The Silver Sword

Winner, American Library Association Booklist’s Top of the List, 2019 Adult Nonfiction Acclaimed writer Marie Arana delivers a cultural history of Latin America and the three driving forces that have shaped the character of the region: exploitation (silver), violence (sword), and religion (stone). “Meticulously researched, [this] book’s greatest strengths are the power of its epic narrative, the beauty of its prose, and its rich portrayals of character…Marvelous” (The Washington Post). Leonor Gonzales lives in a tiny community perched 18,000 feet above sea level in the Andean cordillera of Peru, the highest human habitation on earth. Like her late husband, she works the gold mines much as the Indians were forced to do at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Illiteracy, malnutrition, and disease reign as they did five hundred years ago. And now, just as then, a miner’s survival depends on a vast global market whose fluctuations are controlled in faraway places. Carlos Buergos is a Cuban who fought in the civil war in Angola and now lives in a quiet community outside New Orleans. He was among hundreds of criminals Cuba expelled to the US in 1980. His story echoes the violence that has coursed through the Americas since before Columbus to the crushing savagery of the Spanish Conquest, and from 19th- and 20th-century wars and revolutions to the military crackdowns that convulse Latin America to this day. Xavier Albó is a Jesuit priest from Barcelona who emigrated to Bolivia, where he works among the indigenous people. He considers himself an Indian in head and heart and, for this, is well known in his adopted country. Although his aim is to learn rather than proselytize, he is an inheritor of a checkered past, where priests marched alongside conquistadors, converting the natives to Christianity, often forcibly, in the effort to win the New World. Ever since, the Catholic Church has played a central role in the political life of Latin America—sometimes for good, sometimes not. In this “timely and excellent volume” (NPR) Marie Arana seamlessly weaves these stories with the history of the past millennium to explain three enduring themes that have defined Latin America since pre-Columbian times: the foreign greed for its mineral riches, an ingrained propensity to violence, and the abiding power of religion. Silver, Sword, and Stone combines “learned historical analysis with in-depth reporting and political commentary...[and] an informed and authoritative voice, one that deserves a wide audience” (The New York Times Book Review).

The auburned-haired O'Connor women share a bond far deeper than their striking physical appearance: These courageous, high-spirited women all push against societal limits in this exciting historical, romantic novel that spans generations and countries. It is said that as Cahira, daughter of the great Irish king Rory O'Connor, lay dying of a wound from a Norman blade, she beseeched God that others would follow her calling. To Kathleen O'Connor, Cahira's story was nothing more than a fable--until research divulged that the tale was true. As a stunned Kathleen realizes that she herself bears the mark of Cahira, she wonders if she is destined to continue the legacy. To uncover the answers, Kathleen delves into the past to find the truth about the Heirs of Cahira O'Connor. It is a journey that carries her across generations, from the battlefields of 13th-century Ireland to the castles of 15th-century Prague, and through a past filled with peril, courage, vengeance, love, and sacrifice beyond anything she has ever known.

Suitable for younger learners Word count 14,960

An unforgettable story of life during and after the Second World War, based on true accounts. For readers of The Book Thief, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Diary of Anne Frank. This is a story of many different things. Of a terrible war and an occupied land Of the Balicki children who are determined to survive Of a dangerous journey from war-torn Poland to Switzerland Of a paper knife that gives them the courage to carry on when nearly all hope is lost. 'I urge you to read this book as it will stay in your memory forever' Guardian 'A true modern classic' Booktrust

David Zindell crafted a glorious fantasy in The Lightstone, an epic tale of good versus evil...and how far a man will go to save his world without destroying all he loves. The quest continues in The Silver Sword. On the island continent of Ea it is a dark time of chaos and war. Morjin, the evil Lord of Lies, seeks to enslave the entire world. Land after land falls under his evil power. The one thing that has the potential to destroy him is an object that has been lost for ages: the Lightstone. The call to seek this stone was sent out by one of the few major rulers still free of Morjin's grip to all those who oppose the dreaded sorcerer. One who answered this call was Valashu Elahad, the seventh and youngest Valeri prince of the royal house of Mesh. Val and his stalwart companions have braved many dangers and fought many battles in their search for this elusive totem. It looks as if their quest may be at an end and a great victory shimmers on the horizon. But not all images are real. Is the Lightstone within Val's grasp or has he embarked upon a road too horrible to conceive?