1.
Eric Flint
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Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction. His works has been listed on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and he was born in 1947 in Burbank, California, Flint worked on a Ph. D. in history specializing in southern African history. A long-time leftist political activist, Flint worked as a member of the Socialist Workers Party, after winning the 1993 Writers of the Future contest, he published his first novel in 1997 and moved to full-time writing in 1999. Shortly afterwards, he became the first librarian of the Baen Free Library and he has edited the works of several classic SF authors, repackaging their short stories into collections and fix-up novels. This project has met commercial success, and has returned several out-of-print authors to print, subsequently, Flint became editor of the new Jim Baens Universe science-fiction e-zine while concurrently remaining a creative writer bringing out three to five titles per year. After the death of Jim Baen due to a stroke and after completing the contract for the tenth Grantville Gazette, as of October 2007 he lives with his wife Lucille in East Chicago, Indiana. In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books, Flint was the author guest of honor for the 2010 NASFiC, ReConStruction. He is also participating in The Stellar Guild series published by Phoenix Pick, the series pairs bestselling authors such as Flint with lesser known authors in science fiction and fantasy to help provide additional visibility to them. One early goal was to see if the release of free electronic content would increase the sales of their traditional print or electronic editions. As part of the phase, Flint has published a series of essays that in form have been part blog and part letters to the editor tracking the experiment. Financially, it seems to be working out for publisher Baen Books, usually eighty to a hundred titles are available in the Baen Free Library at any given time. In most cases, the involved are the early volumes in continuing series, appetite whetters. All new Baen Books can also be purchased as e-books in the same unencrypted formats as the library through Baen WebScriptions. As an added wrinkle one can purchase a collection of five bundled works in the release stage of publication at Baens. Once the bundle reaches four months from its release date in print, about half of the work is serialized. A month later, the quarter, followed by the last quarter. The last delivery contains the copyedited e-book version of the book, one can also purchase electronic Advanced Reader Copies which are not a part of the foregoing monthly bundle, but are individually available for purchase
2.
1632 series
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As of 2015, the series has five published novels propelling the main plot and over ten published novels moving several subplots and threads forward. The 1632 series began with Flints stand alone novel 1632 and it is, excepting the lead novel and the serialized e-novel The Anaconda Project, virtually all collaboratively written, including some main works with multiple co-authors. However, Flint has mentioned contracts with the publisher for at least two additional solo novels he has in planning on his website. As stated in the first Grantville Gazette and on his site,1632 occurs in the midst of the Thirty Years War. The series was continued with two collaborative works that were more or less written concurrently,1633 and an anthology called Ring of Fire. By late in 1632, the New United States-led coalition of the Confederated Principalities of Europe had become the arsenal and this leads the scheming Cardinal Richelieu, whod been previously financing him to spite and weaken the Habsburgs, to turn on the Swedes. Various books from up-time Grantville, especially books, had found avid readers amongst Europes ruling elites, changing the plans. The readers, not understanding the nature of events, often believe that these histories give them a strong idea of how they can guide events in a different direction. Richelieu forms an alliance, the League of Ostend, to oppose the New United States, Gustavus expeditionary army. After the first book, the series begins multiple plot lines or story threads reflecting this independence of action by a multitude of characters, the sequel 1633 spreads the Americans out geographically over Central Europe. Next, the novel 1634, The Galileo Affair, and the first of the called the Grantville Gazettes introduced new strong characters. The former begins what is called the South European thread, and some of the stories in the latter,1632 plot threads refers to the overall story arcs or sequences within the 1632 series. Flint has pointed out that he thinks in terms of plot threads, but most web chatter revolves around geographical spheres of influence, locations, or where protagonists have a general effect. That some persons of that mold have existed is not disputed, the Central European thread or more correctly, the Central and Southwest Central European thread, is the main plot thread of the series. Bavaria proper, Switzerland, Austria, Bohemia, and points easterly, Novel,1634, The Ram Rebellion with Virginia DeMarce, crafted as a collection of related key developmental events. Novel,1634, The Baltic War with David Weber, the main thread novel sequel to 1633. Novel,1634, The Bavarian Crisis with Virginia DeMarce, chronological sequel to 1632, the main characters are, in part, Lackeys The Stone Family, combined with Flints Sharon Nichols and Larry Mazzare. Novel,1634, The Galileo Affair with Andrew Dennis Novel,1635, The Cannon Law, Novel,1635, The Papal Stakes with Charles E. Gannon, sequel to The Cannon Law
3.
Alternate history
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Alternate history or alternative history, sometimes abbreviated as AH, is a genre of fiction consisting of stories in which one or more historical events occur differently. These stories usually contain what if scenarios at crucial points in history, the stories are conjectural, but are sometimes based on scientific fact. Alternate history can be seen as a subgenre of fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction. Another term occasionally used for the genre is allohistory, cross-time, time-splitting, and alternate history themes have become so closely interwoven that it is impossible to discuss them fully apart from one another. In French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan and German, the genre of history is called uchronie / ucronia / ucronía / Uchronie. This neologism is based on the prefix ου- and the Greek χρόνος, a uchronia means literally no time. This term apparently also inspired the name of the history book list. Several genres of fiction have been misidentified as alternate history, Science fiction set in what was the future but is now the past, like Arthur C. Clarkes 2001, A Space Odyssey or George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, is not alternate history because the author did not make the choice to change the past at the time of writing, Alternate history is related to, but distinct from, counterfactual history. The earliest example of history is found in Livys Ab Urbe Condita Libri. Livy concluded that the Romans would likely have defeated Alexander, another example is Joanot Martorells 1490 epic romance Tirant lo Blanch, which was written when the loss of Constantinople to the Turks was still a recent and traumatic memory for Christian Europe. It tells the story of the knight Tirant the White from Brittany who travels to the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. He becomes a Megaduke and commander of its armies and manages to fight off the invading Ottoman armies of Mehmet II and he saves the city from Islamic conquest, and even chases the Turks deeper into lands they had previously conquered. In the English language, the first known complete alternate history is Nathaniel Hawthornes short story P. s Correspondence, the first novel-length alternate history in English would seem to be Castello Holfords Aristopia. While not as nationalistic as Louis Geoffroys Napoléon et la conquête du monde, 1812–1823, in Aristopia, the earliest settlers in Virginia discover a reef made of solid gold and are able to build a Utopian society in North America. A number of alternate history stories and novels appeared in the late 19th, in 1931, British historian Sir John Squire collected a series of essays from some of the leading historians of the period for his anthology If It Had Happened Otherwise. In this work, scholars from major universities turned their attention to questions as If the Moors in Spain Had Won. The essays range from serious scholarly efforts to Hendrik Willem van Loons fanciful, among the authors included were Hilaire Belloc, André Maurois, and Winston Churchill
4.
Baen Books
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Baen Books is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, the company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. After his death in 2006, he was succeeded as publisher by long-time executive editor Toni Weisskopf, Baen Books was founded in 1983 out of a negotiated agreement between Jim Baen and Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster was undergoing massive reorganization and wanted to hire Baen to head, in 2005, Baen moved up to the eighth position in the total books published with 72 books published. Initially, the company invested resources in Baens Bar, its community service that provides a forum for customers, authors and editors to interact. In the early 2000s, a blogger wrote, Like every other publisher, but several of his authors and fan friends convinced him to put a chat client on his site. Since he was interested, and since several of those authors were very Internet savvy, the chat client grew into an incredibly vibrant community called Baens Bar. Beginning in mid-1999, Baen emphasized electronic publishing and Internet-focused promotions for its publications, the discussions on Baens bar convinced him to do so. Baen and his successors believe that DRM does more harm than good to a publisher, in addition to selling individual titles in electronic format, Baen has distributed serialized e-book versions of new books at reduced prices in monthly bundles. Originally called Webscriptions, these Monthly Baen Bundles are scheduled three months in advance of print publication, Webscription. net was implemented by Baens preferred website expert, Arnold Bailey, who also sold e-books for other publishers. At the start of 2012, the Webscription. net website was redesigned, renamed to Baen Ebooks, despite the new name, Baen Ebooks continues to sell e-books for other publishers, notably science fiction genre rival Night Shade Books. Baens standard setup is based on monthly bundles, each month, whichever books Baen has coming out in paper are bundled put together in a fixed price bundle regardless of a number of books. The Monthly Baen Bundles are released in installments beginning three months prior to physical publication, the first installment, released three months prior to paper publication includes roughly a half of every book in the bundle, with some books usually included in their entirety. The first two installments are available only as HTML, while the last includes all formats supported. Each bundle can only be bought until the 15th of the prior to official print publication. Another avenue for distribution that Baen uses for some of its new titles is the offering of electronic advance reader copies, or eARCs 3–5 months prior to actual publication. Marketed as a product for the fans who absolutely positively have to read it now, they are priced at $15 per single title. What it means is that some authors can get paid as many as three times for the book, the eARC, part of the monthly bundle
5.
