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Slave revolts trouble the Roman Empire in the years before Christ.

A collection of thrilling murder mysteries featuring “an unusually interesting detective” from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus (The Washington Star). Japanese-American Beverly Hills homicide detective Masao Masuto is a karate expert, a devotee of roses, and a Zen Buddhist. He does his job with a cool, caustic wit—and with surprising force when necessary. He possesses a singular sense of justice, taking action on his own and occasionally pushing the boundaries of the law... The Case of the Sliding Pool: After a decades-old hidden grave is uncovered by a rainstorm, Detective Masuto must look into the distant past to find a murderer who was very good at his job—and who is about to come out of retirement. “An interesting conception.” —The New York Times The Case of the Kidnapped Angel: The wife of one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars has been kidnapped for ransom—one that is willingly paid. But Masuto doesn't believe the worried husband's performance. He suspects the payoff was for something deadly... “A talent for all times.” —The Moscow News The Case of the Murdered McKenzie: When a faded movie beauty is accused of killing her rich husband, it seems like an open-and-shut case—until Masuto investigates. And it soon appears that murder is only the beginning of an even more shocking conspiracy. “One of the best in the series.” —The New York Times As witty as he is wise, Detective Masuto is the brilliant creation of “one of the 20th century's busiest writers” known for “creating stories that even his critics admired as page-turners (The New York Times).

A collection of thrilling murder mysteries featuring “an unusually interesting detective” from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus (The Washington Star). Japanese-American Beverly Hills homicide detective Masao Masuto is a karate expert, a devotee of roses, and a Zen Buddhist. He does his job with a cool, caustic wit—and with surprising force when necessary. He possesses a singular sense of justice, taking action on his own and occasionally pushing the boundaries of the law... The Case of the Angry Actress: When a Hollywood mogul drops dead at his own party, Detective Masuto must dig into the darkest secrets of the magnate's past. Now he must uncover a secret worth killing for before someone else dies. “A good fast-paced thriller.” —Reader's Syndicate The Case of the One-Penny Orange: Masuto has a break-in and a murder to solve, both of which are baffling. But when he suspects a connection between the two crimes, he uncovers a bizarre conspiracy that reaches back to the darkest days of World War II. “A finely perceived mystery puzzle... an unusually interesting detective.” —The Washington Star The Case of the Russian Diplomat: When a dead body is found in a pool at a high-class hotel notorious for its illicit activities, Matsuo finds himself hunting for a killer and tangled in a web of espionage and international intrigue. “An enjoyable, highly professional entertainment.” —The New Yorker The Case of the Poisoned Eclairs: A pleasant lull in murder cases is broken when a series of unusual poisoning deaths puts Masuto on the hunt for someone whose terrifying vendetta has only just begun. “A consummate storyteller.” —The Baltimore Sun

From activist to family matriarch, Barbara Lavette takes center stage in the final three volumes of the New York Times–bestselling Immigrants saga. New York Times–bestselling author Howard Fast's immensely popular Immigrants saga spanned six novels and more than a century of the Lavette family history. The series was considered one of the crowning achievements of the prolific author, who also penned Spartacus, Freedom Road, and April Morning. The Legacy: In this New York Times bestseller, Barbara, the daughter of self-made Italian immigrant Dan Lavette, navigates the turmoil of the 1960s, including the Vietnam War, the feminist and civil rights movements, and Israel's Six Day War with Egypt. “A wonderful book.” —Los Angeles Times The Immigrant's Daughter: At sixty, Barbara is living a quiet life in San Francisco, grieving after the death of a longtime male friend. But when she mounts an unexpectedly competitive congressional campaign, she reconnects with her past as a journalist and human rights activist, and her spirits revive, in this New York Times Bestseller. An Independent Woman: In this emotional farewell, Barbara, the rock and matriarch of her family, marries a Unitarian priest, and together they travel the world—until she faces the toughest challenge of her life. “Eventful and well-crafted... Loyal fans of Fast's opus will welcome this bittersweet reunion with a woman they have come to know and admire.” —People

