New Releases by Giles Milton

Qui peut imaginer aujourd''hui la valeur fabuleuse que représentait la petite noix muscade à la fin du XVIe siècle ? Giles Milton brode autour de la chasse aux épices une fabuleuse histoire des grands navigateurs et marchands du XVIIe siècle. Les fastes orientaux, l’exotisme, les rêves de richesse et de puissance se mêlent à la cruauté des moeurs, à l’impitoyable affrontement guerrier et aux ruses des négociants. La bravoure, la curiosité et l’esprit de conquête animent ce roman d’aventures où abondent flibustiers, rois orientaux, rapines et batailles navales. "L’histoire de cette graine se lit comme un roman d’aventures fabuleusement épicé." Géo

In 1322 Sir John Mandeville left England on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Thirty-four years later, he returned, claiming to have visited not only Jerusalem, but India, China, Java, Sumatra and Borneo as well. His book about that voyage, THE TRAVELS, was heralded as the most important book of the Middle Ages as Mandeville claimed his voyage proved it was possible to circumnavigate the globe. In the nineteenth century sceptics questioned his voyage, and even doubted he had left England. The Riddle and the Knight sets out to discover whether Mandeville really could have made his voyage or whether, as is claimed, THE TRAVELS was a work of imaginative fiction. Bestselling historian Giles Milton unearths clues about the journey and reveals that THE TRAVELS is built upon a series of riddles which have, until now, remained unsolved.

This is the forgotten story of the million white Europeans, snatched from their homes and taken in chains to the great slave markets of North Africa to be sold to the highest bidder. Ignored by their own governments, and forced to endure the harshest of conditions, very few lived to tell the tale. Using the firsthand testimony of a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow, Giles Milton vividly reconstructs a disturbing, little known chapter of history. Pellow was bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco who was constructing an imperial pleasure palace of enormous scale and grandeur, built entirely by Christian slave labour. As his personal slave, he would witness first-hand the barbaric splendour of the imperial court, as well as experience the daily terror of a cruel regime. Gripping, immaculately researched, and brilliantly realised, WHITE GOLD reveals an explosive chapter of popular history, told with all the pace and verve of one of our finest historians.

''To write a book that makes the reader sit in a trance, lost in his passionate desire to pack a suitcase and go to the fabulous place - that, in the end, is something one would give a sack of nutmeg for'' Philip Hensher, The Spectator In 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world''s nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth. A beautifully told adventure story and a fascinating depiction of exploration in the seventeenth century, NATHANIEL''S NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history

A powerful and true story of warfare and human survival that exposes a side of World War II that is unknown by many— this is the story of Wolfram Aïchele, a boy whose childhood was stolen by a war in which he had no choice but to fight. Giles Milton has been a writer and historian for many years, writing about people and places that history has forgotten. But it took his young daughter''s depiction of a swastika on an imaginary family shield - the swastika representing Germany - for Giles to uncover the incredible, dark story of his own family and his father-in-law''s life under Hitler''s regime. As German citizens during World War II, Wolfram and his Bohemian, artist parents survived one of the most brutal eras of history. Wolfram, who was only nine years old when Hitler came to power, lived through the rise and fall of the Third Reich, from the earliest street marches to the final defeat of the Nazi regime. Conscripted into Hitler''s army, he witnessed the brutality of war - first on the Russian front and then on the Normandy beaches. Seen through German eyes and written with remarkable sensitivity, The Boy Who Went to War is a powerful story of warfare and human survival and a reminder to us all that civilians on both sides suffered the consequences of Hitler''s war.

History of the American College of Greece, founded in 1875 as the American Collegiate Institute for Girls.

Certains hommes sont capables de tout par amour des champignons. Arnold Trevellyan a tout pour lui : curieux et érudit, ce commissaire-priseur londonien, au sommet de son art, est marié depuis douze ans à Flora, une femme belle et aimante. Mais sa passion pour les amanites fait basculer sa vie paisible en un clin d''oeil. Tombé sur une étrange carrière lors d''une promenade en forêt, il se trouve embarqué dans un drame géopolitique et planétaire qui le conduit tout droit dans la chambre nuptiale d''une reine du Pacifique. Devenu le roi adulé d''une des plus petites îles du monde, Tuva, il raconte son histoire à peine croyable à son plus vieil ami dans de mystérieuses cassettes postées depuis le bout du monde. À travers ce récit à deux voix, loufoque et foisonnant, Giles Milton livre une leçon plus sérieuse qu''il n''y paraît à ceux qui croient encore au paradis sur terre.