E-book
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An electronic book is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Although sometimes defined as a version of a printed book. Commercially produced and sold e-books are usually intended to be read on dedicated e-reader devices, however, almost any sophisticated computer device that features a controllable viewing screen can also be used to read e-books, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. In the 2000s, there was a trend of print and e-book sales moving to the Internet, where readers buy traditional paper books and e-books on websites using e-commerce systems. With e-books, users can browse through online, and then when they select and order titles. At the start of 2012 in the U. S. more e-books were published online than were distributed in hardcover, the main reasons that people are buying e-books online are due to possibly lower prices, increased comfort and a larger selection of titles. With e-books, lectronic bookmarks make referencing easier, and e-book readers may allow the user to annotate pages, although fiction and non-fiction books come in e-book formats, technical material is especially suited for e-book delivery because it can be searched for keywords. In addition, for programming books, code examples can be copied, E-book reading is increasing in the U. S. by 2014, 28% of adults had read an e-book, compared to 23% in 2013. This is increasing, because by 2014 50% of American adults had an e-reader or a tablet, E-books are also referred to as ebooks, eBooks, e-Books, e-journals, e-editions or as digital books. The devices that are designed specifically for reading e-books are called e-readers, the idea of an e-reader that would enable a reader to view books on a screen came to Bob Brown after watching his first talkie. In 1930, he wrote a book on this idea and titled it The Readies, although Brown came up with the idea intellectually in the 1930s, early commercial e-readers did not follow his model. Schuessler relates it to a DJ spinning bits of old songs to create a beat or a new song as opposed to just a remix of a familiar song. The inventor of the first e-book is not widely agreed upon and her idea behind the device was to decrease the number of books that her pupils carried to school. The first e-book may be the Index Thomisticus, a heavily annotated electronic index to the works of Thomas Aquinas, prepared by Roberto Busa beginning in 1949, although originally stored on a single computer, a distributable CD-ROM version appeared in 1989. In 2005, the Index was published online, augment ran on specialized hardware, while FRESS ran on IBM mainframes. All these systems also provided extensive hyperlinking, graphics, and other capabilities, van Dam is generally thought to have coined the term electronic book, and it was established enough to use in an article title by 1985. FRESS was used for reading extensive primary texts online, as well as for annotation and online discussions in several courses, browns faculty made extensive use of FRESS, for example the philosopher Roderick Chisholm used it to produce several of his books. Thus in the Preface to Person and Object he writes The book would not have been completed without the epoch-making File Retrieval, despite the extensive earlier history, several publications report Michael S. Hart as the inventor of the e-book
6.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
7.
1634: The Galileo Affair
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1634, The Galileo Affair is the fourth book and third novel published in the 1632 series. It is co-written by American authors Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis and was published in 2004, among those that are affected are the Holy Roman Catholic Church with their religious holdings. Father Lawrence Mazzare started the controversy by allowing Father Fredrich von Spee to read his own entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia, michael Stearns selects Lawrence Mazzare to lead the delegation to Venice because of his current fame among Catholics. Mazzare asks Simon Jones, the Methodist minister, to him as a sign of religious tolerance. Jones goes along as Mazzares assistant, Stearns also sends Tom Stone and his family to assist with the production of pharmaceuticals, Sharon Nichols to aid in medical education, and Ernst Mauer to advise on public sanitation. Lieutenant Conrad Ursinus is sent as the naval attaché and advisor on shipbuilding and Scottish Captain Andrew Lennox is assigned as the military attaché, lieutenant Billy Trumble is sent as XO of the Marine escort as well as sports advisor. The closing chase sequence is literally a riot, also, familiarity with previous titles is a must as the authors place readers right in the middle of the action. 1634, The Galileo Affair was the first book in the 1632 series to be listed on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. During April 2004, this book was able to stay on the NY Times list for a period of 2 weeks while peaking at number 27,1634, The Galileo Affair title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
8.
Ring of Fire (anthology)
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Ring of Fire is the third published book by editor-author-historian Eric Flint of the 1632 series, an alternate history series begun in the novel 1632. The Ring of Fire is both descriptive of the event as experienced by the series characters, but also is at times used as the name for the series itself. The series is set in war-torn Europe during the middle of the Thirty Years War, many characters debut in these short stories who play an important role in subsequent longer works. The series heralds a new kind of writing, blending both shared universe and collaborative fiction writing in large series fiction. Flint demonstrated that a series could be written by ignoring convention. Flint is on record saying that large portions of 1633 were adjusted drastically, even out and rewritten as later submissions to the 1632 series impacted the various. For a fuller look on this literary development see Assiti Shards series, for the fullest enjoyment of all three books, it is best to read them in the order 1632, Ring of Fire, and then 1633. Interchanging the last two has a minor cost to understanding and in appreciation that can be avoided. However, many of the characters or events become more important in retrospect than either the author or editor expected, by David Weber Webers short story sets up major story elements that play out in 1633 and 1634, The Baltic War. In particular, the story tells how the New United States Navy came to be in the resource strapped days of 1632–33. Most notably, through the eyes and experiences of young Eddie Cantrell, through the eyes of Simpson, Cantrell and fellow up-timers Jere Haygood and Pete McDougal we get a picture of the chaos involved in rebuilding Magdeburg after the city was sacked by Tillys forces. As a daughter of a guildmaster, Magdelena Stone was wasting away as a spinster in her early thirties until a delegation from her town visited Grantville and she met her soul-mate, Tom Stone. His initial courting was received with favor, until her father decided Stoner wasnt the man of means hed mistaken him to be, as this story opens, a glum Stoner is introduced to Dr. Effen der Veed, you gifs to der Doc. Klaus turns even that negative, Dat earns you a place in Heaffen, maybe, the matter which becomes the topic of a general family discussion after the medical visitors have left, brought up by the boys. But Stoner knew how to make things colorfast, he was a very good chemist, soon, with the boys eager help, the Stones had gone into series production of embroidery yarns, as the product which would stretch the dyes and return the maximum in income. Karl Edelman was impressed and Stoner had a new life partner, the neat thing was it would be ecologically sound, for the dyes needed could be taken from the coal-fired power plant with the addition of scrubbers on the chimneys. Splitting the profits bothered Stoner not a bit, by Dave Freer Scottish military dispatch carrier Douglas Lawrey falls in with telephone repairman Len Tanner and irascible coal mine switchboard operator Ellie Anderson. Due to their limited people skills, the technologically stranded pair have been unable to convince anyone to develop telecommunications abilities beyond Grantville, after Ellie reveals the old-tech phone she has been prototyping, Douglas talks them into forming a corporation
9.
Pope Urban VIII
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Pope Urban VIII, reigned as Pope from 6 August 1623 to his death in 1644. He expanded the territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts. However, the debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign and he is the most recent pope to date to take the pontifical name of Urban upon being elected as pope. He was born Maffeo Barberini in April 1568 to Antonio Barberini, a Florentine nobleman and his father died when he was only three years old and his mother took him to Rome, where he was put in the charge of his uncle, Francesco Barberini, an apostolic protonotary. At the age of 16 he became his uncles heir and he was educated by the Society of Jesus, and received a doctorate of law from the University of Pisa in 1589. In 1601, Barberini, through the influence of his uncle, was able to secure from Pope Clement VIII appointment as a legate to the court of King Henry IV of France. In 1604, the pope appointed him as the Archbishop of Nazareth. At the death of his uncle, he inherited his riches, on 6 August 1623, at the papal conclave following the death of Pope Gregory XV, Barberini was chosen as Gregory XVs successor and took the name Urban VIII. Upon Pope Urban VIIIs election, Zeno, the Venetian envoy, wrote the description of him. His Holiness is tall, dark, with features and black hair turning grey. He is exceptionally elegant and refined in all details of his dress, has a graceful and aristocratic bearing and he is an excellent speaker and debater, writes verses and patronises poets and men of letters. Urban VIIIs papacy covered 21 years of the Thirty Years War, despite an early friendship and encouragement for his teachings, Urban VIII was responsible for summoning the scientist and astronomer Galileo to Rome in 1633 to recant his work. Urban VIII practiced nepotism on a scale, various members of his family were enormously enriched by him. He elevated his brother Antonio Marcello Barberini and then his nephews Francesco Barberini and he also bestowed upon their brother, Taddeo Barberini, the titles Prince of Palestrina, Gonfalonier of the Church, Prefect of Rome and Commander of SantAngelo. Historian Leopold von Ranke estimated that during his reign, Urban VIIIs immediate family amassed 105 million scudi in personal wealth, Urban VIII was a skilled writer of Latin verse, and a collection of Scriptural paraphrases as well as original hymns of his composition have been frequently reprinted. The 1638 papal bull Commissum Nobis protected the existence of Jesuit missions in South America by forbidding the enslavement of natives who were at the Jesuit Reductions. At the same time, Urban VIII repealed the Jesuit monopoly on missionary work in China and Japan, opening these countries to missionaries of other orders and missionary societies
10.
