Best Selling Books by Virginia Rounding

RA great thumping triumph of a bookS ("London Telegraph"), this is the first comprehensive modern biography of Catherine the Great to explore her both as a woman and empress.

A study of the marriage of the last Russian tsar and tsarina offers psychological insights into their relationship and covers the Empress''s ill health, their relationship with confidante Ania Vyrubova, and their reliance on the infamous Rasputin.

Marie Duplessis, ''La Paiva'' and Apollonie Sabatier were all representatives of the golden age of the French courtesan during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III. This study offers a portrayal of the lives of the great 19th-century courtesans and separates the myth from the reality.

"This gruesomely entertaining book examines the Tudor zeal for burning people in the name of religion . . . it both ''purifies'' and leaves little or no trace." — The Times of London, "Book of the Week" Smithfield, settled on the fringes of Roman London, was once a place of revelry. Jesters and crowds flocked for the medieval St. Bartholomew''s Day celebrations, tournaments were plentiful and it became the location of London''s most famous meat market. Yet in Tudor England, Smithfield had another, more sinister use: the public execution of heretics. The Burning Time is a vivid insight into an era in which what was orthodoxy one year might be dangerous heresy the next. The first martyrs were Catholics, who cleaved to Rome in defiance of Henry VIII''s break with the papacy. But with the accession of Henry''s daughter Mary—soon to be nicknamed "Bloody Mary"—the charge of heresy was leveled against devout Protestants, who chose to burn rather than recant. At the center of Virginia Rounding''s vivid account of this extraordinary period are two very different characters. The first is Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell''s protégé, who, almost uniquely, remained in a position of great power, influence and wealth under three Tudor monarchs, and who helped send many devout men and women to their deaths. The second is John Deane, Rector of St Bartholomew''s, who was able, somehow, to navigate the treacherous waters of changing dogma and help others to survive. The Burning Time is their story, but it is also the story of the hundreds of men and women who were put to the fire for their faith.

This book is about parish ministry and how to survive it. ''Survival'' means to make it through the storm and outlast ones opponents! This is a practical handbook based on the premise that with preparation and careful foundation work, the problems facing the life of the ordinary clergy can be prevented. Looking at themes of crisis management, models of leadership, resource-management and then at the risks taken in carrying out the God-given calling and providing concrete examples of difficult situations, Dudley and Rounding also give wise and heartening advice on limiting the damage if things do slip out of control.

With the aid of case histories and checklists, this guide addresses the responsibilities and potential problems that face the churchwardens of the twenty-first century. The content of this guide is designed to relate closely to real life situations.

Le Second Empire a été sans nul doute l''âge d''or des courtisanes françaises, devenues idoles de leur époque. Femmes légendaires, dont la richesse et le pouvoir étaient stupéfiants, dont la beauté, la force de séduction ont vaincu la raison des hommes... Virginia Rounding ne se contente pas de raconter leurs vies, elle s''attache aussi à décrire l''aura mythique qui les entourait. Ainsi de Marie Duplessis, devenue le prototype de la courtisane vertueuse ; d''Apollonie Sabatier, qui a su comme personne mettre chacun à l''aise dans son salon, où les propos les plus crus étaient de mise ; de la Païva, une émigrée russe qui semblait apprécier la chair fraîche des jeunes hommes riches ; quant à Cora Pearl, beauté anglaise flamboyante, elle avait le don de " faire rire les hommes qui s''ennuyaient ". Les Grandes Horizontales nous livrent un portrait haut en couleur du Paris du dix-neuvième siècle et de ses plus brillantes personnalités. On ne jugeait pas seulement une femme vénale au prix atteint par ses faveurs, mais aussi à son degré de liberté dans le choix de ses clients. La prostituée la plus humble, tout en bas de l''échelle, n''avait d''autre choix que le tout-venant ; l''élite du demi-monde, la courtisane réputée, avait à ses pieds un choix quasi infini. Généralement, la taille de la fortune l''emportait sur les qualités personnelles de l''amant en puissance - mais enfin, elle avait le choix. Du moins est-ce la vision optimiste de sa situation ; en réalité, plus la courtisane était luxueusement entretenue, plus elle dépensait, et plus ses besoins en argent augmentaient. Son rôle consistait à dépenser, bien plutôt qu''à épargner, l''argent dont la couvrait son riche protecteur, car les conventions de l''époque exigeaient que la maîtresse d''un homme du monde soit l''ornement bien visible, la preuve de son rang social, et non une liaison que l''on cache dans un appartement discret. "