On Christmas morning in the year 800, Pope Leo III placed the crown of imperial Rome on the brow of a Germanic king named Karl--a gesture that enabled the man later hailed as Charlemagne to claim his empire and forever shape the destiny of Europe. Becoming Charlemagne tells the story of the international power struggle that led to this world-changing event, illuminating an era that has long been overshadowed by myth.

For 1,200 years, the deeds of Charlemagne inspired kings and crusaders, the conquests of Napoleon and Hitler, and the optimistic architects of the European Union. In this engaging narrative, Jeff Sypeck crafts a vivid portrait of the ruler who became a legend, while evoking a long-ago world of kings, caliphs, merchants, and monks. Transporting readers far beyond Europe to the glittering palaces of Constantinople and the streets of medieval Baghdad, Becoming Charlemagne brings alive an age of empire building that continues to resonate to this day.

From light verse and straightforward sonnets to strange soliloquies and songs, Looking Up gives voice to the stony figures that adorn Washington National Cathedral-the beasts, fiends, and sentinels that watch us as we pass unknowingly beneath them. Rooted in folklore and myth, medieval history, and the cathedral's restorative gardens and grounds, the 53 poems in this book awaken some of Washington's most enigmatic residents. Whether malevolent or benign, each creature offers its own solution to an old, beguiling riddle: "What do they want of us, those long-necked gargoyles who howl in the heights?" Proceeds from this book will benefit Washington National Cathedral's earthquake repair fund.

Charbonnier est ma?tre chez soi: ""The collier is master in his own house."" This French saying finds its most literal expression in The Tale of Charlemagne and Ralph the Collier, a 15th-century Middle Scots romance about the adventures that ensue when King Charlemagne, separated from his entourage by a blizzard, seeks refuge in the home of a proud and irascible collier. Combining folktale motifs with burlesque humor and elements of chansons and chivalric romances, The Tale of Charlemagne and Ralph the Collier is a lively but little-read story of medieval courtesy, hospitality, and knighthood. This translation, the first into modern English, emulates the 75 thirteen-line rhyming, alliterative stanzas of the original. Light annotations, a brief introduction, and a bibliography help introduce modern readers to this strange and entertaining romance that W.R.J. Barron dubbed ""technically and creatively the best of the English texts on the Matter of France.""