Freedom of religion
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It also includes the freedom to change ones religion or belief. Freedom of religion is considered by people and most of the nations to be a fundamental human right. Historically, freedom of religion has been used to refer to the tolerance of different theological systems of belief, each of these have existed to varying degrees. Compare examples of individual freedom in Italy or the Muslim tradition of dhimmis, in Antiquity, a syncretic point of view often allowed communities of traders to operate under their own customs. When street mobs of separate quarters clashed in a Hellenistic or Roman city, Cyrus the Great established the Achaemenid Empire ca.550 BC, and initiated a general policy of permitting religious freedom throughout the empire, documenting this on the Cyrus Cylinder. Some of the exceptions have been in regions where one of the revealed religions has been in a position of power, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity. This was the core for resentment and the persecution of early Christian communities, Freedom of religious worship was established in the Buddhist Maurya Empire of ancient India by Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BC, which was encapsulated in the Edicts of Ashoka. Greek-Jewish clashes at Cyrene in 73 AD and 117 AD and in Alexandria in 115 AD provide examples of cities as scenes of tumult. Dhimmis were allowed to operate their own courts following their own systems in cases that did not involve other religious groups. ISIS re-established the punitive jizya tax and forbade Christians in Syria from building places of worship, ringing bells, wearing crosses or criticizing Islam, ancient Jews fleeing from persecution in their homeland 2,500 years ago settled in India and never faced anti-Semitism. Freedom of religion edicts have been written during Ashoka the Greats reign in the 3rd century BC. Freedom to practise, preach and propagate any religion is a right in Modern India. Most major religious festivals of the communities are included in the list of national holidays. Although India is an 80% Hindu country, India is a state without any state religions. Many scholars and intellectuals believe that Indias predominant religion, Hinduism, has long been a most tolerant religion, rajni Kothari, founder of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies has written, is a country built on the foundations of a civilisation that is fundamentally non-religious. The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile, said that religious tolerance of Aryabhoomi, not only Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism which are the native religions but also Christianity and Islam have flourished here. Religious tolerance is inherent in Indian tradition, the Dalai Lama said, Freedom of religion in the Indian subcontinent is exemplified by the reign of King Piyadasi. One of King Ashokas main concerns was to reform governmental institutes and exercise moral principles in his attempt to create a just and humane society
11.
Thirty Years' War
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The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
12.
Galileo Galilei
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Galileo Galilei was an Italian polymath, astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician. He played a role in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass, Galileos championing of heliocentrism and Copernicanism was controversial during his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism because of the absence of a stellar parallax. He was tried by the Inquisition, found vehemently suspect of heresy and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest. He has been called the father of observational astronomy, the father of modern physics, the father of scientific method, and the father of science. Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy, on 15 February 1564, the first of six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lutenist, composer, and music theorist, and Giulia, three of Galileos five siblings survived infancy. The youngest, Michelangelo, also became a noted lutenist and composer although he contributed to financial burdens during Galileos young adulthood, Michelangelo was unable to contribute his fair share of their fathers promised dowries to their brothers-in-law, who would later attempt to seek legal remedies for payments due. Michelangelo would also occasionally have to borrow funds from Galileo to support his musical endeavours and these financial burdens may have contributed to Galileos early fire to develop inventions that would bring him additional income. When Galileo Galilei was eight, his family moved to Florence and he then was educated in the Vallombrosa Abbey, about 30 km southeast of Florence. Galileo Bonaiuti was buried in the church, the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. It was common for mid-sixteenth century Tuscan families to name the eldest son after the parents surname, hence, Galileo Galilei was not necessarily named after his ancestor Galileo Bonaiuti. The Italian male given name Galileo derives from the Latin Galilaeus, meaning of Galilee, the biblical roots of Galileos name and surname were to become the subject of a famous pun. In 1614, during the Galileo affair, one of Galileos opponents, in it he made a point of quoting Acts 1,11, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven. Despite being a genuinely pious Roman Catholic, Galileo fathered three children out of wedlock with Marina Gamba and they had two daughters, Virginia and Livia, and a son, Vincenzo. Their only worthy alternative was the religious life, both girls were accepted by the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri and remained there for the rest of their lives. Virginia took the name Maria Celeste upon entering the convent and she died on 2 April 1634, and is buried with Galileo at the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence. Livia took the name Sister Arcangela and was ill for most of her life, Vincenzo was later legitimised as the legal heir of Galileo and married Sestilia Bocchineri
13.
Gaspar de Borja y Velasco
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Gaspar de Borja y Velasco was a Spanish cardinal, ecclesiastic and politician. He belonged to the house of Borgia and served as Primate of Spain, Archbishop of Seville, Archbishop of Toledo, gaspars mother was Juana Enríquez de Velasco y de Aragón, daughter of Iñigo Tovar y Fernández de Velasco, 4th Duke of Frías and 10th Constable of Castile. He graduated from the Universidad Complutense, in the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso and he owed his rise through the church hierarchy to Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, a favourite in the court of Philip III. He was made a cardinal in August 1611 by Pope Paul V, as cardinal priest of Santa Susanna, part of the grounds for Spains complaint lay in unfounded rumours of the pope siding with the Protestant Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. In response, the pope changed his policy somewhat and made a contribution to the Spanish exchequer, however, Borjas approach to the pope had lacked diplomacy and in retaliation Urban forced him out of Rome in 1634 and had Spain dismiss him as their ambassador. Borja then returned to the Archdiocese of Seville, of which he was already archbishop and he is buried in the Cathedral of Toledo. In the 1632 series of alternate history fiction novels, the South European thread is a series of novels in which Borja is the villain. He attempts to depose and kill Urban VIII, who is perceived by Spain as sympathetic to Gustavus Adolphus, Borja, exceeding his orders from Madrid, has a rump consistory declare him Pope, but is widely dismissed as an anti-pope. Der Herzog von Lerma und die Kronkardinäle Philipps III. von Spanien, die Jagd nach dem roten Hut, hrsg. von Arne Karsten. The Cardinals of the Roman Church
14.
Holy See
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The Holy See, also referred to as the See of Rome, is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, the episcopal see of the Pope, and an independent sovereign entity. It serves as the point of reference for the Catholic Church everywhere. Today, it is responsible for the governance of all Catholics, organised in their Particular Churches, Patriarchates, as an independent sovereign entity, holding the Vatican City enclave in Rome as sovereign territory, it maintains diplomatic relations with other states. Diplomatically, the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole church and it is also recognised by other subjects of international law as a sovereign entity, headed by the Pope, with which diplomatic relations can be maintained. The creation of the Vatican City state was meant to ensure the diplomatic, in Greek, the adjective holy or sacred is constantly applied to all such sees as a matter of course. The word see comes from the Latin word sedes, meaning seat, while Saint Peters basilica in Vatican City is perhaps the church most associated with the Papacy, the actual cathedral of the Holy See is the church of Saint John Lateran within the city of Rome. The Pope governs the Catholic Church through the Roman Curia, the Secretariat of State, under the Cardinal Secretary of State, directs and coordinates the Curia. The incumbent, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, is the Sees equivalent of a prime minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, acts as the Holy Sees minister of foreign affairs. Parolin was named in his role by Pope Francis On 31 August 2013, mamberti was named in his role by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2006. The Secretariat of State is the body of the Curia that is situated within Vatican City. The others are in buildings in different parts of Rome that have rights similar to those of embassies. The Roman Rota handles normal judicial appeals, the most numerous being those that concern alleged nullity of marriage and it also oversees the work of other ecclesiastical tribunals at all levels. The most important of these is the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, the Prefecture of the Papal Household is responsible for the organization of the papal household, audiences, and ceremonies. The Holy See does not dissolve upon a Popes death or resignation and it instead operates under a different set of laws sede vacante. The government of the See, and therefore of the Catholic Church, canon law prohibits the College and the Camerlengo from introducing any innovations or novelties in the government of the Church during this period. In 2001, the Holy See had a revenue of 422.098 billion Italian lire, the Guardian newspaper described Mennini and his role in the following manner. Paolo Mennini, who is in effect the popes merchant banker, Mennini heads a special unit inside the Vatican called the extraordinary division of APSA – Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica – which handles the patrimony of the Holy See. The Holy See has been recognized, both in practice and in the writing of modern legal scholars, as a subject of public international law, with rights
15.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
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He led Sweden to military supremacy during the Thirty Years War, helping to determine the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe. He was formally and posthumously given the name Gustavus Adolphus the Great by the Riksdag of the Estates in 1634 and he is often regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time, with innovative use of combined arms. His most notable victory was the Battle of Breitenfeld. He was ably assisted in his efforts by Count Axel Oxenstierna, the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, within only a few years of his accession, Sweden had become the largest nation in Europe after Russia, Spain and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Some have called him the father of modern warfare, or the first great modern general and he was known by the epithets The Golden King and The Lion of the North by neighboring sovereigns. He made Sweden one of the powers of Europe in part by reforming the administrative structure. For example, he began Parish registration of the population, so that the government could more efficiently tax. Gustavus Adolphus was born in Stockholm as the oldest son of Duke Charles of the Vasa dynasty and his second wife, at the time, the King of Sweden was Gustavus Adolphus cousin Sigismund. Crown Prince Gustav Adolph had Gagnef-Floda in Dalecarlia as a duchy from 1610, upon his fathers death in October 1611, a sixteen-year-old Gustavus inherited the throne, as well as an ongoing succession of occasionally belligerent dynastic disputes with his Polish cousin. Sigismund III wanted to regain the throne of Sweden and tried to force Gustavus Adolphus to renounce the title, in a round of this dynastic dispute, Gustavus invaded Livonia when he was 31, beginning the Polish-Swedish War. He intervened on behalf of the Lutherans in Germany, who opened the gates to their cities to him and his reign became famous from his actions a few years later when in June 1630 he landed in Germany, marking the Swedish Intervention in the Thirty Years War. Gustavus intervened on the side, which at the time was losing to the Holy Roman Empire and its Catholic allies. Gustavus was married to Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, the daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg and he died in the Battle of Lützen in 1632. His early death was a loss to the Lutheran side. This resulted in parts of Germany and other countries, which had been conquered for Lutheranism. His involvement in the Thirty Years War gave rise to the saying that he was the incarnation of the Lion of the North, scholars all agree that Gustavus Adolphus was an extremely able military commander. His innovative tactical integration of infantry, cavalry, logistics and particularly his use of artillery, future commanders who studied and admired Gustav II Adolf include Napoleon I of France and Carl von Clausewitz. His advancements in military science made Sweden the dominant Baltic power for the one hundred years
16.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
17.
