There is no surer way to feel the danger or the good fortune of our collective past than to contemplate those moments when the world's future hung in the balance. Our brightest historians speculate on some of these intriguing crossroads and the ways in which our lives might have been changed for the better -- or the worse.

These unabridged essays range across the full span of history. Geoffrey Parker describes ramifications that might have included a divided Reformation movement, a strengthened Catholic leadership, and no European settlements in the Americas. And Caleb Carr argues that we could have been spared the horrific last six months of World War II in Europe if Eisenhower had seized his chance to destroy the Nazis in the fall of 1944.

This all-star list of award-winning and bestselling authors includes Lance Morrow, Andrew Roberts, Cecelia Holland, Theodore F. Cook and others.

There is no surer way to feel the danger or the good fortune of our collective past than to contemplate those moments when the world's future hung in the balance. Our brightest historians speculate on some of these intriguing crossroads and the ways in which our lives might have been changed for the better -- or the worse.

These unabridged essays range across the full span of history. Geoffrey Parker describes ramifications that might have included a divided Reformation movement, a strengthened Catholic leadership, and no European settlements in the Americas. And Caleb Carr argues that we could have been spared the horrific last six months of World War II in Europe if Eisenhower had seized his chance to destroy the Nazis in the fall of 1944.

This all-star list of award-winning and bestselling authors includes Lance Morrow, Andrew Roberts, Cecelia Holland, Theodore F. Cook and others.

""On a par with Ursula LeGuin or Arthur C. Clarke."--Chicago Tribune
""A magnificent novel.a colossal achievement.an instant contemporary classic."--Science Fiction Review
""A.SF masterpiece."--Kim Stanley Robinson
When the Styths, a powerful and aggressive race of mutants from Uranus and Saturn, launch pirate raids on ships from Mars, Earth's Committee for the Revolution sets out to negotiate peace. The task falls to the resourceful and unpredictable Paula Mendoza. The initial meetings hold little hope for success--until Paula adopts a less conventional approach and appears to obtain her objective. But, the consequences for Paula prove considerable, when she finds herself on the floating cities of the Gas Planets, the tenuous, and only, link between Earth and the Styth Empire.A profoundly moving portrait of one determined and strong-willed woman.

Here is the real story behind the woman who inspired a best-selling biography, one of the top Broadway musicals of all time. And two classic films--and it's one that will inspire you. The epic love story between a British governess and the King of Siam once again comes to life with the release of Twentieth Century Fox's Anna and the King, starring Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster and international superstar Chow Yun-Fat.

The Story of Anna and the King captures all the nuances of this extraordinary relationship, as well as the extravagant film depicting it, in lush, full-color photographs. Cecelia Holland weaves a beautiful narrative of the true histories behind Anna Loenowens and the Siamese royal family, as well as the political and cultural rises and falls of Siam--present-day Thailand--based on historical information and the published works of Anna Leonowens.

Filmed entirely in Malaysia, Anna and the King features one of the largest motion picture sets ever constructed--the King's palace, which covers more than eight acres of land. Under the direction of Andy Tennant, an international cast and crew representing more than twenty countries works with a myriad of stunningly ornate costumes, thousands of extras, and a menagerie of specially trained animals, The Story of Anna and the King invites you to enter King Mongkut's world.

The Styths, a powerful and aggressive mutant race from the Gas Planets, Uranus and Saturn, have been launching pirate raids on ships from Mars. Earth's Committee for the Revolution has been asked to mediate, to negotiate a truce between the Middle Planets and the Styth Empire. The task of conducting the talks falls to an intelligent, resourceful and unpredictable young woman, Paula Mendoza. Her initial meetings with the Styth warlord and his unruly band of bodyguards and advisers are not promising. But then Paula adopts a less conventional approach. The consequences for her are considerable and she finds herself on the Gas Planets, the only tenuous link between Earth and the Styth Empire ...

