As the harsh winds hold the Greek fleet trapped in the straits at Aulis waiting to sail toTroy, frustration and political impotence turn into a desire for the blood of a young and innocent woman.

A brilliant retelling of an ancient myth, The Songs of the Kings offers up a different narrative of the Trojan War, one devoid of honor, wherein the mission to rescue Helen is a pretext for plundering Troy of its treasures. As the ships of the Greek fleet find themselves stalled in the straits at Aulis, waiting vainly for the gods to deliver more favorable winds, Odysseus cynically advances a call for the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter, Calchas the diviner interprets events for the reader, and a Homer-like figure called the Singer is persuaded to proclaim a tale of a just war to hide the corrupt motivations of those in power. But couched within the Singer’s spin is a message at once timely and timeless: “There is always another story. But it is the stories told by the strong, the songs of kings, that are believed in the end.”

When it was first published in 1989, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love became an international bestselling sensation, winning rave reviews and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that changed the landscape of American literature returns with a new afterword by Oscar Hijuelos. Here is the story of the memorable Castillo brothers, from Havana to New York's Upper West Side. The lovelorn songwriter Nestor and his macho brother Cesar find success in the city's dance halls and beyond playing the rhythms that earn them their band's name, as they struggle with elusive fame and lost love in a richly sensual tale that has become a cultural touchstone and an enduring favorite.

Who is in-charge of All Gods? ABASI MMU UDIM is in-charge. AKWA ABASI IBOM ado ABASI ono MME ABASI, HE IS GOD OF ALL GODS - THE ONLY SUPREME GOD.AKWA ABASI IBOM -THE SUPREME FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY is THE SUPREME CREATOR.25. The Spirit of THE SUPREME FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY which is THE SUPREME WORD OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE GOD OF ALL GODS. Therefore, GOD OF THE EARTH is under THE GOD OF HEAVENS WHO is in-charge of all the GODS.26. GOD OF THE HEAVENS created GOD OF THE EARTH. So, everything THE SPIRIT - I THE SUPREME FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY created is also Spirit and they are all also GODS. This GOD OF HEAVEN and GOD OF EARTH are linked to all other Gods. I go to the next one.

Following the great periods of national leadership by Moses and Joshua, the book of Judges depicts the stewardship of various judges that rose to power to solve local religious and military challenges in the premonarchic period. This volume provides a close reading of the entire book of Judges, taking seriously the distinct elements of the book and how they are interconnected. Elie Assis explores the ways in which the ideology and theology of Judges unfold through a careful literary analysis. Moving beyond the cycle of sin, punishment, and salvation, Assis demonstrates how differences in the descriptive language applied to each judge, as well as the evaluations in the opening and concluding chapters, provide clues as to the organization and message of the text. Most works on Judges focus on the historical background of the period or the historical process of the book’s composition and seek to dissolve its stories into component parts. In contrast, Before There Were Kings points to the deep underlying unity of Judges and the function of the individual stories within the whole. New and carefully drawn insights related to the purpose of each section and the themes that shape the book as a whole make this a groundbreaking, programmatic contribution to research on the book of Judges. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible.

“This volume, by Biblical scholar Yochi Brandes, is a riveting novel based on textual sources about the experiences of David and Solomon. Its lessons are also relevant for our turbulent time.” —Elie Wiesel, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Night In the tradition of The Red Tent from internationally bestselling author Yochi Brandes comes the stories of the struggles of King David and King Saul in the early days of the Kingdom of Israel, seen through the eyes of Michal, Saul’s daughter and David’s abandoned queen Stories are deadlier than swords. Swords kill only those who stand before them, stories decide who will live and die in generations to come. Shelomoam, a young man from the tribe of Ephraim, has grown up in the shadow of dark secrets. He wonders why his father is deathly afraid of the King’s soldiers and why his mother has lied about the identities of those closest to him. Shelomoam is determined to unearth his mysterious past, never imagining where his quest will ultimately lead him. The Secret Book of Kings upends conventions of biblical novels, engaging with the canonized stories of the founding of the Kingdom of Israel and turning them on their heads. Presented for the first time are the heretofore unknown stories of the House of Saul and of the northern Kingdom of Israel, stories that were artfully concealed by the House of David and the scribes of the southern Kingdom of Judah. Yochi Brandes, one of Israel’s all-time bestselling novelists, enlists her unique background in both academic Jewish scholarship and traditional religious commentaries to read the Bible in an utterly new way. In this book, a major publishing phenomenon in Israel and one of the bestselling novels in the history of the country, she uncovers vibrant characters, especially women, buried deep within the scriptures, and asks the loaded question: to what extent can we really know our past when history is written by the victors?

From the acclaimed author of Pillar of the Sky: “A great study of a character in conflict and a recommended read for lovers of Irish history.” —Historical Novel Society Set in Ireland during the eleventh century, The Kings in Winter follows the life of a clan chief torn between opposing factions in his own land while war with the Danes looms on the horizon. The chief of the ó Cullinanes, Muirtagh is a man of short stature but great heart. Though his father was killed and his whole clan wiped out by the mac Mahon twenty years ago, he took an oath when he was anointed chief that he would not seek revenge. His younger brother, a renowned warrior known as the Danekiller, is barely in control of his own lust for vengeance and rails against Muirtagh’s decree. As the High King faces threats from his nemesis, who has allied himself with the Danes in his quest for power, Muirtagh is maligned for his neutrality. Although he refuses to resurrect the feud with the mac Mahon, Muirtagh will defend what is his against the Danes. But when the mac Mahon finally strikes, slaughtering someone close to him, Muirtagh chooses his fate as an outlaw and oath-breaker without a clan or a name—untamed by both king and country . . . Praise for Cecelia Holland “A first-class storyteller.” —People “Holland packs her pages with action and historical detail. She remains in the front ranks of the genre along with Mary Stewart, Dorothy Dunnett, and the late Mary Renault.” —Chicago Sun-Times “A literary phenomenon.” —The New York Times “A master storyteller.” —Houston Chronicle