Francisco de Quevedo
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Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo and this style existed in stark contrast to Góngoras culteranismo. Quevedo was born in Madrid into a family of hidalgos from the village of Vejorís and his family was descended from the Castilian nobility. Quevedo matured surrounded by dignitaries and nobility at the royal court, intellectually gifted, Quevedo was physically handicapped with a club foot, and myopia. Since he always wore pince-nez, his name in the plural, quevedos, orphaned by the age of six, he was able to attend the Imperial School run by the Jesuits in Madrid. He then attended university at Alcalá de Henares from 1596 to 1600, by his own account, he made independent studies in philosophy, classical languages, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Italian. In 1601, Quevedo, as a member of the Court, moved to Valladolid, where the Court had been transferred by the Kings minister, the Duke of Lerma. There he studied theology, a subject that would become a lifelong interest, by this time, he was becoming noted as both a poet and a prose writer. Some of his poetry was collected in a 1605 generational anthology by Pedro Espinosa entitled Flores de Poetas Ilustres, around this time, he began a very erudite exchange of letters with the humanist Justus Lipsius, in which Quevedo deplored the wars that were ravaging Europe. The Court returned to Madrid in 1606, and Quevedo followed, by then, he was a well-known and accomplished man-of-letters. He befriended and was praised by Miguel de Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Quevedos enemies included, among others, the dramatist Juan Ruiz de Alarcón for, despite his own physical handicaps, Quevedo found Alarcóns redheaded and hunchbacked physique a source of amusement. Quevedo also attacked Juan Pérez de Montalbán, the son of a bookseller with whom he had quarrelled, satirizing him in La Perinola, in 1608, Quevedo dueled with the author and fencing master Luis Pacheco de Narváez as a result of Quevedo criticizing one of Pachecos works. Quevedo took off Pachecos hat in the first encounter and they remained enemies all their lives. In Quevedos Buscón, this duel was parodied with a fencer relying on mathematical calculations having to run away from a duel with an experienced soldier. He was present at the church of San Martín in Madrid when a woman praying there was slapped on the cheek by another man who had rushed up to her, Quevedo seized the man, dragging him outside the church. The two men drew swords, and Quevedo ran his opponent through, the man, who died of his wounds some time later, was someone of importance. Quevedo thus retired temporarily to the palace of his friend and patron, Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
18.
Philip IV of Spain
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Philip IV of Spain was King of Spain and Portugal as Philip III. He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Spain until his death, Philip is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the challenging period of the Thirty Years War. Philip IV was born in Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Philip III and his wife, Philip had seven children by Elisabeth, with only one being a son, Balthasar Charles, who died at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a father by the standards of the day. Philip remarried in 1646, following the deaths of both Elisabeth and his legitimate heir. Perceptions of Philips personality have altered considerably over time, victorian authors were inclined to portray him as a weak individual, delegating excessively to his ministers, and ruling over a debauched Baroque court. Victorian historians even attributed the death of Baltasar to debauchery. The doctors who treated the Prince at that time in fact diagnosed smallpox, Philip was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Philip was a horseman, a keen hunter and a devotee of bull-fighting. Privately, Philip appears to have had a lighter persona, when he was younger, he was said to have a keen sense of humour and a great sense of fun. He privately attended academies in Madrid throughout his reign — these were lighthearted literary salons, aiming to analyse contemporary literature, a keen theatre-goer, he was sometimes criticised by contemporaries for his love of these frivolous entertainments. Others have captured his private personality as naturally kind, gentle and affable and those close to him claimed he was academically competent, with a good grasp of Latin and geography, and could speak French, Portuguese and Italian well. Like many of his contemporaries, including Olivares, he had a keen interest in astrology and his handwritten translation of Francesco Guicciardinis texts on political history still exists. Although Philips Catholic beliefs no longer attract criticism from English language writers, notably, from the 1640s onwards he sought the advice of a noted cloistered abbess, Sor María de Ágreda, exchanging many letters with her. By the end of the reign, and with the health of Carlos José in doubt, there was a possibility of Juan Josés making a claim on the throne. Philip IV came to power as the influence of the Sandovals was being undermined by a new noble coalition, over the course of at least a year, however, the relationship became very close, with Philips tendency towards underconfidence and diffidence counteracted by Olivares drive and determination. Philip retained Olivares as his confidant and chief minister for the twenty years. Philip himself argued that it was appropriate for the king himself to go house to house amongst his ministers to see if his instructions were being carried out
19.
Lame duck (politics)
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A lame duck, in politics, is an elected official whose successor has already been elected. The official is often seen as having less influence with other due to their limited time left in office. Conversely, a duck is free to make decisions that exercise their standard powers with little fear of consequence, such as issuing executive orders, pardons. Lame duck politicians result from term limits, planned retirement, or electoral losses, Lame duck officials tend to have less political power, as other elected officials are less inclined to cooperate with them. Examples include last-minute midnight regulations issued by agencies of outgoing US presidential administrations. The phrase lame duck was coined in the century at the London Stock Exchange. The first known mention of the term in writing was made by Horace Walpole, from a letter in 1761 to Sir Horace Mann, Do you know what a Bull and a Bear and Lame Duck are. In 1791 Mary Berry wrote of the Duchess of Devonshires loss of £50,000 in stocks, in the literal sense, the term refers to a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators. It was transferred to politicians in the century, the first recorded use being in the Congressional Globe of January 14,1863. Could be justly obnoxious to the charge of being a receptacle of lame ducks or broken down politicians. For example, after the 2004 election, it clear that the governing Liberal Party/National Party coalition would gain a majority in the new Senate. In U. S. politics, the period between elections in November and the inauguration of officials early in the year is commonly called the lame duck period. A president is a lame duck after a successor has been elected, during which time the outgoing president, until 1933, inaugurations occurred on March 4. Congress usually had two sessions, the second of which was held from the December after the election of the next Congress until March. This session was called the lame duck session. For this reason, it can be argued that a president in their term is not a lame duck at all. The term lame duck president traditionally is reserved for a president who is serving out the remainder of their term after having been defeated for re-election. Ford, who was defeated in 1976, Jimmy Carter, who was defeated for re-election in 1980, and George H. W. Bush, to date, he is the last sitting president to lose in a re-election bid
20.
