Kingdom Lost

A woman shipwrecked on a desert island, and believed dead for two decades, returns to civilization—as heiress to an enormous fortune Austin Muir has just landed on a seemingly uninhabited South Seas island when he meets a remarkable young woman. Valentine claims to have lived there for twenty years. She has no memory of the shipwreck of the Avronia because she was just a baby at the time. All she knows is that she was rescued and raised by Edward Bowden, the only other survivor. Valentine has no knowledge of the Great War, let alone the world beyond her remote desert island. With Edward now dead, Valentine must return to civilization and learn the ways of British society. She learns she’s due to come into a vast sum of money when she turns twenty-five, but since she was given up for dead, her inheritance passed to her cousin Eustace. Now that Valentine is back, Eustace will lose it all once her long-lost cousin comes of age. Stunned to discover that money seems to be the only thing that matters in this inscrutable new world, Valentine schemes to give the money back to Eustace. But when she finds a mysterious old letter from Edward—to be opened only in the event of deep unhappiness—she’ll reveal a long-concealed deception. A novel about love, money, and identity, Kingdom Lost is also a revealing portrait of England during the last century.

A remarkable adventure by award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby brings a fantastical American West filled with secrets and spies and terrifying creatures to vivid life. In this extraordinary adventure story, Billy Bartram, his father, and a secret society of philosophers and scientists venture into the American wilderness in search of the lost people of the Welsh Prince Madoc, seeking aid in the coming war against the French. Traveling in a flying airship, the members of the expedition find their lives frequently endangered in the untamed American West by terrifying creatures, a party of French soldiers hot on their trail, and the constant threat of traitors and spies. Billy will face hazards greater than he can ever imagine as, together with his father, he gets caught up in the fight for the biggest prize of all: America. THE LOST KINGDOM is an epic journey filled with marvelous exploits, courage and intrigue, and a bold reimagining of a mythical America. Matthew J. Kirby brings his signature storytelling prowess and superb craft to this astonishing story of fathers and sons, the beginnings of a nation, and wonder-filled adventure.

From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prizewinning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialism. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine -- only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the confluence of Russian imperialism and nationalism today by delving into the nation's history. Spanning over 500 years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin exploited existing forms of identity, warfare, and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy. An authoritative and masterful account of Russian nationalism, Lost Kingdom chronicles the story behind Russia's belligerent empire-building quest.

The New York Times–bestselling author delivers “a riveting saga about Big Sugar flexing its imperialist muscle in Hawaii . . . A real gem of a book” (Douglas Brinkley, author of American Moonshot). Deftly weaving together a memorable cast of characters, Lost Kingdom brings to life the clash between a vulnerable Polynesian people and relentlessly expanding capitalist powers. Portraits of royalty and rogues, sugar barons, and missionaries combine into a sweeping tale of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s rise and fall. At the center of the story is Lili‘uokalani, the last queen of Hawai‘i. Born in 1838, she lived through the nearly complete economic transformation of the islands. Lucrative sugar plantations gradually subsumed the majority of the land, owned almost exclusively by white planters, dubbed the “Sugar Kings.” Hawai‘i became a prize in the contest between America, Britain, and France, each seeking to expand their military and commercial influence in the Pacific. The monarchy had become a figurehead, victim to manipulation from the wealthy sugar plantation owners. Lili‘u was determined to enact a constitution to reinstate the monarchy’s power but was outmaneuvered by the United States. The annexation of Hawai‘i had begun, ushering in a new century of American imperialism. “An important chapter in our national history, one that most Americans don’t know but should.” —The New York Times Book Review “Siler gives us a riveting and intimate look at the rise and tragic fall of Hawaii’s royal family . . . A reminder that Hawaii remains one of the most breathtaking places in the world. Even if the kingdom is lost.” —Fortune “[A] well-researched, nicely contextualized history . . . [Indeed] ‘one of the most audacious land grabs of the Gilded Age.’” —Los Angeles Times

William Penn established Pennsylvania in 1682 as a "holy experiment" in which Europeans and Indians could live together in harmony. In this book, historian Kevin Kenny explains how this Peaceable Kingdom--benevolent, Quaker, pacifist--gradually disintegrated in the eighteenth century, with disastrous consequences for Native Americans. Kenny recounts how rapacious frontier settlers, most of them of Ulster extraction, began to encroach on Indian land as squatters, while William Penn's sons cast off their father's Quaker heritage and turned instead to fraud, intimidation, and eventually violence during the French and Indian War. In 1763, a group of frontier settlers known as the Paxton Boys exterminated the last twenty Conestogas, descendants of Indians who had lived peacefully since the 1690s on land donated by William Penn near Lancaster. Invoking the principle of "right of conquest," the Paxton Boys claimed after the massacres that the Conestogas' land was rightfully theirs. They set out for Philadelphia, threatening to sack the city unless their grievances were met. A delegation led by Benjamin Franklin met them and what followed was a war of words, with Quakers doing battle against Anglican and Presbyterian champions of the Paxton Boys. The killers were never prosecuted and the Pennsylvania frontier descended into anarchy in the late 1760s, with Indians the principal victims. The new order heralded by the Conestoga massacres was consummated during the American Revolution with the destruction of the Iroquois confederacy. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the United States confiscated the lands of Britain's Indian allies, basing its claim on the principle of "right of conquest." Based on extensive research in eighteenth-century primary sources, this engaging history offers an eye-opening look at how colonists--at first, the backwoods Paxton Boys but later the U.S. government--expropriated Native American lands, ending forever the dream of colonists and Indians living together in peace.

