing of innocent women and children and the final disappearance of a mighty empire. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was written by an English historian who was inspired to write it when he undertook the Grand Tour and visited Rome as a young man in 1762. The book eventually took more than 20 years to complete and was received with both bouquets and brickbats. The Church banned it quite a few times as it was considered to have blasphemous passages about the Church. Gibbon was attacked by many devout Christians as a “paganist.” Setting the starting point with the Emperor Augustus in 27 BC, Gibbon pursues the Romans relentlessly on to their final defeat in Constantinople in the 15th Century AD with the rise of the Turkish Ottomans. Stretching across North Africa, Europe and the Middle East as well as some parts of modern-day Asia, the Roman Empire was a tremendous human enterprise. Successively added to by emperor after emperor, it finally disintegrated and ceased being the “empire without end.” Gibbon initially planned to write a history of the city of Rome but found himself so immersed in the subject that it gradually grew into a work about the empire itself. He provides interesting theories for the collapse of the Empire. The rise of Christianity, Islam and the attacks of various wild and brutal hordes contributed to the fall of this mighty Colossus. Far from being dry and scholarly, Gibbon’s style is detached yet lyrical. Full of ironic statements and opinions, the book appeals to historians and modern-day readers. There are interesting parallels to be drawn from present day world affairs and many lessons to be learned from this magnum opus. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

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