Cardinal-nephew
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A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a pope who is that cardinals uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, the word nepotism originally referred specifically to this practice, when it appeared in the English language about 1669. From the middle of the Avignon Papacy until Pope Innocent XIIs anti-nepotism bull, Romanum decet pontificem, a pope without a cardinal-nephew was the exception to the rule. Every Renaissance pope who created cardinals appointed a relative to the College of Cardinals, the institution of the cardinal-nephew evolved over seven centuries, tracking developments in the history of the papacy and the styles of individual Popes. From 1566 until 1692, a held the curial office of the Superintendent of the Ecclesiastical State, known as the Cardinal Nephew. The list of cardinal-nephews includes at least fifteen, and possibly as many as nineteen popes, one antipope, the first known cardinal-nephew is Lottario, seniore, cousin of Pope Benedict VIII, elected circa 1015. Benedict VIII also elevated his brother Giovanni and his cousin Teofilatto as cardinal-deacons, however, it is beyond doubt that the promotions of papal relatives to the College of Cardinals were common in 13th century. According to historian John Bargrave, by the Council of Bazill, Session 21, the number of cardinals was not to be above 24, and not any nephew of the Pope or of any cardinal was to be of that number. Pope Clement VI created more cardinal-nephews than any other pontiff, including six on September 20,1342, the greatest number of cardinal-nephews elevated at one time. Saint Charles Borromeo, cardinal-nephew of Pope Pius IV, had ensured the subordination of the secretarius intimus to the Cardinal Nephew, Pius IV was notorious for nepotism, between 1561 and 1565 he transferred more than 350,000 scudi to his relatives. However, Pius V relentlessly avoided delegating any real power to Bonelli. The office has been likened by historians to a minister, alter ego. The Cardinal Nephew was generally among a Popes first cardinal creations, the terms of the office of Cardinal Nephew were established by a papal brief developed and refined by Pius Vs successors to Paul V. The Cardinal Nephew was also the liaison for all papal nuncios and gubernatorial legates. The Cardinal Nephew was also the captain-general of the papal army, however, these formal functions only came into force during the pontificates of unusually weak Popes, most Cardinal Nephews were the de facto rubber stamp of the pontiff himself. Although Pope Leo XI died before he was able to elevate his nephew, Roberto Ubaldini, Ubaldini was elevated by Leo XIs successor, Pope Paul V in 1615. For example, in 1616,24 of the 30 abbeys belonging to Borghese were rented out and it is estimated that Paul V Borghese had transferred to his family approximately 4% of the total income of the Holy See during his pontificate. Borgheses personal revenues in 1610 were 153,000 scudi compared to the mere 4,900 scudi that constituted his entire familys income in 1592
21.
Antonio Barberini
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As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal conclaves of the 17th century. With his brothers Cardinal Francesco Barberini and Taddeo Barberini he helped to shape politics, religion, art and he is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Younger or Antonio Barberini iuniore to distinguish him from his uncle Antonio Marcello Barberini. Barberini was born on 5 August 1607 in Rome, the youngest of 6 children to Carlo Barberini, like his brothers, Antonio was educated at the Collegio Romano. Barberinis uncle, Maffeo Barberini was elected as pope on 6 August 1623, almost immediately, he elevated his brother, Antonios other uncle, Antonio Marcello Barberini to the position of cardinal. In the tradition of cardinal nephews, Urban also elevated Antonios older brother Francesco Barberini to the rank of cardinal, Urbans famous nepotism wasnt sufficiently quelled by the appointment of one cardinal-nephew. Less than a month after his 20th birthday and without having established a career of his own. His elevation was made in pectore and was published on 7 February 1628, Urban also purchased the comune of the town of Palestrina outside Rome, and Antonios other brother, Taddeo Barberini, became the Prince of Palestrina. During his time in France he became unwell and employed Joseph Barsalou as his private physician and he returned to Rome and assumed the post of Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church in 1638. In 1636, against the wish of his uncle the Pope and it has been estimated that during Urbans 21-year pontificate, Barberini amassed more than 63 million scudi in personal wealth. In 1639 Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, came to Rome, during his visit he insulted Antonio and his brother Francesco by suggesting to the Pope that the brothers were too young to manage the Popes affairs. Pope Urban responded by banning grain shipments from Farnese controlled areas, when the Farnese were then unable to pay their debts the Pope sent debt collectors. Finally the Pope send troops to occupy Castro, the Popes forces were led by Antonio, his brother Taddeo and mercenary field commander Luigi Mattei. Castro fell to Urbans forces without significant resistance and the victory was celebrated in song by Barberini family composer, but the victory was short lived and thereafter Antonio and his troops suffered a series of decisive losses and Antonio himself was almost captured. Pope Urban was forced to defeat and signed a peace treaty with the Farnese Dukes in an attempt to prevent them from marching on Rome itself. When Urban died, the Church was facing financial struggle, the cardinals were divided between France and Spain and the Farnese were moving toward Rome with an army in tow. Mazarin became so angry because of Antonios attitude that he deprived him of the protectorate of the Kingdom of France, however, the conflict was of short duration and both cardinals quickly reconciled with each other. For reasons unknown, Pope Innocent X reneged on the deal and Antonio, the two went into exile in 1645 in Paris under the protection of Cardinal Mazarin, and were joined a year later by Francesco. Before leaving Rome, Antonio had the crest of the King of France affixed above his door as a warning to his rivals that he was now protected by the French Kingdom
22.
Publishers Weekly
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Publishers Weekly is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, “The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling, with 51 issues a year, the emphasis today is on book reviews. The magazine was founded by bibliographer Frederick Leypoldt in the late 1860s, the publication was a compilation of information about newly published books, collected from publishers and from other sources by Leypoldt, for an audience of booksellers. By 1876, Publishers Weekly was being read by nine tenths of the booksellers in the country, in 1878, Leypoldt sold The Publishers Weekly to his friend Richard Rogers Bowker, in order to free up time for his other bibliographic endeavors. Eventually the publication expanded to include features and articles, harry Thurston Peck was the first editor-in-chief of The Bookman, which began in 1895. Peck worked on its staff from 1895 to 1906, and in 1895, in 1912, Publishers Weekly began to publish its own bestseller lists, patterned after the lists in The Bookman. These were not separated into fiction and non-fiction until 1917, when World War I brought an increased interest in non-fiction by the reading public. Born April 12,1879, in Malden, Massachusetts, Melcher began at age 16 in Bostons Estes & Lauriat Bookstore and he moved to Indianapolis in 1913 for another bookstore job. In 1918, he read in Publishers Weekly that the editorship was vacant. He applied to Richard Rogers Bowker for the job, was hired and he remained with R. R. Bowker for 45 years. While at Publishers Weekly, Melcher began creating space in the publication, in 1919, he teamed with Franklin K. Mathiews, librarian for the Boy Scouts of America, and Anne Carroll Moore, a librarian at the New York Public Library, to create Children’s Book Week. When Bowker died in 1933, Melcher succeeded him as president of the company, in 1943, Publishers Weekly created the Carey–Thomas Award for creative publishing, naming it in honor of Mathew Carey and Isaiah Thomas. In 2008, the circulation was 25,000. It attempts to serve all involved in the creation, production, marketing and sale of the word in book, audio, video. The book review section of Publishers Weekly was added in the early 1940s and grew in importance during the 20th century and through the present time. It currently offers prepublication reviews of 9,000 new trade books each year, in a range of genres and including audiobooks and e-books. These anonymous reviews are short, averaging 200–250 words, and it is not unusual for the section to run as long as 40 pages. In the past, a book review editorial staff of eight editors assigned books to more than 100 freelance reviewers, some are published authors, and others are experts in specific genres or subjects
23.
Spanish Inquisition
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The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition, was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition and it became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Christian Inquisition along with the Roman Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism, the regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain. The Inquisition was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, the Spanish Inquisition is often stated in popular literature and history as an example of Catholic intolerance and repression. Modern historians have tended to question earlier accounts concerning the severity of the Inquisition, Henry Kamen asserts that the myth of the all-powerful, torture-mad inquisition is largely an invention of nineteenth century Protestant authors with an agenda to discredit the Papacy. Although records are incomplete, about 150,000 persons were charged with crimes by the Inquisition and about 3,000 were executed. The Inquisition was created through papal bull, Ad Abolendam, issued at the end of the century by Pope Lucius III as a way to combat the Albigensian heresy in southern France. There were a number of tribunals of the Papal Inquisition in various European kingdoms during the Middle Ages. In the Kingdom of Aragon, a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition was established by the statute of Excommunicamus of Pope Gregory IX, in 1232, during the era of the Albigensian heresy. With time, its importance was diluted, and, by the middle of the fifteenth century, there was never a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition in Castile. Members of the episcopate were charged with surveillance of the faithful, during the Middle Ages, in Castile, little attention was paid to heresy by the Catholic ruling class. Jews and Muslims were tolerated and generally allowed to follow their traditional laws, however, by law, they were considered inferior to Catholics and were subject to discriminatory legislation. The Spanish Inquisition can be seen as an answer to the nature of Spanish society following the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim Moors. After invading in 711, large areas of the Iberian Peninsula were ruled by Muslims until 1250, when they were restricted to Granada, which fell in 1492. However, the Reconquista did not result in the expulsion of Muslims from Spain, since they. The Jews, who had previously thrived under Muslim rule, now suffered similar maltreatment, however, as Henry Kamen notes, so-called convivencia was always a relationship between unequals. Despite their legal inequality, there was a tradition of Jewish service to the crown of Aragon and Jews occupied many important posts. Castile itself had an unofficial rabbi, ferdinands father John II named the Jewish Abiathar Crescas to be Court Astronomer
24.
