Magna Carta has long been considered the foundation stone of the British Constitution, yet few people today understand either its contents or its context. With a full English translation of the 1215 charter, Nicholas Vincent introduces the document to a modern audience; explaining its origins and tracing the significance of its role in our history.
In Valleys of Dreams, Vincent Nicholas Rossi continues his exploration of San Diego County history. He offers stories of people, places and events that shaped and reshaped North County from a farming region where livestock outnumbered people to a burgeoning urbanized landscape of homes and shopping centers"--p. 4 of cover.
My ambition when I started this book was to allow the readers a chance to use their own imaginations and to come to their own conclusions. Nicholas is a fable. It is about a man who somehow manages to live his own life to the fullest. There are also fifteen other unconventional short stories included in this book. To sum up, I just wanted to write a thought provoking book that would be fun to read.
From the Battle of Hastings to the Battle of Bosworth Field, Nicholas Vincent tells the story of how Britain was born. When William, Duke of Normandy, killed King Harold and seized the throne of England, England's language, culture, politics and law were transformed. Over the next four hundred years, under royal dynasties that looked principally to France for inspiration and ideas, an English identity was born, based in part upon struggle for control over the other parts of the British Isles (Scotland, Wales and Ireland), in part upon rivalry with the kings of France. From these struggles emerged English law and an English Parliament, the English language, English humour and England's first overseas empires. In this thrilling and accessible account, Nicholas Vincent not only tells the story of the rise and fall of dynasties, but investigates the lives and obsessions of a host of lesser men and women, from archbishops to peasants, and from soldiers to scholars, upon whose enterprise the social and intellectual foundations of Englishness now rest. This the first book in the four volume Brief History of Britain which brings together some of the leading historians to tell our nation's story from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the present-day. Combining the latest research with accessible and entertaining story telling, it is the ideal introduction for students and general readers.
Psychiatrists say if you tell a child they are stupid enough times, they will grow up thinking they are. Vincent grew being told he was a "sissy", sometimes by family, by friends and even by strangers. Suffering many traumatic experiences as a child and young man, as well as learning his sexual preference wasn't what his mother would approve of. He overcame events, which happened to him as a child. Growing up and becoming a Capuchin Franciscan Brother, a juvenile probation officer, a chef and manager at fine restaurants and an acclaimed ballroom dance instructor. He achieved all of this even though as a child he suffered from depression and obsessive-compulsive behavior. When Vincent reached his early forties this was given a name for him. He was Bi-polar. Vincent wrote his story hoping to help other young people today suffering from the same symptoms he grew up with. He wants people to know they are not alone, and they may see themselves in his book. He wants you to know there is nothing to be ashamed of if you think there is anything wrong and you ask for help.
The year 1917 finds Russia in complete chaos as the long anticipated winds of revolution finally sweep across the country. The Tsar, Nicholas II, has been forced to abdicate and he and his family have been sent into exile in Siberia. Meanwhile, throughout Russia numerous plans are being formulated to free the Romanovs from their captivity. One of these plans comes to involve Natalya Karakova, once a leading light in Russian high society. But now, she and her husband, Constantine, find themselves much reduced in circumstances and barely clinging to what is left of their once glamorous existence. One of Natalyas fellow conspirators is an Englishman named Jack Christie. As the two of them set off for Siberia and the dangers that lay ahead, they both realize they are falling in love. And they both also realize their plan has a mi
The first extended study of relics of the Holy Blood: portions of the blood of Christ's passion preserved supposedly from the time of the Crucifixion and displayed as objects of wonder and veneration in the churches of medieval Europe. Inspired by the discovery of new evidence relating to the relic deposited by King Henry III at Westminster in 1247, the study proceeds from the particular political and spiritual motives that inspired this gift to a wider consideration of blood relics, their distribution across western Europe, their place in Christian devotion, and the controversies to which they gave rise among theologians. In the process the author advances a new thesis on the role of the sacred in Plantagenet court life as well as exploring various intriguing byways of medieval religion.
King John ruled England for seventeen and a half years, yet his entire reign is usually reduced to one image: of the villainous monarch outmanoeuvred by rebellious barons into agreeing to Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. Ever since, John has come to be seen as an archetypal tyrant. But how evil was he? In this perceptive short account, Nicholas Vincent unpicks John's life through his deeds and his personality. The youngest of four brothers, overlooked and given a distinctly unroyal name, John seemed doomed to failure. As king, he was reputedly cruel and treacherous, pursuing his own interests at the expense of his country, losing the continental empire bequeathed to him by his father Henry and his brother Richard and eventually plunging England into civil war. Only his lordship of Ireland showed some success. Yet, as this fascinating biography asks, were his crimes necessarily greater than those of his ancestors - or was he judged more harshly because, ultimately, he failed as a warlord?
The lost towns : These places once bustled with life. Each town boasted its own general store, blacksmith shop, and school. Many were stagecoach and railroad stops. Each was a market town for farmers and ranchers in far-flung valleys where livestock often outnumbered actual residents. The were the 'lost ancestors' of today's San Diego County cities and neighborhoods"--p. 4 of cover.
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