Call Me Gorgeous! is a fun, stylish book about a very, very strange creature. It has a porcupine’s spines and a crocodile’s teeth, a chameleon’s tail and a cockerel’s feet. What on earth could it be? Uncover this mysterious and fabulous beast through Alexandra Milton’s stunning collage. With spectacular illustrations and humorous text, Call Me Gorgeous! is a feast for the eyes and a puzzle for the mind.‘A début picture book that not only deserves to be examined closely, but also stood well back from and gazed at in awe.’– Bookseller‘This book is a delightful puzzle for a small reader and ends in a good joke. On the way, there is much to marvel at in the intricate beauty of the animal world so intensely conveyed in Alexandra Milton’s stunning collage.’– Books for Keeps

The animals in Zebedee''s Zoo may not seem a very lively bunch, but at the end of the day, everything changes . . . suddenly it''s party time at the animal park! Riotous animal fun abounds in this brilliant book that begs to be read aloud time and time again.

Situated on London''s Foster Lane, there is a quintessentially Georgian, redbrick house with a green door bearing the sign trencoms, 1662. It''s the home of the Trencom family''s cheese store, a generational establishment begun by Humphrey Trencom that now, 303 years later, is run by Edward Trencom. Quaint though it may seem, it bears witness to a strange occurrence of "accidents" that seem to befall every generation of the curd-loving family.... Edward Trencom has bumbled through life, relying on his trusty nose to turn the family cheese shop into the most celebrated fromagerie in England. This was no ordinary nose, but one long, aquiline, and furnishing the trademark circular bump over the bridge---the very same nose bestowed on all the Trencom men. It was extraordinary, able to discern the composition, maturity, and quality of cheese---and the Trencom noses had sniffed, whiffed, and judged the very best cheeses of the world. But on an ordinary day, Edward''s world is turned upside down when he stumbles across a crate of family papers. To his horror, he discovers that nine previous generations of his family have come to sticky ends because of their noses. When he investigates---despite his grandfather''s caveat never to look into the origin of his nose---Edward finds himself caught up in a Byzantine riddle to which there is no obvious answer. And like his ill-fated ancestors, he is hunted down by rival forces whose identity and purpose remain a total mystery. Trapped between the mad, the bad, and a cheese to die for, Edward Trencom''s nose must make a choice---and for the last nine generations it has made the catastrophically wrong decision. Giles Milton''s deliciously comic debut novel is a mouthwatering blend of Tom Sharpe and P. G. Wodehouse. From the noble Roquefort to the piquant Èpoisses, every page is permeated by the pungent odor of cheese. Praise for Giles Milton "He has a rare ability---a talent for sifting fine pearls from faraway sands and for transmuting the merely arcane into little literary gems." ---Simon Winchester, The Boston Globe "Milton spins a fascinating tale. . . . Exuberantly eccentric characters stride the pages."---Time magazine on Nathaniel''s Nutmeg "In an exceptionally pungent, amusing, and accessible historical account, Giles Milton brings readers right into the midst of these colonists and their daunting American adventure."--- Janet Maslin, The New York Times, on Big Chief Elizabeth

C''est un chapitre fascinant et méconnu des relations entre l''Europe et l''Afrique du Nord aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles qu''aborde dans ce récit Giles Milton. Il s''agit de l''aventure cruelle de dizaines de milliers d''Anglais, de Français, d''Espagnols... capturés en mer par les corsaires de Barbarie, et vendus comme esclaves sur les grands marchés d''Alger, de Tunis, ou de Salé au Maroc. Lorsque Thomas Pellow quitte à onze ans sa Cornouailles natale pour embarquer en qualité de mousse sur le bateau de son oncle qui va commercer en Méditerranée, il est loin de se douter de l''odyssée extraordinaire qui l''attend. Le bateau est arraisonné, le jeune Thomas, captif des bandits, est vendu au terrible sultan Moulay Ismaïl, et rejoint les milliers d''esclaves qu''il emploie à la construction d''un palais gigantesque, dans des conditions épouvantables. Comme beaucoup, sous la torture, il se convertit à l''islam. Mais Pellow, grâce à son ingéniosité et sa vivacité d''esprit parvient, malgré son jeune âge, à attirer l''attention puis l''estime du sultan qui lui confiera la garde de son harem et même des missions militaires. Vingt-trois longues années plus tard, lorsqu''il parvient enfin à s''évader, il sera l''un des rares survivants à pouvoir raconter son histoire. Outre le récit autobiographique de Pellow, Milton a utilisé pour cet ouvrage une documentation exceptionnelle et inédite. A travers des lettres, journaux et documents d''époque, il reconstitue avec sa verve habituelle et un œil clinique d''historien les épisodes troublants de ce commerce singulier, où se mêlent horreurs et malentendus et qui ne prendra fin qu''en 1816.