A pair of imaginative science fiction story collections from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus, Freedom Road, and the Immigrants saga. Over his long and illustrious career, New York Times–bestselling author and prolific novelist Howard Fast proved himself a master of any literary genre, from historical fiction in Spartacus to family generational drama in his bestselling Immigrants saga. Although his output in fantasy and science fiction is relatively modest, these two short story collections, reminiscent of classic Twilight Zone episodes, demonstrate that Fast's imagination knew no boundaries. The General Zapped an Angel: Nearly forty years after the publication of his first story, “Wrath of Purple,” in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, Fast returned to the genre with a set of nine supremely entertaining tales. In this collection, a Vietnam general shoots down what appears to be an angel, a man sells his soul to the devil for a copy of the next day's Wall Street Journal, and a group of alien beings bestow a mouse with human thought and emotion. “These stories amply display Fast's considerable gifts as a writer—his clear, concise, often elegant prose, his sense of humor, his gift of sympathetic imagination, and sheer talent as a storyteller.” —Tangent A Touch of Infinity: This follow-up to The General Zapped an Angel offers thirteen brisk and engrossing science fiction stories. In “The Hoop,” a scientist builds a portal to an unknown destination, which the mayor of New York City hijacks to use as a garbage dump until the location's surprising—and hilarious—revelation. And in “The Egg,” set three thousand years in the future, a research team discovers an egg, something they have never seen before, cryogenically frozen in a nuclear bunker. “Fast, a master of economy... spins his stories quickly and most effectively.” —Associated Press

Dopo Il vento di San Francisco e Seconda generazione continua la saga appassionante dei Lavette: le avventure familiari più popolari della storia della letteratura americana. Barbara Lavette vive con il marito Bernie Cohen a San Francisco. Lei ha intrapreso una carriera di scrittrice e giornalista, lui gestisce un'officina. Ma il loro matrimonio scricchiola. Così, quando un vecchio compagno d'armi si rifà vivo per proporre a Bernie una missione segreta, il richiamo dell'avventura torna a farsi sentire. La missione consiste in un incarico pericoloso: contrabbandare residuati bellici della Seconda guerra mondiale dagli USA a Tel Aviv, per conto del nascente stato di Israele. Bernie accetta, diviso fra l'amore per Barbara, il desiderio di rimettersi in gioco, e il sogno di una patria che lui, da ebreo, non ha mai avuto. Negli USA intanto la psicosi anticomunista si è scatenata: siamo in pieno Maccartismo, i cosiddetti “dieci di Hollywood” sono appena stati condannati e nel paese è calato un clima da caccia alle streghe... Anche Barbara dovrà fronteggiare delle accuse legate alla sua attività di scrittrice, e quando rifiuterà di compromettere degli amici per salvarsi inizierà una battaglia senza speranza contro il potere.

