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|  | The painting Allegory with Venus and Cupid has long fascinated visitors to London’s National Gallery, as well as the millions more who have seen it reproduced in books. It is one of the most beautiful paintings of the nude ever made.
In 1544, Duke Cosimo de’ Medici of Florence commissioned the artist Bronzino to create the painting to be sent as a diplomatic gift to King François I of France. |
As well as the academic mystery of what the strange figures in the painting represent, there is a human mystery as well: who were the models in the Florence of 1544 who posed for the gods and strange creatures?By Alan Fisk ISBN 1-904433-08-1
Death Comes by Amphora
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| | In Ancient Athens in 461BC, aristocratic General Kimon has driven back the might of the Persian Empire and forged a new empire for Athens, making his city the commercial centre of the Eastern Mediterranean. Now he is struggling for his political existence against the radical democratic reforms of the demagogue Ephialtes and his ambitious supporter Perikles.
Into this political turmoil steps Lysanias, just 18, just reached manhood, and an innocent amidst the deceit and corruption of the big city. |
Recalled from an Athenian colony by a mysterious message from his wealthy uncle Klereides, he discovers that his uncle has died in suspicious circumstances, that he is the heir, and that his obligations now include marrying his uncle’s teenage widow.
Convinced that his uncle was murdered and driven by the ancient duty of vengeance, Lysanias sets out to discover the truth, aided by his elderly slave Sindron. Their investigations take them deep into the murky interlocking worlds of Athenian politics, business, finance, religion and even art, where it seems Klereides had many enemies and where even his friends cannot be trusted. With his own loyalties torn between the rival political factions, aristocrats and workers, due to his early training as an artisan, Lysanias himself faces violent death before he and Sindron discover the culprit and Ephialtes’ assassin.
By Roger Hudson ISBN 978-1-904433-68-2
Cousins of Color
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| | Luzon, Philippines, 1899. Immersed in the chaos and brutality of America’s first overseas war of conquest and occupation, Private David Fagen has a decision to make - forsake his country or surrender his soul. The result: a young black man in search of respect and inclusion turns his back on Old Glory - and is hailed a hero of the Filipino fight for independence. |
Negro blood is just as good as a white man’s when spilled in defense of the American Way, or so Fagen believed. But this time his country seeks not justice but empire. Pandemonium rules Fagen’s world, Anarchy the High Sheriff, and he knows every time he pulls the trigger, he helps enslave the people he came to liberate.
Not just an account of an extraordinary black solider caught in the grip of fate and circumstance, Cousins of Color tells the story of Fagen’s love for the beautiful and mysterious guerilla fighter, Clarita Socorro, and his sympathy for her people’s struggle for freedom. Cousins of Color also chronicles Colonel Fredrick Funston’s monomaniacal pursuit of victory at any cost and his daredevil mission to capture Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine revolution. Other characters include the dangerously unstable, Captain Baston, particularly cruel in his treatment of prisoners, and Sergeant Warren Rivers, the father Fagen never had.
Himself a Vietnam combat veteran, author William Schroder hurtles us through the harsh realities of this tropical jungle war and provides powerful insight into the dreams and aspirations of human souls corrupted and debased by that violent clash of cultures and national wills. Based on actual events, David Fagen’s pursuit of truth and moral purpose in the Philippine Campaign brings focus to America’s continuing obsession with conquest and racism and provides insight into many of today’s prevailing sentiments.
By William Schroder ISBN 1-904433-13-8 (hardcover), 1-904433-11-1 (paperback)
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