Recounts the lives of Henry VIII's heirs and the intrigues that arose from their struggle to ascend their father's throne

Leo Tolstoy's life encompassed the gambling saloons and brothels of Moscow and St Petersburg, life as an artillery officer in the Crimean War and as an enlightened landowner in Tsarist Russia. This biography sheds new light on his genius.

Had Julius Ceasar not been murdered, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, might well have become the Empress of Rome and all the Mediterranean world, living to see it ruled by a Julian-Ptolemaic dynasty. The Queen of the Nile was only 17 when she ascended the throne of Egypt in 51BC. This ambitious young woman - married to her younger brother and co-ruler Ptolomy XIII - watched the savage struggle between Ceasar and Pompey, hoping that Rome would destroy itself in the process. This astutue politician devoted her life to trying to save the Kingdom of Egypt from domination by the Romans. That she became the lover of both Ceasar and Mark Anthony was perhaps prompted by political considerations rather than passion. This text presents a biography of one of the world's most legendary women.

In this best-selling biography of John Knox, Rosalind K. Marshall traces the life of one of the Reformations' central characters. Following his career in Scotland, England, France, Switzerland and Germany, she explains in straightforward terms the issues and beliefs which concerned him so deeply. She also focuses on his relationship with the opposite sex, discussing the notorious First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, his dealings with Mary, Queen of Scots and the patient, revealing letters he wrote his mother-in-law. This book untangles truth from mythology in the life of this strange, complex and determined man and constructs a balanced picture of sixteenth century Scotland that places Knox clearly within the context of change and reformation which was sweeping the whole of Europe. The result is a richer and more complex portrayal of both Scotland and Knox than any hitherto available, and the first modern paperback of one of the most famous of all Scottish figures.