Set against a background of unrivaled beauty and mystical fascination in the ancient kingdom of Siam. The drama begins on the first page of The Falcon of Siam with a sea adventure as Constantine Phaulkon is betrayed by the crew he hired to help him smuggle Dutch made cannons to the Queen of Pattani. The fate of Phaulkon's grand plan, not to mention his life rests on the successful completion of this sale. At stake is not only the vast trading opportunities of this rich opulent kingdom but Phaulkon has fallen in love with the beautiful and exotic country of Siam and its people and he understands the serious threat the Dutch pose to an independent Siam. If the Dutch control Siam they would also control the vital Mergui Crossing and be able to exert a monopoly on virtually all of the European trade with Asia. Setting at the controls of this whirlwind of deceit, treachery and betrayal is King Narai. The revenue to run Siam came from trade and the King knew the Arab traders who were put in positions to control the trade with the outside world by his ancestors were cheating the Siam treasury. The King hoped to use the Dutch as a balance to bring the Arab traders back in line. At first the Dutch with their superior technology seemed to offer a solution but the Dutch were so efficient they soon wanted to take control and run the whole country. The latest foreigners to arrival were the British, and among them was one with a name impossible to pronounce but he had learned to speak Siam. None of the other foreigners except for a few Jesuit priests had learned to speak Siamese. The King had his spies keep a close watch on this strange newcomer.

"Set toward the end of the seventeenth century, Falcon at the Court of Siam recounts the true story of Constantine Phaulkon, a Greek of low birth who spectacularly rose to fame, and infamy, as King Narai's favorite courtier - and in effect, if not name, First Minister of Siam. No other foreigner, before or since, has ever held such a position of power and influence in Siam. Fleeing from his home on Cephalonia at the age of 11, the Greek became a seaman on English merchant ships for the next twenty years, and then enjoyed a meteoric rise to power in Siam--all the time walking a political tightrope between the ill-fated wooing of English and then French allies, and his attempts to outwit dangerous enemies at the Siamese Court who were inflamed by jealousy and anger at his arrogance and ambition. Against a backdrop of pageantry and peril, Phaulkon pursued a destiny of greatness that he believes was his. Was he a man who would become king? A loyal servant to King Narai? Or simply an arrogant, conniving foreigner bent on his own material gain?"--

The legendary Spartacus is recast as a fierce female warrior in this action-packed tale of a 17-year-old princess and a handsome gladiator who dared take on the Roman Republic.

The Pyramid Texts are the oldest body of extant literature from ancient Egypt. First carved on the walls of the burial chambers in the pyramids of kings and queens of the Old Kingdom, they provide the earliest comprehensive view of the way in which the ancient Egyptians understood the structure of the universe, the role of the gods, and the fate of human beings after death. Their importance lies in their antiquity and in their endurance throughout the entire intellectual history of ancient Egypt. This volume contains the complete translation of the Pyramid Texts, including new texts recently discovered and published. It incorporates full restorations and readings indicated by post-Old Kingdom copies of the texts and is the first translation that presents the texts in the order in which they were meant to be read in each of the original sources.

'An authoritative guide from two experts who really know their way around scent' – FUNMI FETTO The Perfume Companion is a beautifully illustrated compendium of almost 500 recommended scents, designed to help you pick out your next favourite fragrance. Perfumes have the power to evoke treasured memories, make us feel fabulous and help us express our best self. But with so many out there, how do you choose something new? When the scents in the perfume shop are merging into one aromatic haze, how do you remain focused? And if your favourite scent goes out of stock, how do you replace it? The Perfume Companion is here to help. Sarah McCartney and Samantha Scriven deliver a host of scents for you to try – including bargain finds and luxury treasures, iconic stalwarts and indie newcomers, the lightest florals and the deepest leathers. With insider information about how perfumes are really made, discover hundreds of new fragrances and find the scents to share your own memories with. This is the perfect companion for your scented adventures.

The great civilization that grew up around the Nile River had sophisticated irrigation systems that held back the desert, writing and record keeping that kept track of every event in the region, and some of the greatest architects and engineers the world

Offering a unique blend of thematic and chronological investigation, this highly illustrated, engaging text explores the rich historical, cultural, and social contexts of 3,000 years of Greek art, from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period. Uniquely intersperses chapters devoted to major periods of Greek art from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period, with chapters containing discussions of important contextual themes across all of the periods Contextual chapters illustrate how a range of factors, such as the urban environment, gender, markets, and cross-cultural contact, influenced the development of art Chronological chapters survey the appearance and development of key artistic genres and explore how artifacts and architecture of the time reflect these styles Offers a variety of engaging and informative pedagogical features to help students navigate the subject, such as timelines, theme-based textboxes, key terms defined in margins, and further readings. Information is presented clearly and contextualized so that it is accessible to students regardless of their prior level of knowledge A book companion website is available at www.wiley.gom/go/greekart with the following resources: PowerPoint slides, glossary, and timeline

Middle Egyptian introduces the reader to the writing system of ancient Egypt and the language of hieroglyphic texts. It contains twenty-six lessons, exercises (with answers), a list of hieroglyphic signs, and a dictionary. It also includes a series of twenty-six essays on the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian history, society, religion, literature, and language. Grammar lessons and cultural essays allows users not only to read hieroglyphic texts but also to understand them, providing the foundation for understanding texts on monuments and reading great works of ancient Egyptian literature. This third edition is revised and reorganized, particularly in its approach to the verbal system, based on recent advances in understanding the language. Illustrations enhance the discussions, and an index of references has been added. These changes and additions provide a complete and up-to-date grammatical description of the classical language of ancient Egypt for specialists in linguistics and other fields.

The Sun is so powerful, so much bigger than us, that it is a terrifying subject. Yet though we depend on it, we take it for granted. Amazingly the first book of its kind, CHASING THE SUNis a cultural and scientific history of our relationship with the star that gives us life. Richard Cohen, applying the same mix of wide-ranging reference and intimate detail that won outstanding reviews for By the Sword, travels from the ancient Greek astronomers to modern-day solar scientists, from Stonehenge to Antarctica (site of the solar eclipse of 2003, when penguins were said to sing), Mexico's Aztecs to the Norwegian city of Tromso, where for two months of the year there is no Sun at all. He introduces us to the crucial 'sunspot cycle' in modern economics, the religious dances of Indian tribesmen, the histories of sundials and calendars, the plight of migrating birds, the latest theories of global warming, and Galileo recording his discoveries in code, for fear of persecution. And throughout, there is the rich Sun literature -- from the writings of Homer through Dante and Nietzsche to Keats, Shelley and beyond. Blindingly impressive and hugely readable, this is a tour de force of narrative non-fiction.

Design patterns are the cutting-edge paradigm for programming in object-oriented languages. Here they are discussed, for the first time in a book, in the context of implementing financial models in C++. Assuming only a basic knowledge of C++ and mathematical finance, the reader is taught how to produce well-designed, structured, re-usable code via concrete examples. Each example is treated in depth, with the whys and wherefores of the chosen method of solution critically examined. Part of the book is devoted to designing re-usable components that are then put together to build a Monte Carlo pricer for path-dependent exotic options. Advanced topics treated include the factory pattern, the singleton pattern and the decorator pattern. Complete ANSI/ISO-compatible C++ source code is included on a CD for the reader to study and re-use and so develop the skills needed to implement financial models with object-oriented programs and become a working financial engineer. Please note the CD supplied with this book is platform-dependent and PC users will not be able to use the files without manual intervention in order to remove extraneous characters. Cambridge University Press apologises for this error. Machine readable files for all users can be obtained from www.markjoshi.com/design.