The Chronicles Of Iona Cradle Of Saints

It is 574. Columba and Aedan mac Gabran hunt down their enemies through the wilds of Ireland's ancient north and west. Their quest? To find Aedan's lost brother, to unite the warring peoples of Dal Riata, and to defeat once and for all the tyrannical overlord who holds them all hostage. But an even greater enemy threatens: bubonic plague ravages Europe yet again, bringing the West to its knees-a mortal peril from which none of them may escape.Ranging across the storied landscapes of early-mediaeval Donegal, Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man, 'Cradle of Saints', the timely fourth instalment of this epic series, continues the stirring tale of the two men who helped to found the monastery of Iona and the nascent kingdom of Scotland.

Historically authentic,"The Chronicles of Iona: Exile" plunges the reader into the world of sixth-century Scotland and Ireland, the veritable Dark Ages-a world on the brink of either collapse or creation, poised between myth and history.

"Island-Pilgrim," the third novel in the acclaimed historical-fiction series "The Chronicles of Iona" (named to "Kirkus Reviews'" Best of 2012; and Silver Prize Winner, "ForeWord Reviews" 2012 Book of the Year Awards, Historical Fiction), continues the story of the two men who laid the foundations of the Scottish nation, an exiled Irish monk, Saint Columba, and a down-and-out Scottish warlord, Aedan mac Gabran. They were a real-life sixth-century Merlin and King Arthur and their story has never been told. It is 575 A.D. Against all odds and at great personal cost, Aedan mac Gabran, for many years an outcast amongst the barbarous Picts, has become king of the Scots of Dal Riata. With Columba, an exiled Irish prince and now abbot of the young monastery of Iona, he works to restore peace to a nascent kingdom riddled by blood feuds and bitter factions. Yet old enemies soon threaten to destroy all these two friends hold most dear, and Aedan is forced to scatter his family and go in search of a fabled lost prince who holds the key to unifying his ancestral homeland in the wilds of Ireland. Guiding him on this perilous mission is Columba who, by returning from exile to his beloved motherland, risks death at every turn. Beset on all sides by hostile Britons, Irish, and Picts, their quest to bring stability to a divided, contentious region comes at an unexpected cost neither is willing to pay. "Island-Pilgrim" brings to vivid and striking life the world of sixth-century Scotland and Ireland, a world struggling against forces both intimate and profound to shed the chaos of the Dark Ages for the light of a new age.

Forges innovative connections between monastic archaeology and heritage studies, revealing new perspectives on sacred heritage, identity, medieval healing, magic and memory. This title is available as Open Access.

This book documents developments in the countries of eastern Europe, including the rise of authoritarian tendencies in Russia and Belarus, as well as the victory of the democratic 'Orange Revolution' in Ukraine, and poses important questions about the origins of the East Slavic nations and the essential similarities or differences between their cultures. It traces the origins of the modern Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian nations by focusing on pre-modern forms of group identity among the Eastern Slavs. It also challenges attempts to 'nationalize' the Rus' past on behalf of existing national projects, laying the groundwork for understanding of the pre-modern history of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The book covers the period from the Christianization of Kyivan Rus' in the tenth century to the reign of Peter I and his eighteenth-century successors, by which time the idea of nationalism had begun to influence the thinking of East Slavic elites.

Reproduction of the original: The Lives of the Saints by S. Baring-Gould

"Prophet", the second novel in the acclaimed historical-fiction series "The Chronicles of Iona" (named to "Kirkus Reviews'" Best of 2012; Silver Prize Winner, "ForeWord Reviews" 2012 Book of the Year Awards, Historical Fiction), continues the story of the two men who laid the foundations of the Scottish nation, an Irish monk, Saint Columba, and a Scottish warlord, Aedan mac Gabran. They were a real-life sixth-century Merlin and King Arthur and their story has never been told. It is 567 A.D. Four years after journeying with the Scottish warrior Aedan mac Gabran into the land of the wild Picts, Irish abbot-prince Columba is forced back there to seek Aedan's aid for an epic battle. Aedan must leave his Pictish wife and child and return to his first love, now married to the brother whose princely power he has vowed to help save. Yet once home, the friends' struggle to quell the chaos of the western shores only unearths even more secrets and prophecies that test old loyalties and faiths of all kinds. While Saxon invaders spread from the east and the Britons' many kingdoms battle for sovereignty, the Scots' ancestors from Ireland also enter the fray, and Aedan and Columba must fight enemies both political and personal in a desperate attempt to protect everything they have come to love. "Prophet" plunges the reader into the world of 6th-century Scotland, Ireland and Britain, a world on the brink of either collapse or creation, poised between myth and history.