An imaginary journey to the planets.

Le 12 avril 1600 s''échouait sur une petite plage du sud du Japon, après un rude voyage de deux ans à travers deux océans et le terrible détroit de Magellan, un navire hollandais en piteux état, piloté par William Adams, premier Anglais à fouler la terre inconnue de ce pays mythique. Avec le talent savoureux qu''on lui connaît, Giles Milton raconte ici une improbable rencontre et une fascination réciproque entre deux hommes que tout sépare : Adams, le pilote anglais d''origine modeste, et le shogoun Ieyasu Tokugawa, puissant maître du Japon. Adams découvre avec stupeur l''extrême raffinement de la culture japonaise et les fastes de sa cour, tandis que Ieyasu, curieux de l''Occident, s''émerveille des talents d''Adams : de navigateur d''abord, mais aussi de charpentier de marine. Il lui confie la construction d''un bateau. De là naîtra entre eux une relation unique et durable faite d''estime et de confiance mutuelles. Adams est anobli, il reçoit des terres et adopte le mode de vie de ses hôtes. Il devient auprès du shogoun le conseiller privilégié en matière d''affaires étrangères. A travers l''histoire personnelle d''un homme, on voit aussi revivre les rivalités commerciales entre Anglais et Hollandais dans les " Indes orientales ", les intrigues des jésuites portugais déjà installés au Japon et jaloux de leur influence, et toute une série de portraits d''hommes d''une audace incroyable, mais aussi bons vivants et parfois âpres au gain. S''appuyant sur une multitude de documents de l''époque, Milton restitue admirablement dans ce récit étonnant les rêves mais aussi le quotidien de ces authentiques explorateurs.

Alors qu''elle n''existait pas encore, l''Amérique faisait déjà rêver le monde. Le XVIe siècle fourmillait d''aventuriers impatients d''explorer le Nouveau Continent, d''entrepreneurs déterminés à y faire fortune, de monarques désireux d''agrandir leurs empires. Le récit de Giles Milton est la chronique haute en couleur des tentatives anglaises de réaliser ce " rêve américain ". Mais la réalité fut souvent plus sombre : désastres maritimes, hostilité des indigènes, manque de moyens, maladies foudroyantes et famines guettaient les conquérants... L''audacieux et flamboyant sir Walter Ralegh, favori de la reine Élisabeth, l''habile John Smith dont la vie fut sauvée par une princesse indienne, Thomas Harriot qui sut décrypter le langage algonquin : ce sont quelques-uns des héros de cette étonnante saga que Giles Milton nous retrace avec le brio du romancier et la rigueur de l''historien.

From Richard Hore''s 1636 journey to the ill-fated Sir Humfrey Gilbert''s attempt, to Sir Walter Ralegh''s extravant expeditions to Roanoke Island and Jamestown, which led to the first permanent English settlements in America, Milton tells a tale of startling greed, ruthless ambition, terrible hardship, and horrific wars between settlers and indigenous peoples.".

An exciting account of the dangerous voyages, bizarre transactions, and desperate battles of the spice wars. The island of Run is a tiny, remote island in the Indonesian archipelago. At the beginning of the 17th cent., however, Run''s harvest of nutmeg turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a fierce and bloody battle between the powerful Dutch East India Co. and a band of ragtag British adventurers. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland but in return was given Manhattan. "A brilliant adventure story of unthinkable hardship, savagery, the navigation of uncharted waters, and the exploitation of new worlds."