In Dragon Heart, Cecelia Holland, America's most distinguished historical novelist steps fully into the realm of fantasy and makes it her own. Where the Cape of the Winds juts into the endless sea, there is Castle Ocean, and therein dwells the royal family that has ruled it from time immemorial. But an eastern Empire has risen, and its forces have reached the castle. King Reymarro is dead in battle, and by the new treaty, Queen Marioza must marry one of the Emperor's brothers. While Marioza delays, her youngest son, Jeon, goes on a journey in search of his mute twin, Tirza, who needs to be present for the wedding. As Jeon and Tirza return by sea, their ship is attacked by a powerful dragon, red as blood and big as the ship. Thrown into the water, Tirza clings to the dragon, and after an underwater journey, finds herself alone with the creature in an inland sea pool. Surprisingly, she is able to talk to the beast, and understand it. So begins a saga of violence, destruction, and death, of love and monsters, human and otherwise.

Of the women in King Richard's life, she is the least known-and the most powerful.
During the Third Crusade, deaths from fever and starvation are common, but King Richard the Lion-Hearted has a secret ally against these impassable enemies-a mysterious healer by the name of Edythe.
She was sent to him by his mother Eleanor, and Richard first assumes that Edythe is a spy. But when her medical knowledge saves his life, she becomes an indispensable member of his camp-even as his loyal soldiers, suspicious of her talent for warding off death, call her a witch.

Eleanor of Aquitaine seized hold of life in the 12th century in a way any modern woman would envy
1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband's title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory-and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris.
Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes with a man-hardly more than a boy, really- across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably...
He is Henry D'Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret. She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women. She is determined that Louis must set her free. Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power-and make her mark on history.

a woman in norman sicily makes her way by marriage, guile, courage and love. reprinted from the original.

A novel set during the reign of Genghis Khan and his Mongol Empire from the acclaimed author of Ghost on the Steppe, "a master storyteller" (Houston Chronicle). Cecelia Holland's historical fiction is well known for its immersion in exotic cultures, and Until the Sun Falls, one of her most successful books, takes the reader into the heart of the Mongol horde during the conquest of Russia and eastern Europe in the thirteenth century. Genghis Khan had told his people they were destined to rule the world, and by his death they had made an impressive start. His four sons followed him to the leadership of the enormous new empire and continued the expansion. His eldest son, Batu, launched the conquest of the West-Russia and Europe. In a few years of devastating warfare, the Mongols reached as far as Vienna, mowing down every army that dared face them, like an irresistible force of nature. Until the Sun Falls stars a Mongol general, Psin, whose battles against the enemies of the Kha Khan sometimes seem easier than his struggles with his wives and his son. Wise, brave, and bloody-minded, Psin embodies the passions and dreams of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen, at the height of their power.

With a young king facing death, a warrior of the Knights Templar struggles to maintain Christian control of the Holy Land in this “masterful . . . great read� (Publishers Weekly). Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomine Tuo da gloriam. “Not to us, O Lord, but to Your Name give glory.� This motto highlights the vows of chastity and humility taken by the Knights Templar. But, it also speaks to their role as ferocious warriors, passionately and bloodily seeking out glory for their God. Set in the Holy Land in 1187 A.D., Cecelia Holland’s historical novel masterfully explores the conspiracies and political maneuvers leading up to the Third Crusade. Following a stunning victory at the Battle of Ramleh, Norman Templar Rannulf Fitzwilliam must negotiate a truce with the enemy and determine the order of succession to the throne of Baudouin, the young Christian king dying of leprosy. However, Rannulf’s instincts are for battle, not diplomacy. Temptation and betrayal await him around every corner. The question is not whether he can survive on the battlefield, but whether he can survive the politics and protocol of the royal court. “Holland's masterful layering of subplots, historical detail and multiple perspectives makes for a great read.� —Publisher’s Weekly “She brings as much suspense to political intrigue as to the sprawling battle scenes at which she excels.� —The New York Times Book Review 

In the far future, an Earth-born woman must negotiate with a fearsome mutant race: “On a par with Ursula LeGuin or Arthur C. Clarke� (Chicago Tribune). Two thousand years into the future, runaway pollution has made the earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus, and the moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the gas planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system, the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace and ultimately protect her people in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.