italy

Just after Cassie Arroyo found the Spear of Destiny in Rome, it was stolen from her, so now she and her friend Asher must recover it--but when she used the Spear before, she set the world down a dangerous path, and if she recovers it she will have to decide whether to risk using it again.

Retells the traditional Italian tale of the poor peasant woman who, long ago, set out to find the Christ Child and wanders to this day, carrying a sack of gifts to give to good children at Christmas.

Explore's Leonardo da Vinci's artistic and scientific achievements, and discusses what current brain research reveals about da Vinci's multifaceted genius.

A biography of Gino Bartali, an Italian cycling legend, discussing his two Tour de France wins, his childhood, and the attempt of Mussolini's Fascists to hijack his victory for propaganda purposes and almost derailing his career.

A fictional biography of the work, dreams, and wild inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, as seen through the eyes of his mischievous young assistant, Giacomo. The king of France invited Leonardo to visit his country. Leonardo went, and took the painting of the Mona Lisa with him.

A biography that follows explorer Marco Polo and his family on a 25 year journey through the trade routes now known as Spice Road. Also highlights the importance of the Polos' role as cultural emissaries during a time of limited global exchange.

In November 1942, Paul Andrew Kennedy (1912-1993) boarded the St. Elena in New York Harbor and sailed for Casablanca as part of Operation Torch, the massive Allied invasion of North Africa. As a member of the US Army's 2nd Auxiliary Surgical Group, he spent the next thirty-four months working in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany, in close proximity to the front lines and often under air or artillery bombardment. Kennedy participated in some of the fiercest action of the war, including Operation Avalanche, the attack on Anzio, and Operation Dragoon. He also arrived in Rome the day after the Allied troops, and entered the Dachau concentration camp two days after it was liberated.

The Navy SEALs history stretches back to World War II when US intelligence officials formed a team of special-operation combat swimmers. Under the leadership of Captain Jack Taylor, a California dentist, the Maritime Unit (MU) started training in 1942, learning underwater and covert operation techniques, as it developed an array of James Bond-like new equipment, including the recently invented underwater breathing apparatus, limpet mines, silent electric motors, and a collapsible eight-foot submarine. Finally deployed in 1944, the unit conducted some of the most daring, behind-enemy-lines operations of the war in Italy, where they linked up with fearsome Italian commandos. In one of its greatest coups, they captured the plans--and the architect--of Germany's famed Gothic Line, resulting in the Eighth Army's partial breakthrough. Filled with unforgettable characters, including the unit's charismatic leader, a Hollywood star, and a gritty New York City gas station owner, The First SEALs cinematically narrates one of the greatest untold stories of World War II and links their storied past to today's gloried US Navy SEALs.