World Myths

Mildred Groves, an unusual young woman gifted and cursed with the ability to see the future, goes to work in a top-secret research facility during WWII, only to be tormented by visions of what the mission will mean for humankind.

A flower-spouting princess, gobbling prince, emerald-winged fairy, foolish giants, fearsome ogres, and talking frog and fish are just a few of the captivating characters found in this anthology of beloved stories from 29 places around the world, from the Arctic to Africa to Asia to Australia to Europe to the Americas.

"The world is in great peril," the Pope said. "Of being destroyed!" Jules Verne and Alexander Dumas stood in stunned silence at the words spoken by the Pope. If true, it could mean the end of the world . If not true, it could mean the end of their world. A mission is described which is so important and so dangerous that only these two brave young men were chosen to take it. But to be honest, can two authors, even if smart and brave, be enough to stop the destruction of the world? As they embark on their mission, they are joined by a third party. An international pirate. A man dedicated to ...

"What is your favorite story?" is the question children across the country often ask professional storyteller Pleasant DeSpain. As he attempts to answer, his list grows longer and longer, until he confesses he likes them all. An untiring researcher of oral traditions, DeSpain is known for his concise versions of world folktales specifically crafted for retelling.

Sometimes Death is a blessing. Death was once something for the Godhunter to fight, but now she knows him intimately. She knows that the Angel of Death can be beautiful, charming, and irresistible. Sometimes Death is a blessing, and at other times he can be a curse, but Azrael is always loyal and always loved. Until he resigned, that is. Then the Angelic Host was sent after him. But there is more to their actions than simple retribution. Someone is manipulating the Host, and if Vervain wants to save her husband, she must first discover the secrets of Heaven, Hell, and the heart of Death ...

The wind has stopped, just stopped, all across the world. As panic begins to build one boy, storm-born Hurricane Smith, is especially affected. After all, the wind has always been his friend, always had his back. Hurricane's despair only increases when his mother's breathing problem lands her in the hospital. That night, alone in their apartment, a strange man appears to him, with an even stranger message: “I am Zephron Windlord, and I need your help to rescue the wind.”

Aurangzeb Alamgir (r. 1658-1707), the sixth Mughal emperor, is widely reviled in India today. Hindu hater, murderer, and religious zealot are just a handful of the modern caricatures of this maligned ruler. While many continue to accept the storyline peddled by colonial-era thinkers - that Aurangzeb, a Muslim, was a Hindu-loathing bigot - there is an untold side to him as a man who strove to be a just, worthy Indian king. In this bold and captivating biography, Audrey Truschke enters the public debate with a fresh look at the controversial Mughal emperor.

Patrick Healy, a teacher, traveled around the world, talked with people in different places, and collected around 500 myths, legends, and folktales and their several alternative versions. His opinion and comments (directly or indirectly) are inevitable. This is the sixth volume of his work, 61 Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Books 1 and 2, in his words. He retold the stories with his opinion and approach to them. Patrick is an Australian writer who has an abiding interest in the folklore of different cultures. He has lived and worked in Hong Kong for over 25 years as a high school teacher.

When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment. Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis. Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason's band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?

Join in and sing along with a host of much-loved songs and rhymes.

Isaac and Yara’s search in London for answers about Prince Teris’s disappearance comes to a halt when two powerful faeries abduct Yara through a portal. Isaac must venture to the magic-starved faerie realm, where danger lurks in every corner, and allies are hard to find. From dangerous man-eating trees to sparse deserts with voices that call out in the night, Isaac faces challenges beyond his wildest imagination. Yet, his determination to rescue Yara fuels his every step.

Leo Braudy, a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, has won accolades for revealing the complex and constantly shifting history behind seemingly unchanging ideas of fame, war, and masculinity. Continuing his interest in the history of emotion, this book explores how fear has been shaped into images of monsters and monstrosity.

When the other gods grow tired in their attempt to create humankind, only one does not give up: the Feathered Serpent. He embarks on a dangerous journey full of fearsome foes and harsh elements, facing each trial with wisdom, bravery, and resourcefulness before confronting his final challenge at Mictlan, the underworld. In the spirit of Duncan Tonatiuh’s celebrated book The Princess and the Warrior, this pre-Columbian creation myth tells the story of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, one of the most important deities in ancient Mesoamerica.

Unearth the truths behind Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis—master Middle Eastern geopolitics without the frustration of biased sources! Are you tired of sifting through unreliable news to make sense of Middle Eastern conflicts? Struggling to find objective, well-researched material about Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis? If so, you're not alone. Many military professionals, law enforcement, and socially curious individuals share this challenge.

Award-winning travel writer Nicholas Jubber journeys across Europe exploring Europe's epic poems, from the Odyssey to Beowulf, the Song of Roland to the Nibelungenlied, and their impact on European identity in these turbulent times. These are the stories that made Europe. Journeying from Turkey to Iceland, award-winning travel writer Nicholas Jubber takes us on a fascinating adventure through our continent's most enduring epic poems to learn how they were shaped by their times and how they have since shaped us.

With Straits, celebrated historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto subjects the surviving sources to the most meticulous scrutiny ever, providing a timely and engrossing biography of the real Ferdinand Magellan. The truth that Fernández-Armesto uncovers about Magellan's life, his character, and the events of his ill-fated voyage offers up a stranger, darker, and even more compelling narrative than the fictional version that has been celebrated for half a millennium.

It took a while for the vital myth-shattering ideas of Galileo, Bruno, and Copernicus to spread. We find ourselves in a similar situation. Whether homo sapiens ultimately self-destroys in another tribalistic world war, Socialist revolution, environmental disaster, or CovidMania-like self-mutilating economic lockdowns, it will all come down to whether the ideas of the ‘The Austrian School of Economics’ reach leaders in time. If you know where to look you can easily see how the vital wisdom of ‘The Austrians’ is spreading. Via his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, former US ...

From the banks of the mighty Mississippi to a sparkling stream in Kyoto, from the misty moors of Scotland to Africa's folktale forests, listeners will be transported as legendary heroes, mythical maidens, and talented tricksters weave their magic.

Paul Singh and John R. Shook draw on the latest findings from the physical and biological sciences, astronomy and cosmology, geology and genetics, and prehistory and archeology in search of answers. As they lucidly and engagingly demonstrate, the answers science gives about ourselves and the universe in which we live are incomparably more surprising and interesting than any mythical tale about some clash of titans or calculating creator.

Buried secrets. Magical lies. With a shadow’s whisper, darkness begins to rise… When June Morgan returns to her hometown of Stonebridge, she isn’t expecting it to be easy. Having denied her magic for far too long, she feels it beginning to break free, leading her to seek out the Stonebridge Witches for help. Turning to her one-time mentor, Alistair Blackthorn, June begins to seek control…only to find herself in the midst of shadowed whispers of a rising darkness that feels all too familiar. A power so consuming that claimed her parent’s lives and sent her running. A power, that ...