Rafael Sabatini

#2

1990

Black Swan book #1 A FIERY YEARNING THAT DEFIED EVERY RULE! Adam--a legend in his own time, an outlaw in his own land, the daring captain of The Black Swan who risked his life to lead slaves to freedom... Dulcie--the dazzling, reckless daughter of Savannah's most prosperous slave breeder... Theirs was an impossible, rapturous love-flames of passion challenged their hearts as savagely as the fires of battle consumed their beloved homeland. Joined together by the sweet agony of their desire only to torn asunder by the brutal horrors of war, they lived for the one radiant moment that would united them again... Sweeping from the pride and charm of old New Orleans to forbidden Caribbean forests throbbing with voodoo drums; from the haughty elegance of New York City to the raucous, romantic bravado of Nassau's exhilarating port; here is the splendorous saga of fierce ecstasies, violent truths and wild dreams... Set in the Civil War South between the years 1852 and 1865, THE BLACK SWAN recounts the story of two memorable and powerful characters. Adam Tremain, the captain of the Black Swan will deny his loyalty to the South to become a blockade runner, transporting fugitive slaves to freedom. Dulcie Moran is the beautiful, defiant daughter of Savannah's most prosperous slave-breeder. Despite and treachery, jealousy, deceit and passion weave and interweave through their epic love story, played out against the backdrop of a land at war. The Black Swan Series: The Black Swan Moss Rose

#3

1994

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean..... Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors and the Alhambra. Irving served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819–20. He continued to publish regularly—and almost always successfully—throughout his life, and just eight months before his death (at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York), completed a five-volume biography of George Washington. Irving, along with James Fenimore Cooper, was among the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and Irving encouraged American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving was also admired by some European writers, including Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Francis Jeffrey, and Charles Dickens. As America's first genuine internationally best-selling author, Irving advocated for writing as a legitimate profession, and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.