È qualcosa di più che una vaga sensazione di irrequietezza quella che agita la giovane Barbara Lavette nella caldissima estate di San Francisco del 1934. Sua madre Jean, erede dell'impero finanziario dei Seldon, desidera per lei un destino all'altezza del nome che porta mentre il patrigno, uno dei più ricchi armatori della East-Coast, è disposto a pagare i migliori college di New York pur di tenere alla larga quella ragazzina e le sue sciocche idee di equità sociale. Ma Barbara non può dimenticare che nelle sue vene scorre il sangue dei Lavette. Lo stesso di suo padre, Danny, che era stato uno degli uomini più ricchi della California prima di liberarsi del suo patrimonio per inseguire una vita più semplice e autentica. Quando sul fronte del porto scoppiano gli scioperi che insanguineranno la città, Barbara capisce che non può tollerare la repressione ordinata dal patrigno e che è venuto per lei il tempo di cercare il suo posto nel mondo. Lo trova a Parigi, in qualità di corrispondente per una raffinata rivista newyorchese. E fra le braccia di Marcel, giornalista di Le Monde. Ma presto la Storia travolge ogni cosa. La guerra civile spagnola le porta via il suo pri- mo grande amore, ferito durante una spedizione al seguito delle Brigate Internazionali. Ed è forse per dimenticarlo che poco dopo Barbara, investita di una missione segreta, si reca nella Berlino nazista dove si decidono le sorti dell'Europa. Nel frattempo, a San Francisco, suo fratello Tom scopre nel patrigno un interlocutore molto interessato alle sue idee sul futuro della fortuna dei Seldon e comincia a ordire una trama per tagliare Barbara fuori dall'impero economico di famiglia... In Seconda generazione, tornano i personaggi che il lettore ha amato nel Vento di San Francisco, il primo capitolo della saga dei Lavette che con questo romanzo continua la sua cavalcata nel Novecento americano seguendo i figli di Danny, Jean e May Ling, dagli anni'30 al secondo dopoguerra. Una straordinaria saga familiare di coraggio, generosità e sentimento. «Uno scrittore simbolo delle contraddizioni del Novecento americano». Lara Crinò, il Venerdì di Repubblica «Persino i più critici hanno dovuto riconoscere le sue storie come veri page-turner». The New York Times

Comparativists evaluate democratization by looking at regimes in the transition and consolidation phases of democracy without considering the essence of democracy. This book argues the need to consider democracy as a combination of rights and virtues, and that problems of democraticization are those of balance.

Originally published in 1941, The Last Frontier is the story of the Cheyenne Indians in the 1870s, and their bitter struggle to flee from the Indian Territory in Oklahoma back to their home in Wyoming and Montana. Some 300 Indians, led by Little Wolf, fought against General Crook and 10,000 troops, with only 60 finally making it through to freedom. Fast extensively researched this book in the late 1930s, visiting and speaking with Cheyenne experts in Norman, Oklahoma. This was the first of Fast's many books to gain a wide popular audience; it was eventually made by John Ford into the classic film Cheyenne Autumn (1964).

'Fast is always a wonderful storyteller, and the story is a good one.... Entertaining and memorable'. -- Library Journal

Una grande saga familiare ambientata in California nei ruggenti anni ‘20 Con Il vento di San Francisco inizia la saga in sei volumi della famiglia Lavette, un caso mondiale da più di 15 milioni di copie Danny Lavette è solo un ragazzo quando perde i genitori nel terremoto di San Francisco del 1906. Non ha più una casa, non ha più una famiglia, non gli resta che il peschereccio di suo padre e qualche amico. Ed è da lì che tutto ricomincia. Ha fegato da vendere, Danny, è un bravo ragazzo ed è affamato di successo: il suo sogno è quello di arrivare in alto, a Nob Hill, dove vive chi dorme il sonno dei milionari. Non è solo amore quello che lo porta a sposare Jean Seldon, la donna più bella della città, figlia del più importante banchiere della California. E non è solo per fiuto negli affari che scommette in un continuo gioco al rialzo prima sui pescherecci, poi sulle navi da crociera, infine sui primi aeroplani che solcheranno i cieli degli Stati Uniti. Inseguendo un sogno di libertà che le sue umili origini non gli hanno mai concesso, diventerà uno degli uomini più importanti del paese. Ma il successo non basta. Ammirato da donne bellissime, circondato da arredi raffinati e dipendenti devoti, resterà sempre l'orfano affamato di quel giorno terribile del 1906, un ragazzo di origini italiane generoso e bisognoso di amore. Solo una donna riuscirà a fare breccia nel suo cuore, May Ling, una giovane ragazza cinese con cui intreccerà una relazione tenerissima. Sullo sfondo dei ruggenti anni venti, il sogno americano rivive in una grande saga familiare di coraggio, generosità e sentimento. «Un libro che si legge tutto d'un fiato, da cui è impossibile staccarsi... commovente, intenso». Erica Jong

The best-selling novel about a slave revolt in ancient Rome and the basis for the popular motion picture.

