Most Popular Books by John Lawrence

This book illustrates the diverse and simultaneous happenings in the varied and complex Europe of the 1500s and 1600s AD, mainly focusing on England and Italy, the two major protagonists of this most fascinating period of history, when military interventions, literature, art and religious philosophies formed the Europe which we have inherited today. The book is enriched with more than 1000 illustrations and a 100-year calendar of historical events, in addition to references to 1,168 important contemporaries who lived in England, Italy and Europe during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. This book also delves in depth into the fascinating mystery of the authorship question in relation to who wrote the Shakespearean works.

Proceedings of a symposium held at Bryn Mawr College in 1986. Includes ''Priam''s Castle Blazing'': A Thousand Years of Trojan Memories'' (Emily Vermeule) and ''The Physical Identity of the Trojans'' (Lawrence Angel).

Although the illustrious career of Sherlock Holmes has been documented in innumerable stories over the decades, some accounts have remained classified due to their extremely sensitive nature … until now. Cases involving major historical figures and topics –Winston Churchill''s request to investigate the emerging Nazi Party, the emergency surgery on the British monarch, the apparent suicide of a leading suffragist and the strange death of an American president – have been locked away, sometimes with explicit instructions that they be kept from public view well into the future. Now, these cases are available to readers in the collection The Undiscovered Archives of Sherlock Holmes. Each of these seven stories is linked to a major historical figure or event. The actual nature of the case had often been misunderstood for a century and more because of the need to respect the privacy of those involved and, in some cases, to avoid potentially embarrassing disclosures and diplomatic controversies. The author of these “history mysteries” is John Lawrence, a University of California-trained history Ph.D. who spent nearly 40 years as a top staff person in the U.S. House of Representatives, the last 8 as chief of staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The author uses his professional training to blend historical fact with Holmesian embellishments that produce unique stories any devotee of The Canon will enjoy. These are all traditional-style pastiches published in various anthologies from 2015 – 2020, including the MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories.

Leaving behind the violence of the Boston streets and the politics of the Boston Police Department, homicide detective Joe McGuire is settled in a new life in the Bahamas. When Aunt Cora, his closest living relative, dies McGuire returns home to attend her funeral and settle her estate. McGuire quickly discovers that closing Cora’s affairs is anything but simple. And when suspicions of murder provoke an attempt on his own life, McGuire is forced to dig into his aunt’s past, revealing crimes long past and covered up . . . but not forgotten. Gypsy Sins is the fourth novel in the Joe McGuire mystery series, and won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Mystery Novel. It is followed by Solitary Dancer. Praise for Gypsy Sins “...a sly and ingenious story that keeps one’s attention throughout all its twists and turns.”—Books in Canada

Roving from the parched wadis of the Middle East, to an isolated farmhouse in rural Quebec, to the crowed boutiques of Beverly Hills, master storyteller and award-winning writer John Lawrence Reynolds explores the most notorious secret societies in history, probing their origins and activities, and revealing secrets maintained and distorted over hundred of years. Reynolds peels away the layers of speculation, paranoia and fear, and shines a brilliant light on individuals and organizations that have generated suspicion and terror over several centuries. He treats the reader to a behind-the-scenes look at rituals and initiations, artifacts and secret signs, influences and dangers. And in the telling, he uncovers a rogue''s gallery of assassins, con artists, thieves, racists, drug smugglers, adulterers, pranksters and crooks. But where does the truth lie? Does global power actually control the election of world leaders? Has an ancient mystical religion really been reduced to a length of red string selling for a dollar an inch? Are some secret societies little more than a group of boys playing at secret handshakes? From the Assassins to the Yakuza, from Freemasons to Bonesmen, shadow people and their secrets have flourished throughout history. Some fear them, some dismiss them, but everyone is fascinated by them. Secret societies fuel our imagination, and their shadows continue to fall across our daily lives.

This is a study of one of China''s most influential regional musical traditions, the Jiangnan sizhu - string and wind music - of Shanghai. The in-depth approach adopted reveals much about Chinese musical culture.

Unravel the "how" and "why" of road building from 1890 through 1925. Enjoy John Butler''s salute to human willpower that wrestled, struggled, and persevered.

The traditional influence, power, and authority that resided in the patriarchate of Constantinople made the involvement of an aggressive patriarch in the social affairs of the empire virtually inevitable.

Relegated to reviewing unsolved murders as the result of a courtroom outburst, Boston homicide detective Lieutenant Joe McGuire becomes obsessed with solving the murder of a young woman found in the Boston Fens. Working with his now-quadriplegic ex-partner Ollie Schantz, McGuire follows a lead to ever-dangerous Texas-Mexican border and eventually to the very doorstep of the killer where he learns that everything—and everyone—may not be what it first appears to be. And Leaver Her Lay Dying is the second novel in the Joe McGuire mystery series, and was short-listed for the Arthur Ellis Best Novel Award. It is followed by Whisper Death. Praise for And Leave Her Lay Dying “This is, quite simply, a terrific book.”—Globe and Mail

The Littles are amazed that tiny people are living in the forest and near them on the hill.

Tone recounts the dramatic story of how Spanish peasants created and sustained the world''s first guerilla insurgency movement, thereby playing a major role in Napoleon''s defeat during the Peninsula War.