Makers of Rome, nine lives

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Éric Humbertclaude

Gualdi fait partie de la microhistoire de l'époque charnière où la science commence à se détacher de la philosophie. Exploitant minier, il expérimente de nouveaux procédés de fusion de minerais. Ingénieux, il propose des solutions pour protéger la lagune des terribles assauts de l'acqua alta à Venise. Alchimiste, il laisse une Œuvre inédite, De lapide philosophorum, étonnante méditation... Il sera dénoncé devant le Tribunal de l'Inquisition sans toutefois être convoqué.

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Dion Cassius

Brings to life for us the unrest and conspiracies, the struggle over the imperial succession, the prodigies and portents, the military campaigns all the way from Ethiopia to Yugoslavia. The author shows us the ruthless power-seeking as the 400-year-old republic finally collapsed and makes a great set-piece of the battle of Actium -- where Augustus defeated Antony and Cleopatra to become master of the world. He also inserts fictionalized speeches into his narrative, which offer his own profound political reflections or dramatize the many different attitudes to the emperor. The fascinating debate between the great general Agrippa and Maecenas (the patron of Horace and Virgil) on the merits of republicanism and monarchy confronts issues which are still very much alive today.

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Linda Winter-Hodgson

Based on a true story, this book tells the tale of pioneers who settled in West Central Minnesota in the late 1800s and early 1900s -- Irish Catholics who left Ireland, and German Lutherans who left Germany, to emigrate to the towns of Graceville, Morris, and Wheaton. It's a story of how taking advantage of opportunity can truly allow a second chance at living a good life.

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J. M. Bennett

"Dr. Bennett reveals William Stawell as an epitome of Victorian manly virtues: intellect, ambition, energy, bravery, charm, compassion. He shows why detractors would add arrogance, impatience and ruthlessness, and why history sustains the contemporary verdict on Stawell's death in 1889: "one may see in the life now terminated the history of Victoria personified"."--BOOK JACKET.