This edition brings the story of 20th-century Southern politics up to the present day and the virtual triumph of Southern Republicanism. It considers the changes in party politics, leadership, civil rights and black participation in Southern politics.

A collection of thirteen stunning stories by one of the most celebrated American writers of the twentieth centuryA follow-up to his 1970 science fiction collection, The General Zapped an Angel, Fast's book of thirteen new science fiction stories is brisk and engrossing. In “The Hoop,” a scientist builds a portal to an unknown destination, which the mayor of New York City hijacks to use as a garbage dump until the location's surprising, and hilarious, revelation. And in “The Egg,” set three thousand years in the future, a research team discovers an egg, something they have never seen before, cryogenically frozen in a nuclear bunker. These thirteen stories are bizarre, hilarious, poignant, and sure to entertain. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author's estate.

“The General Zapped an Angel was written for fun, and offers me a chance to smile at the absurdity of human existence. Therefore, these stories of fantasy and science fiction are among the most serious writing I have done.” —Howard FastNearly forty years after the publication of his first story, “The Wrath of Purple,” in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, Howard Fast returned to the genre with a set of nine supremely entertaining tales. In this collection, a Vietnam general shoots down what appears to be an angel, a man sells his soul to the devil for a copy of the next day's Wall Street Journal, and a group of alien beings bestow a mouse with human thought and emotion. Fast, one of the bestselling authors of the twentieth century, skewers war hawks, oil speculators, and profit-at-all-costs capitalism, issues that are still relevant today. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author's estate.

A couple in Washington, DC, is torn apart when a friend is accused of treasonJane and David Graham live upper-middle-class lives in mid-century Washington, DC. Jane minds the home with the help of a fulltime maid, and David works at the Treasury Department. But when the FBI visits their house one evening to ask questions about a friend's political beliefs, the answers the two give separately cause them both to wonder whether they truly know each other. Soon nothing is certain as the ideological fears plaguing the nation threaten to destroy Jane and David's family. Howard Fast's first play, Thirty Pieces of Silver was performed in several countries, from Australia to Europe, and offers an insightful look at the destructive power of reactionary politics in America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author's estate.

'Fast is at his best as a storyteller'— Christian Science MonitorThe strength of five brothers will define a nation.My Glorious Brothers is the epic story of perhaps the most breathtaking chapter in the history of Israel, a stirring tale of courage for those who like to find meaning for today's world in the great events of history.After witnessing a ransacked and desecrated Jerusalem, Simon and his four brothers — soon to be known and revered as the Maccabees — rise to lead an earthshaking rebellion. Their tale has almost no parallel in human history. Theirs was the will, fire, and unbending spirit that inspired the timeless rite of Hanukkah, transforming a society of farmers and scholars into an unconquerable army that would wage the first modern fight for freedom and the first victory for religious freedom.Master storyteller Howard Fast recounts the story of great battles, brutal atrocities, and undying love and loyalty. But it is also a sensitive and sure picture of a people and an age, in which the mood of a small but spirited segment of humanity two thousand years ago is recreated with gripping authenticity.PRAISE FOR HOWARD FAST:'Emotional, exciting, and entertaining.'— Philadelphia Inquirer'Relentless pace of events...real experience leaping full-bodied from Fast's imagination!'— New York Times

An insurance investigator chases a vanished heiress— and a huge paydayOne of the richest girls on Park Avenue is missing. Cynthia Brandon left her father's apartment on Monday, and three days later has not been seen anywhere on the respectable side of town. She may have been kidnapped, or murdered. Or she may have simply gotten bored with her pampered life in a twenty-two-room apartment, and split. Harvey Krim wouldn't care about Cynthia if it weren't for the fact that girls like her pay his rent. His employers have insured Cynthia's life for $3 million, making her more than another missing heiress. Krim agrees to find her in exchange for a hefty bonus, but what he's making is nothing compared to the price on Cynthia's head. As any insurance agent knows, being so valuable to so many people can be very bad for a young girl's health. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author's estate.