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A Column Of Fire
''A Column of Fire'' is a 2017 novel by British author Ken Follett, first published on 12 September 2017. It is the third book in the Kingsbridge Series, and serves as a sequel to 1989's '' The Pillars of the Earth'' and 2007's '' World Without End''. Plot Beginning in 1558, and continuing through 1605, the story chronicles the romance between Ned Willard and Margery Fitzgerald, as well as the political intrigue of the royal courts of England, France, and Scotland, and the oft-times violent conflict between supporters of the nascent Protestant Reformation and those supporting the Catholic Church’s Counter-Reformation in the late 16th century. As depicted in the early chapters, the city of Kingsbridge is ruled by an oligarchy of rich merchants who sit on the city's council; the most powerful family holds the position of the city's mayor. The plot focuses on three families; each represents a major ideological division present in English society at the time. The Fitzgeralds a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett (born 5 June 1949) is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 198 million copies of his works. His books have been sold in over 80 countries. Follett's commercial breakthrough came with the spy thriller '' Eye of the Needle'' (1978). After writing more best-sellers in the genre in the 1980s, he branched into historical fiction with '' The Pillars of the Earth'' (1989), an epic set in medieval England which became his best-known work and the first published in the ''Kingsbridge'' series. He has continued to write in both genres, including the ''Century Trilogy''. Many of his books have achieved high ranking on bestseller lists, including the number-one position on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. Early life and education Follett was born on 5 June 1949 in Cardiff, Wales. He was the first child of Martin Follett, a tax inspector, and Lavinia (Veenie) Follett, who went on to have two more children, Hannah and J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. Europeans established a coastal slave trade in the 15th century and trade to the Americas began in the 16th century, lasting through the 19th century. The vast majority of those who were transported in the transatlantic slave trade were from Central Africa and West Africa and had been sold by West African slave traders to European slave traders, while others had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids. European slave traders gathered and imprisoned the enslaved at slave fort, forts on the African coast and then brought them to the Americas. Some Portuguese and Europeans participated in slave raids. As the National Museums Liverpool explains: "European traders captured some Africans in raids along the coast, but bou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary, Queen Of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland, Mary was six days old when her father died and she inherited the throne. During her childhood, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland was governed by regents, first by the heir to the throne, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and then by her mother, Mary of Guise. In 1548, she was betrothed to Francis II of France, Francis, the Dauphin of France, and was sent to be brought up in Kingdom of France, France, where she would be safe from invading Kingdom of England, English forces during the Rough Wooing. Mary Wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Francis, Dauphin of France, married Francis in 1558, becoming queen consort of France from his accession in 1559 until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary Entry of Mary, Q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massacre Of Wassy
The Massacre of Vassy () was the murder of Huguenot worshippers and citizens in an armed action by troops of the Duke of Guise, in Wassy, France on 1 March 1562. The massacre is identified as the first major event in the French Wars of Religion. The series of battles that followed concluded in the signing of the Peace of Amboise (or Pacification Treaty of Amboise) on 19 March 1563. The events surrounding the Massacre of Vassy were famously depicted in a series of forty engravings published in Geneva seven years later. Background Religious politics Beginning in the reign of François I, Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin, known as Huguenots, faced state-backed persecution in France. This persecution continued under his two successors, Henri II and François II, the latter of whom died young in 1560. Catherine de' Medici, regent of Charles IX, proposed the Edict of January (or Edict of Saint-Germain) with the hopes that providing a measure of toleratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Wars Of Religion
The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease directly caused by the conflict, and it severely damaged the power of the French monarchy. One of its most notorious episodes was the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572. The fighting ended with a compromise in 1598, when Henry of Navarre, who had converted to Catholicism in 1593, was proclaimed Henry IV of France, King Henry IV of France and issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted substantial rights and freedoms to the Huguenots. However, Catholics continued to disapprove of Protestants and of Henry, and his assassination in 1610 triggered a fresh round of Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s. Tensions between the two religions had been building since the 1530s, exacerbating existing regional divisions. The death of Henry II of France in J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry II Of France
Henry II (; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was List of French monarchs#House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589), King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I of France, Francis I and Claude of France, Claude, Duchess of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Francis in 1536. As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matters of art, war, and religion. He persevered in the Italian Wars against the House of Habsburg, Habsburgs and tried to suppress the Reformation, even as the Huguenots, Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign. Under the April 1559 Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis which ended the Italian Wars, France renounced its claims in Italy, but gained certain other territories, including the Pale of Calais and the Three Bishoprics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eye Of The Needle (novel)
''Eye of the Needle'' is a spy thriller novel written by Welsh author Ken Follett. It was originally published in 1978 by the Penguin Group under the title ''Storm Island''. This novel was Follett's first successful, best-selling effort as a novelist, and it earned him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. The revised title is an allusion to the "eye of a needle" aphorism. The book was made into a Eye of the Needle (film), motion picture of the same title in 1981, starring Donald Sutherland, with a screenplay adapted by Stanley Mann and directed by Richard Marquand. Plot summary In 1940, Henry Faber, a German spy nicknamed 'die Nadel' ('The Needle') due to his trademark weapon being a stiletto, is working at a London railway depot, collecting information on Allied troop movements. Faber is halfway through radioing this information to Berlin when his widowed landlady stumbles into his room hoping for intimacy. Faber fears that Mrs. Garden wil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WWII
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, and South America to the south, it comprises numerous List of Caribbean islands, islands, cays, islets, reefs, and banks. It includes the Lucayan Archipelago, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles of the West Indies; the Quintana Roo Municipalities of Quintana Roo#Municipalities, islands and Districts of Belize#List, Belizean List of islands of Belize, islands of the Yucatán Peninsula; and the Bay Islands Department#Islands, Bay Islands, Miskito Cays, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, Corn Islands, and San Blas Islands of Central America. It also includes the coastal areas on the Mainland, continental mainland of the Americas bordering the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 565,039, it is the List of most populous municipalities in Belgium, most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million people, the country's Metropolitan areas in Belgium, second-largest metropolitan area after Brussels. Definitions of metropolitan areas in Belgium. Flowing through Antwerp is the river Scheldt. Antwerp is linked to the North Sea by the river's Western Scheldt, Westerschelde estuary. It is about north of Brussels, and about south of the Netherlands, Dutch border. The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe after Rotterdam and List of world's busiest container ports, within the top 20 globally. The city ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva, Republic and Canton of Geneva, and a centre for international diplomacy. Geneva hosts the highest number of International organization, international organizations in the world, and has been referred to as the world's most compact metropolis and the "Peace Capital". Geneva is a global city, an international financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy hosting the highest number of international organizations in the world, including the headquarters of many agencies of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Red Cross. In the aftermath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville has a municipal population of about 701,000 , and a Seville metropolitan area, metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the largest city in Andalusia and the List of metropolitan areas in Spain, fourth-largest city in Spain. Its old town, with an area of , contains a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising three buildings: the Alcázar of Seville, Alcázar palace complex, the Seville Cathedral, Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies. The Seville harbour, located about from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. The capital of Andalusia features hot temperatures in the summer, with daily maximums routinely above in July and August. Seville was founded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
