Nadia May

"General overview of the ancient Maya begins with summary discussions of the history of Maya studies, the environment and geography of the Maya world, and the European invasion. Text is devoted primarily to a synthesis of the history of Maya cultural traditions based primarily on archaeological data and complemented by epigraphic and ethnohistorical information"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

The fourteenth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering age of crusades, cathedrals, and chivalry; on the other, a world plunged into chaos and spiritual agony. Barbara Tuchman examines not only the great rhythms of history but the grain and texture of domestic life: what childhood was like; what marriage meant; how money, taxes, and war dominated the lives of serf, noble, and clergy alike. Granting her subjects their...

A collection of eighteen tales which includes the characters Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tittlemouse and the others.

A correspondent who covers Afghanistan and Pakistan brings the shadowy world of the Taliban, the extreme Islamic organization, into sharp focus. Covers its rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the region, its role in oil and gas company decisions, the effects of changing American attitudes, and the new face of Islamic fundamentalism.

Thus begins Muriel Spark's tragic and rapier-witted portrait of a London ladies' hostel just emerging from the shadow of World War II. Like the May of Teck Club building itself—"three times window shattered since 1940 but never directly hit"—its lady inhabitants do their best to act as if the world were back to normal, practicing elocution and jostling over suitors and a single Schiaparelli gown. But the novel's harrowing ending reveals that the...

Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was writer chiefly known for his "Mapp and Lucia" series about Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas and Elizabeth Mapp. This satirical series portrays the dry British wit for which Benson became known for. "Queen Lucia", the first book in the series, introduces the unique Emmeline Lucas, a social authority and queen of the charming village, Riseholme. Lucia defends her throne as it is in jeopardy with the arrival of Olga Braceley,...

Muriel Spark's timeless classic about a controversial teacher who deeply marks the lives of a select group of students in the years leading up to World War II   "Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life!" So asserts Jean Brodie, a magnetic, dubious, and sometimes comic teacher at the conservative Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh. Brodie selects six favorite pupils to mold-and she doesn't stop with just their intellectual...

First published in 1922, "The Enchanted April" by British author Elizabeth von Arnim is the story of four very different English women who spend a month vacationing together in Italy at the Tuscan Villa, San Salvatore. Each finding themselves in need of a holiday from their dreary lives back home, the four women rent an Italian castle on the Mediterranean coast and experience a reawakening in life through their shared realizations and experiences...

First published in eight installments from 1851 to 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell's "Cranford", one of her most popular works, is a gentle and humorous picture of an English country village. Based on the village of Gaskell's childhood, the novel is narrated by a young woman visiting the town who describes the genteel poverty of the town's female inhabitants and centers on the lives of two middle-aged spinster sisters, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. The ladies...

Presents the classic allegory on the Christian life, along with personal reflection questions, journaling prompts, study questions, and prayer prompts.