Princess Katya Nar Umbriel has little left to lose. Her uncle Roland took her home, scattered her family, and forced her to abandon Starbride, her dearest love. Slim hopes and righteous anger carry Katya into Starbride's homeland to raise an army and take back all that was stolen from her. Starbride never dreamed she'd lead a pack of foreign rebels against a Fiendish usurper. She holds the capital city out of love, denying any rumor of Katya's death. As the two strive toward each other, Roland dogs their every step, loosing Fiend-filled corpses on Katya's army and hypnotizing the capital's citizens into hunting Starbride down. If they ever meet again, it'll be over his dead body.

William Penn established Pennsylvania in 1682 as a "holy experiment" in which Europeans and Indians could live together in harmony. In this book, historian Kevin Kenny explains how this Peaceable Kingdom--benevolent, Quaker, pacifist--gradually disintegrated in the eighteenth century, with disastrous consequences for Native Americans. Kenny recounts how rapacious frontier settlers, most of them of Ulster extraction, began to encroach on Indian land as squatters, while William Penn's sons cast off their father's Quaker heritage and turned instead to fraud, intimidation, and eventually violence during the French and Indian War. In 1763, a group of frontier settlers known as the Paxton Boys exterminated the last twenty Conestogas, descendants of Indians who had lived peacefully since the 1690s on land donated by William Penn near Lancaster. Invoking the principle of "right of conquest," the Paxton Boys claimed after the massacres that the Conestogas' land was rightfully theirs. They set out for Philadelphia, threatening to sack the city unless their grievances were met. A delegation led by Benjamin Franklin met them and what followed was a war of words, with Quakers doing battle against Anglican and Presbyterian champions of the Paxton Boys. The killers were never prosecuted and the Pennsylvania frontier descended into anarchy in the late 1760s, with Indians the principal victims. The new order heralded by the Conestoga massacres was consummated during the American Revolution with the destruction of the Iroquois confederacy. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the United States confiscated the lands of Britain's Indian allies, basing its claim on the principle of "right of conquest." Based on extensive research in eighteenth-century primary sources, this engaging history offers an eye-opening look at how colonists--at first, the backwoods Paxton Boys but later the U.S. government--expropriated Native American lands, ending forever the dream of colonists and Indians living together in peace.

"Embedded in my soul forever." A time-travel adventure powered by the mysterious musical forces that connect two women across time through their cello. The two gifted composers are transposed into each other's world and find their souls have somehow intertwined. In 2018, an aspiring young cellist dreams of joining the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. But after a crushing rejection, a new hope emerges in the form of a long lost music score from her dying grandmother in Scotland. In Book I of the Song for a Lost Kingdom series, Adeena Stuart plays this music on the oldest surviving cello made in the United Kingdom, and she's connected to another woman from the past, Katharine Carnegie. Katharine living in 18th century Scotland is also a cellist and a composer. Their connection is augmented by the love of the same man doomed to die after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In Book II, James Drummond fights alongside Prince Charles Edward Stuart in the 1746 Jacobite uprising. Though their cause is doomed, and James is destined to die shortly after the Battle of Culloden, Adeena's determination to save him never wavers. Left behind in the present, Adeena's friends and families are equally determined to return her to 2019 before the expanding growth in her head becomes fatal. But even they are deceived by the truth of what is about to unfold. In Book III, the final instalment of the series, Adeena and Katharine Carnegie search for the music that neither can complete on their own. Finding themselves living three centuries apart and each assuming the identity of the other, they must overcome their own unique challenges, all the while hiding the truth of who they really are from those around them. The box set is specially priced and also includes the Prequel to the series plus bonus goodies such as the sheet music and lyrics to three original songs featured in the books. (Song for a Lost Kingdom, The Heart Beats in Time and A Foolish Man). Other bonus features include character profiles and a forward by series editor Lara Clouden. The Song for a Lost Kingdom boxset includes: Book I: Music is Not Bound by Time Book II: Love Never Surrenders Book III: The Heart Beats in Time The Prequel: A Kingdom is Lost, A Song is Born. Get swept away in this historical time-slip fantasy-adventure powered by classical music that refuses to be bound by time - and an impossible love that defies the tragic fate already determined by history.