Monty Python
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Monty Python were a British surreal comedy group who created their sketch comedy show Monty Pythons Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series, the Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The Pythons influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles influence on music, the Orlando Sentinel referred to their sketch show as not only one of the more enduring icons of 1970s British popular culture, but also an important moment in the evolution of television comedy. Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Flying Circus was conceived, written, and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style. Following their television work, they began making films, which include Holy Grail, Life of Brian, pythonesque has entered the English lexicon as a result. Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue, Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman, Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus. Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that also included the future Goodies. During Idles presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members, following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, a tea-time childrens programme, ITV offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapmans supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How To Irritate People, much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleeses desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. The Pythons had a idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe, and had worked on Frost and they enjoyed Cook and Moores sketch show Not Only. They decided that they would not bother to cap their sketches in the traditional manner. However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their heroes, Spike Milligan. Not only was the programme more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy and it was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called Beware of the Elephants, Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series, allowing sketches to blend into one another
25.
Booklist
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Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. Booklist’s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers, the magazine is available to subscribers in print and online. Booklist is published 22 times per year, and reviews over 7,500 titles annually, the Booklist brand also offers a blog, various newsletters, and monthly webinars. The Booklist offices are located in the American Library Association headquarters in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, in 1913, the Booklist offices were moved from Boston to the ALA headquarters in Chicagos McCormick mansion. By the 1930s the reviews had become more in-depth, and the journal began to some articles. Amidst a world crisis, the editor helped library patrons to have their questions answered while presenting various viewpoints, from the 1950s to the 1960s, Booklist reviews were limited to 150 words, generally three long sentences. Reviews were handwritten in pencil on yellow paper, edited and typed up for the printer. Artistic design choices for the magazine were minimal, with the visual change between issues being the plain covers solid colour. The 1970s saw a deal of change in the Booklist offices. As adolescent literature gained popularity, a Young Adult books editor was hired, the publication of such books as Judy Blume’s Forever, Phyllis Reynolds Naylors Alice series, and S. E. Hintons The Outsiders marked a need to evaluate books not meant strictly for children or adults. In 1973, new editor-publisher Paul Brawley was the first to print editions of the magazine with recreated book jackets on the cover, some Booklist subscribers protested the flashy new covers, supposedly claiming they liked the plain covers and the space they afforded for listing potential book orders. Under Brawley’s editorship, beginning with 16mm film strips and spoken-word recordings, Booklist began to accept submissions, during the 1980s and 1990s, Booklist began its Editors’ Choice reviews and its first feature column, “Manley Arts”, by Will Manley. The 1990s issues of Booklist were the first to be composed on in-office computers, the June 2005 issue of Booklist marked the magazine’s 100th anniversary. Currently, the magazine can be online and in print. The Booklist editorial team also creates supplemental products, such as Book Links, webinars, Booklist offices are located in the 50 E. Huron building at the ALA headquarters. Current editor Bill Ott is the seventh to hold the position since Booklist was founded, Reviews include a brief synopsis, plus mention of the most successful elements of style. Most reviews fall between 175 and 225 words, starred Reviews The Booklist star indicates an outstanding title of a particular genre
26.
International Standard Serial Number
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An International Standard Serial Number is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title, ISSN are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature. The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization international standard in 1971, ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC9 is responsible for maintaining the standard. When a serial with the content is published in more than one media type. For example, many serials are published both in print and electronic media, the ISSN system refers to these types as print ISSN and electronic ISSN, respectively. The format of the ISSN is an eight digit code, divided by a hyphen into two four-digit numbers, as an integer number, it can be represented by the first seven digits. The last code digit, which may be 0-9 or an X, is a check digit. Formally, the form of the ISSN code can be expressed as follows, NNNN-NNNC where N is in the set, a digit character. The ISSN of the journal Hearing Research, for example, is 0378-5955, where the final 5 is the check digit, for calculations, an upper case X in the check digit position indicates a check digit of 10. To confirm the check digit, calculate the sum of all eight digits of the ISSN multiplied by its position in the number, the modulus 11 of the sum must be 0. There is an online ISSN checker that can validate an ISSN, ISSN codes are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries and coordinated by the ISSN International Centre based in Paris. The International Centre is an organization created in 1974 through an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The International Centre maintains a database of all ISSNs assigned worldwide, at the end of 2016, the ISSN Register contained records for 1,943,572 items. ISSN and ISBN codes are similar in concept, where ISBNs are assigned to individual books, an ISBN might be assigned for particular issues of a serial, in addition to the ISSN code for the serial as a whole. An ISSN, unlike the ISBN code, is an identifier associated with a serial title. For this reason a new ISSN is assigned to a serial each time it undergoes a major title change, separate ISSNs are needed for serials in different media. Thus, the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSNs. Also, a CD-ROM version and a web version of a serial require different ISSNs since two different media are involved, however, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats of the same online serial
27.
EBSCO Information Services
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EBSCO offers library resources to customers in academic, medical, K–12, public library, law, corporate, and government markets. In 2010, EBSCO introduced its EBSCO Discovery Service to institutions, EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc. a family owned company since 1944. EBSCO is an acronym for Elton B. Stephens Co, according to Forbes Magazine, EBSCO is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama and one of the top 200 in the United States, based on revenues and employee numbers. Sales surpassed $1 billion in 1997 and exceeded $2 billion in 2006, EBSCO Industries is a diverse company which includes over 40 businesses. EBSCO Publishing was established in 1984 as a print publication called Popular Magazine Review, in 1987 the company was purchased by EBSCO Industries and its name was changed to EBSCO Publishing. It employed around 750 people by 2007, in 2003 it acquired Whitston Publishing, another database provider. In 2010 EBSCO purchased NetLibrary and in 2011, EBSCO Publishing took over H. W. Wilson Company and it merged with EBSCO Information Services on July 1,2013. The merged business operates as EBSCO Information Services, as of 2016, the President and CEO is Tim Collins. Databases, EBSCO provides a range of library database services, many of the databases, such as MEDLINE and EconLit, are licensed from content vendors. Discovery, This product is used to create a unified, customized index of an institutions information resources, the system works by harvesting metadata from both internal and external sources, and then creating a preindexed service. EBooks, EBSCO provides ebooks and audiobooks across a range of subject matter. DynaMed is a reference tool for physicians and other health care professionals for use at the point-of-care. It provides DRM-protected audio and DRM-protected audiobooks through its subsidiary NetLibrary and it competes in this market with OverDrive’s Digital Library Reserve. In 2012, the Stephens were recognized for their philanthropic work, interview with Sam Brooks, Senior VP for Sales and Marketing with EBSCO Publishing, About H. W. Wilson
28.
1632 (novel)
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1632 is the initial novel in the best-selling alternate history 1632 book series written by American historian, writer and editor Eric Flint published in 2001. The flagship novel kicked off a collaborative writing effort that has involved hundreds of contributors, the premise involves a small American town of three thousand, sent back to May 1631, in an alternate Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War. The fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia and its power plant are displaced in space-time, the town is thrust into the middle of the Thirty Years War, in the German province of Thuringia in the Thuringer Wald, near the fictional German free city of Badenburg. This Assiti Shards effect occurs during a reception, accounting for the presence of several people not native to the town, including a doctor and his daughter. Real Thuringian municipalities located close to Grantville are posited as Weimar, Jena, Saalfeld and the more remote Erfurt, Arnstadt, one complication is a compounding of the food shortage when the town is flooded by refugees from the war. The 1631 locals experience a shock when exposed to the mores of contemporary American society, including modern dress, sexual egalitarianism. Grantville struggles to survive while trying to maintain technology sundered from twenty-first century resources, throughout 1631, Grantville manages to establish itself locally by forming the nascent New United States of Europe with several local cities even as war rages around them. But once Count Tilly falls during the Battle of Breitenfeld outside of Leipzig, King Gustavus Adolphus rapidly moves the war theater to Franconia and Bavaria and this leads to the creation of the Confederated Principalities of Europe and some measure of security for Grantvilles up-timer and down-timer populations. F&SF reviewer Charles de Lint received the novel favorably, describing it as a fine, the reviewer also wrote that Flint succeeds at making the whole adventure palatable by populating his tale with thoughtful, likeable, fallible characters with well drawn motivations. RT Book Reviews called the novel an outstanding, positive reading experience for those who appreciate living history, indomitable courage, library Journal praised the author, saying he convincingly re-creates the military and political tenor of the times in this imaginative and unabashedly positive approach to alternative history. A reviewer for SFRevu called 1632 is a fun read and marks Flint as an author to watch for, the book generated an unusual amount of fan involvement. Flint had to set aside several planned projects and do some additional co-writing with Weber as Ring of Fire gestated, the other thirty-seven Gazettes are available as e-books. 2000, USA, Baen Books, February 2000, hardcover 2001, USA, Baen Books, February 2001, paperback 2001
29.
