{"title":"John Julius Norwich","description":"John Julius Norwich is the author of  A History of Venice and the renowned Byzantium trilogy. He is chairman of the World Monuments Fund in Britain and lives in London.","products":[{"product_id":"shakespeares-kings-the-great-plays-and-the-history-of-england-in-the-middle-ages-1337-1485-paperback","title":"Shakespeare's Kings: The Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages: 1337-1485 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a sparkling, fast-paced narrative, esteemed historian John Julius Norwich chronicles the turbulent events of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England that inspired Shakespeare's history plays. It was a time of uncertainty and incessant warfare, a time during which the crown was constantly contested, alliances were made and broken, and peasants and townsmen alike arose in revolt. This was the raw material of Shakespeare's dramas, and Norwich holds up his work to the light of history to ask: Who was the real Falstaff? How accurate a historian was the playwright? \u003ci\u003eShakespeare's Kings\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvelous study of the Bard's method of spinning history into art, and a captivating portrait of the Middle Ages.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366081855711,"sku":"9780743200318","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/d66VSBQail9780743200318.webp?v=1789080815"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-france-paperback","title":"A History of France - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Julius Norwich--called a \"true master of narrative history\" by Simon Sebag Montefiore--returns with the book he has spent his distinguished career wanting to write, \u003ci\u003eA History of France\u003c\/i\u003e: a portrait of the past two centuries of the country he loves best.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning with Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the first century BC, this study of French history comprises a cast of legendary characters--Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Joan of Arc and Marie Antionette, to name a few--as Norwich chronicles France's often violent, always fascinating history. From the French Revolution--after which neither France, nor the world, would be the same again--to the storming of the Bastille, from the Vichy regime and the Resistance to the end of the Second World War, \u003ci\u003eA History of France\u003c\/i\u003e is packed with heroes and villains, battles and rebellion, stories so enthralling that Norwich declared, \"I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed writing a book more.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith his celebrated stylistic panache and expert command of detail, Norwich writes in an inviting, intimate tone, and with a palpable affection for France. One of our greatest contemporary historians has deftly crafted a comprehensive yet concise portrait of the country's historical sweep.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366140739807,"sku":"9780802147776","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/6Pl3Lh765a9780802147776.webp?v=1789084390"},{"product_id":"sicily-an-island-at-the-crossroads-of-history-hardcover","title":"Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCritically acclaimed author John Julius Norwich weaves the turbulent story of Sicily into a spellbinding narrative that places the island at the crossroads of world history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sicily,\" said Goethe, \"is the key to everything.\" It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East. Sicily's strategic location has tempted Roman emperors, French princes, and Spanish kings. The subsequent struggles to conquer and keep it have played crucial roles in the rise and fall of the world's most powerful dynasties. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet Sicily has often been little more than a footnote in books about other empires. John Julius Norwich's engrossing narrative is the first to knit together all of the colorful strands of Sicilian history into a single comprehensive study. Here is a vivid, erudite, page-turning chronicle of an island and the remarkable kings, queens, and tyrants who fought to rule it. From its beginnings as a Greek city-state to its emergence as a multicultural trading hub during the Crusades, from the rebellion against Italian unification to the rise of the Mafia, the story of Sicily is rich with extraordinary moments and dramatic characters. Writing with his customary deftness and humor, Norwich outlines the surprising influence Sicily has had on world history--the Romans' fascination with Greek civilization dates back to their sack of Sicily--and tells the story of one of the world's most kaleidoscopic cultures in a galvanizing, contemporary way. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis volume has been a long time coming--Norwich began to explore Sicily's colorful history during his first visit to the island in the early 1960s. The dean of popular historians leads his readers through the millennia with the steady narrative hand of a master teacher or the world's most learned tour guide. Like the island itself, \u003ci\u003eSicily\u003c\/i\u003e is a book brimming with bold flavors that begs to be revisited again and again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eSicily\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Suavely readable . . . The very model of a popular historian, [Norwich] writes to give pleasure to the common reader. And what pleasure it is.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Entertaining on every page . . . There is something ancient and sorrowful in Sicily, 'some dark, brooding quality, ' just as captivating as its spellbinding history or its beautiful and varied landscapes, from beaches to lemon groves, pine forests to volcanoes. . . . The most amiable and freewheeling of guides, Norwich will always find time for the amusing anecdote.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Utterly engrossing . . . written with passion about the art and architecture of this magical island, filled with gossipy tidbits and sweeping historical theories.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Dazzling . . . Norwich is an elegantly graceful and entertaining storyteller.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eRichmond Times-Dispatch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Charming . . . richly nuanced history relayed with enormous fondness.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A brisk and always-lively tour.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eOpen Letters Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Norwich is deeply in love with Sicily. [His] boundless affection has inspired a determined effort to understand its painful past. The result is impressionistic, as love often is.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Norwich sketches personalities vividly. . . . He does the island and the reader a generous service in providing such an amiable introduction.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Norwich tells [Sicily's] long, sad but fascinating story with sympathy and brio.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366209683679,"sku":"9780812995176","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/qc9BmvTZDA9780812995176.webp?v=1789087997"},{"product_id":"the-middle-sea-a-history-of-the-mediterranean-paperback","title":"The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis lively and dramatic book brings roaring to life the grand sweep of 5,000 years of history in the cradle of civilization. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA wonderfully illustrated account of the civilizations that rose and fell on the lands bordering the Mediterranean, \u003ci\u003eThe Middle Sea\u003c\/i\u003e represents the culmination of a great historian's unparalleled art and scholarship. John Julius Norwich provides brilliant portraits of the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the French, the Venetians, the Popes, and the pirates of the Gulf. Above all, he deftly traces the intermingling of ancient conflicts and modern sensibilities that shapes life today on the shores of the Middle Sea.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367074595039,"sku":"9781400034284","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/hTPuJfSRgo9781400034284.webp?v=1789102313"},{"product_id":"an-english-christmas-paperback","title":"An English Christmas - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'If I could work my will, ' said Scrooge indignantly, 'Every idiot who goes about with \"Merry Christmas\" on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis year go carol-singing in the Cotswolds with Laurie Lee or attend church with a grumpy Samuel Pepys. Make plum puddings for bemused French villagers with Elizabeth David; go present shopping with Virginia Woolf or eat far too much with Agatha Christie. Celebrate Christmas at Chatsworth, in the workhouse or marooned in the ice with Shackleton ... \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor forty-five years, the arrival of John Julius Norwich's latest \u003ci\u003eChristmas Cracker\u003c\/i\u003e became as essential a part of the Christmas experience as holly and mistletoe. In \u003ci\u003eAn English Christmas\u003c\/i\u003e the late legendary popular historian gathered all the best writing about this strangest and most memorable time of year into one book and his brilliant eye for a story is evident on every page. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVividly evoking all the good things about the festive season, this unexpected anthology is just as entertaining about its darker aspects. Eight-year-old Princess Margaret's thank-you list jostles with moving letters home from the trenches. Sherlock Holmes solves his trickiest case. George Orwell writes about indigestion; Jane Austen about reluctant socialising and Thomas Hardy about the old folk belief that all animals kneel at midnight on 24 December. There are ghost stories, games and bizarre recipes. Diary-entries, recipes and letters sit alongside poems and short stories. \u003ci\u003eAn English Christmas\u003c\/i\u003e could convert any Scrooge into an instant enthusiast.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51374216413407,"sku":"9781473665934","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/RT83gZ7DLG9781473665934.webp?v=1789175538"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/john-julius-norwich.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}