1633 (novel)
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1633 is an alternate history novel co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2002, and sequel to 1632 in the 1632 series. Flints goal was to explore the short- and long-term effects of placing a single American town, complete with modern culture, technology and modes of thought,1633 continues where 1632 left off. Richelieu completely changes Frances foreign policy and forms an alliance aimed squarely at the NUS, the Dutch Republic nearly falls and Stearns emissary voluntarily stays behind, becoming trapped in the Siege of Amsterdam. To a great extent, the stories are fundamental to the main novels in the series, introducing characters. One ROF story, In the Navy, by Weber is a prequel to a main plot element in this book and its plot threads direct sequel 1634. Booklist gave a positive review saying that if it takes too many pages for some, others will turn every one and cry for more. The reviewer for the School Library Journal wrote that the book is written, with an enormous cast of interesting characters. with constant action. Library Journal gave a review saying that the authors take historic speculation to a new level in a tale that combines accurate historical research with bold leaps of the imagination. The whole novel can be found here,1633 title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1634: The Baltic War
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1634, The Baltic War is a sequel to both the first-of-type sequels, Ring of Fire and 1633, co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2007. It had to await schedule co-ordination by the two authors, which proved difficult and delayed the work by two years. With the stability imposed by the protection of Gustavuss armies, up-timers began migrating to other locales in the world as the year 1633 closed. The book also details ground battles as the Americans have been busy upgrading Gustavuss army into a trained professional army at the expense of the mercenaries so prevalent in the era. Although the reviewer for SFRevu gave a positive review, he wrote that the book does have a feel of being unfocused since there are a large. 1634, The Baltic War is the book in the 1632 series to be listed on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. During May 2007, this book was able to stay on the NY Times list for a period of 2 weeks while peaking at number 19, an excerpt of 1634, The Baltic War is available for download or reading online at the Baen Free Library here. The whole novel can be found here,1634, The Baltic War title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
31.
1635: The Eastern Front
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It is a sequel to 1635, The Tangled Web and is directly continued by 1636, The Saxon Uprising. The former are duly reconquered and the latter invaded, meanwhile, on the home front, other sequences of events involve Mikes wife Rebecca Abrabanel and the Swedish royal family. The prince and princess escape, though her mother, the queen Maria Eleonora, is murdered, gustavuss eastern war is stalled in the battle of Lake Bledno, in which he gains a strategic victory but receives a life-threatening wound. The reviewer for SFRevu gave a review and wrote One of the best things about Flint’s writing is the smooth flow of his battle descriptions. He presents the majesty and the horror without getting bogged down in a blow by blow recounting of the action and he seamlessly meshes the multitude of points of view into a coherent tale that spans the limits of the USE. It is enjoyable to read the way he brings action in the books into the main plot. That has always one of the hallmarks of the series. 1635, The Eastern Front barely missed getting listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List in 2011,1635, The Eastern Front title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1636: The Saxon Uprising
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It is a direct continuation of 1635, The Eastern Front. In the alternative scenario of the novel and series, Emperor Gustav Adolphus, ruler of the new United States of Europe, has suffered a head trauma in battle. The Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna seizes this opportunity to try to reestablish the power of the nobility in the USE and he keeps the USE army occupied fighting against Poland and reinforcing Bohemia, leaving Swedish and Provincial forces as the only professional soldiers in the country. He uses this advantage to co-opt the ruling Crown Loyalist Party and bully its leader, Prime Minister Wilhelm Wettin, other conservative leaders remain wary, such as the landgravine of Hesse-Kassel, which has the strongest provincial force, she chooses to keep neutral in the conflict. When Bavaria invades the Upper Palatinate the only available to meet them are the Thuringia-Franconia National Guard. Meanwhile, Swedish general Johan Banér lays siege to Dresden, the capital of Saxony, ernst Wettin is the official Imperial Administrator, but Gretchen Richter and the Committees of Correspondence hold the real power there. They enter into an alliance with Saxon rebel forces in Vogtland in order to protect as many people as possible from Banérs butchery. Meanwhile, Princess Christina and Prince Ulric travel to the capital at Magdeburg, symbolically aligning themselves with Oxenstiernas opponents, Mike Stearns, leader of the USE army in Bohemia, takes this opportunity to lead his Third Division into Saxony to break the siege of Dresden. He meets General Banér in battle during a storm in which his troops are more prepared to battle. Banér is killed, the Swedish forces routed, and the siege broken, Gustav Adolphus regains his wits soon after that and puts an end to Oxenstiernas bid for power. Wilhelm Wettin is released from custody and reinstated as Prime Minister, Gustav Adolphus meets with Mike Stearns to negotiate an orderly transition of power, and the emperor commissions Stearns to take on the invading Bavarians. The reviewer for SFRevu gave a positive review by saying The main plot moves forward with a huge cast of characters. There are numerous little interludes that tell the reaction to events from the point of view of multiple areas, in contrast, the reviewer for the Shiny Book Review gave a more mixed review by writing Confused yet. And The story was okay, though the author does have some memorable one-liners in it that made me laugh out loud, the writing itself is good, as you would expect from Eric Flint, and the series continues to chug along. 1636, The Saxon Uprising was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for a month in 2011 at number 4. 1636, The Saxon Uprising title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1636: The Kremlin Games
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1636, The Kremlin Games is a novel in the 1632 series written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett along with Eric Flint. It is the book in the series to be listed on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. This book reached number 30 on the NY Times list during a week in June 2012. Besides being listed on the NY Times Best Seller list,1636, the reviewer for the San Francisco Book Review wrote that this book is a standout even in a wonderful series and it has war, political intrigue, romance, even car chases. The Midwest Book Review said that this installment is a thriller with a wonderful second order effect on Bernie. 1636, The Kremlin Games title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1634: The Bavarian Crisis
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The novels first draft was completed in 2005, before work on The Baltic War began. Many chapters of that early version were available on line. Unfortunately this shows strongly in The Bavarian Crisis which has a tendency to more like a history lesson than a novel. The Bavarian Crisis was delayed due to the start and completion of the preceding major work in the set. If The Bavarian Crisis had been published first, it would have contained plot spoilers for 1634, The Baltic War. A reviewer for the SFRevu wrote that this is not a stand alone novel, the Midwest Book Review said that the story line is fast-paced, but contains a more serious tone than its predecessors. 1634, The Bavarian Crisis was the book in the 1632 series to be listed on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction. During October 2007, this book was able to be on the NY Times list for one week peaking at number 29. 1634, The Bavarian Crisis was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for one month in 2008 at number 8, chapter titles, Latin to English translations, with some sources. 1634, The Bavarian Crisis, Simon & Schuster sample chapters Official snippets Last snippet 1634, The Bavarian Crisis title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1635: The Dreeson Incident
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1635, The Dreeson Incident is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce and Eric Flint, as a sequel to Flints novella 1634, The Bavarian Crisis. The leaders of the French Huguenot group under Ducos settled in Scotland making plans to embarrass Cardinal Richelieu, michel also has left strict instructions for several of his followers, led by Guillaume Locquifier, in Frankfurt to do nothing until he gives them new orders. Meanwhile, Duke Henri de Rohan, the highest ranking Huguenot, has his own group of agents monitoring events throughout Europe and he also would like to see Richelieu removed from office, but he views the radical actions of Ducos as self-defeating. After having learning the events in Rome, Henri writes letters to his agents in Grantville, Frankfurt and elsewhere warning of the escape of Ducos, Rohan has two double agents working within the Ducos operation. Spymaster Francisco Nasi has also been trying to track down Ducos and his agents and others have been sending reports on activities in Grantville and elsewhere within the State of Thuringia-Franconia. In the midst, the United States of Europe elections are taking place which incumbent Prime Minister Mike Stearns is sure that his party will lose these. But he figures that his opponent William Wettin will overextend himself, in the aftermath, the results did not came out as the Huguenots had planned, Nasi, Stearns, and several others figured out the cause for the assassinations. The book receives mixed to low reviews from readers, a reviewer for SFRevu liked the book but wrote that it is easy to get drawn in by these characters, although sometimes it is hard to keep track of all the subplots that have developed. The reviewer for Booklist wrote that book is a solid addition to the Ring of Fire alternate history saga. 1635, The Dreeson Incident was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for a month in 2009 at number 5. 1635, The Dreeson Incident title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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Ring of Fire II
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Ring of Fire II is a 2008 anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint. It is the anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire. For a fuller precis on this interesting and historic development see Assiti Shards series. By Karen Bergstralh The story focus on four former mercenaries who worked for Count Tilly before being exempted on good behavior, while returning to Grantville following a horse trade in France, the traders encountered a foreign mercenary army contingent preparing to attack Grantvilles allied city, Badenburg. They also observed that the mercenaries are equipped with American Civil War era equipment, the traders and with help from the American militia made several skirmishes against the army before finally eliminating them. By Eric Flint and Bradley H. Sinor A story by Bradley H. Sinor about the birth of journalism in Grantville. The plot structure begins with a suggestion that it might be a tale of investigative journalism, or, is it an elaborate fraud. By Walt Boyes The story recounts the deeds of Father Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld on the day of his former death. By David Carrico This continuation of the Franz and Marla stories by David Carrico, ties in with a mention of the story behind. Like the preceding Franz and Marla stories, it is an excellent tale told with skill and is good at evoking emotions, by Russ Rittgers The story recounts the tribulations of a peasant family immigrating to Grantville. By Jonathan Cresswell The story focus on an African Jesuit layman who has an urgent mission in Grantville, by Jay Robison The story focus on the trials of Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi and a Grantville housewife. By Eric Flint This short novel by Flint features a return to the secret agent, Noelle Murphy, introduced in 1634. A reviewer for SFRevu wrote that he liked the book because the characters are allowed to be flawed and they often are given the chance for redemption, but dont always take it. However, the gems in this anthology outweigh the few weak ones, the reviewer also recommends re-reading the other novels and anthologies of the series to really appreciate all the interconnections between the various storylines. Ring of Fire II was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for single month during 2008 at number 6, Ring of Fire II title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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Ring of Fire III
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Ring of Fire III is an anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint, first published in hardcover by Baen Books in July 2011. It is the anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire II. The book includes twenty short stories, together with a preface by the editor, the Preface by Eric Flint explains the contents of this anthology and mentions future works. Dye Another Day by Mercedes Lackey tells of a scam pulled on Wallenstein by the uptimers, birds of a Feather by Charles E. Gannon concerns Irish mercenaries who are facing a change in warfare tactics. Falser Messiah by Tim Roesch is about a young Jew who disagrees with the reports of his role in history. Royal Dutch Airlines by Gorg Huff & Paula Goodlett regards the change of TransEuropean Airlines into a royal enterprise, miltons Choice by Mark Huston addresses the arrest of John Milton for his writings in the original timeline. To End the Evening by Brad Sinor relates the rescue of a kidnapped Irish Catholic by DArtagnan, cap and Gown by Jack Carroll discloses the contributions of a dying man to mathematical studies at Cambridge. A Relation of the Late Siege by Panteleimon Roberts reveals tactics, frying Pan by Anette Pederson depicts the trials of a young Norwegian man in Rostock on the Baltic coast. All Gods Children in the Burning East by Garrett W. Vance covers the troubles of Japanese emigres in the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya and their move to the Khmer kingdom. Do It Once and Do It Again by Terry Howard explains the development of an oil well in Wietze, les Ailes du Papillon by Walter H. Hunt discusses the Butterfly Effect and its influence on the life of a French governor. And the Devil Will Drag You Under by Walt Boyes depicts the downfall of a mercenary, salonica by Kim Mackey recounts the conversion of a Jewish employee of the Ottoman sultan. The Sound of Sweet Strings, A Serenade in One Movement by David Carrico introduces the banjo to European audiences, stone Harvest by Karen Bergstrahl is about the redevelopment of archaeology in the new timeline. An Eye Opener by Kerryn Offord & Linda Davidson shows the benefits of early detection, make Mine Macrame by Virginia DeMarce involves the USE in diplomacy and romance within Tyrol and Saxe-Weimar. Upward Mobility by Charles E. Gannon puts a young hidden Jew in the middle of an aircraft development, four Days on the Danube by Eric Flint is the novella. It describes the Bavarian attack on Ingolstadt, the USE troops have to withdraw from the city and march toward Regensburg. They are pursued by a regiment and a cavalry troop. However, the reviewer warns readers that this is not the place to start reading the series, in contrast, the reviewer for Thats interesting. Wrote a mix review even though he enjoyed the series overall, although the reviewer had high praise for Eric Flint and for upcoming authors Garrett W. Ring of Fire III title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1634: The Ram Rebellion
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These merging dynamics are the milieu shaping stories Flint felt necessary to include even though they are set in 1631—1632. The short novel that concludes the work begins in late August 1633, two of the three other books set in 1634 refer to the events in the work setting its canonical place in the greater neohistorical international politics covered in the other two works. The two Larkin Birdie Newhouse tales along with two flashback vignettes by Flint begin the Ram Rebellion book, all four set in the immediately after the Ring of Fire. In the Flint stories which are sandwiched around the Birdie tales, Stearns has a problem, he has to get a handle on likely complications from the local population, as the stories are set just a few days after he is elected as Chairman of the Emergency Committee. As a result, Mailey gives Stearns several very thick books on European history in the era. Birdie Newhouse has a problem, hes a farmer with most of his farms arable land 300 years off. The stories by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett explore the alien land practices, in between the owner in fact, and the tenants is usually a monetary transaction which gives the rents to any number of claimants—depending upon the finances of the landholding family. Birdie cant just go and buy a piece of land, he has to buy it from three different and diverse groups of people, and get them all to agree to terms. As the story notes, seventeenth century Germany was a lawyers paradise, the Ring of Fire had consequently left Jan behind in the present in which Flo dealt with this loss by concentrating on her livestock. She and her husband JD have local Germans living with them as partners now that farming has become more labour-intensive and his fame due to the stories spread through Grantville out into the rest of Germany. The Womens League of Voters uses a Rams Head as its emblem, schoolchildren sing songs about Brillo, in Franconia, schoolteacher Constantin Ableidinger has been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine. He also finds the Brillo stories interesting, dana Blankenhorn of ZDNet called the book a sort of open source novel as a way of describing how Eric Flint invited other authors to contribute stories to this book in which it extends the franchise. Another reviewer wrote that the book gets mired down in detail and it was just too much information. 1634, The Ram Rebellion was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for two months in a row during 2006, topping at number 2,1634, The Ram Rebellion title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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1635: The Tangled Web
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1635, The Tangled Web is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce. Two of the stories were published in the online version of The Grantville Gazettes with the Prince and Abbot first published in Volume 8. The rest of the stories are original material, the main setting takes place in Fulda in 1633 and follows in four interlinking stories which ties together near the end of the novel. The New United States decided to accept the return of Johann Bernhard Schenk von Schweinsberg as the Abbot of Fulda, moreover, he will not be allowed to collect tithes. The N. U. S. is now the authority in Fulda. The Abbot surprises Wes Jenkins - the administrator of Fulda - in his attempts to persuade the monks to abide by the new rules of his order, the local monks have been difficult over abiding by these rules. Even the import of Saint Gall monks hasnt won them over to the Tridentine doctrines. U. S, the story focus on Martin Wackernagel. As a private courier, Martin delivers correspondence and small packages on a route stretching from Grantville to Gelnhausen along the imperial road and he also makes side trips to Barracktown and other locations near his route. Martin visits his mother now and then during his travels, and she keeps asking when he will be married, but things are not as they seems. All of the different thread diverge and intersects along Wackernagels postal route, “MAIL STOP” and “HAPPY WANDERER” tell the story of Martin Wackernagel, a private courier with a regular route. Martin maintains three separate households complete with wife and children unknown to his mother or his other “wives”, the woman he hopes to make his fourth wife is niece to Clara Bachmeierin, who married Wes Jenkins in the first story. The story examines the actions of the Mainz Committee of Correspondence, bernard Eberhard – Captain Duke of the Swedish Army – is sent to Fulda by General Brahe to observe the interplay between NUS administrators and Abbot von Schweinsberg. Bernhard takes his brothers and his fellow CoC members with him to Fulda and he and his brothers began working for Major Derek Utt. Later, Utt plans an operation against the Irish soldiers who had abducted the Abbot and he sends Sergeant Helmut Herke and a small band of soldiers to determine the whereabouts of the colonels. One reviewer thought that the first half of the book was a little boring since it describes events that were mentioned in previous books but from a different POV. For the second half of the book, the said that this section of the book starts out light. 1635, The Tangled Web was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for one month during 2010 at number 5,1635, The Tangled Web title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
