{"title":"John Julius Norwich","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Julius Norwich offers richly detailed explorations of history and culture, from the grandeur of Venice to the intricate politics of medieval Europe. His works illuminate the lives of rulers and the shaping of cities with vivid storytelling and meticulous research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect engaging narratives that blend biography, art, and historical insight, celebrating both the splendour of past civilisations and the enduring legacies that continue to inspire us today.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"france","title":"France","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrance\u003c\/em\u003e by John Julius Norwich is an exuberant journey through two millennia of French history, brimming with fascinating characters, pivotal battles, and transformative events. From the formidable Roman generals and rebellious Gallic chieftains to the majestic reign of Charlemagne, Norwich unravels the intricate tapestry of France's past with an engaging blend of profound knowledge and witty observations. The book sweeps through a cavalcade of historical figures and events, including the charismatic Joan of Arc, the sun king Louis XIV, the tempestuous French Revolution, and the resilient Vichy regime during WWII.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe author's deep affection for France shines through every page. He captures the essence of the country with vivid descriptions and entertaining anecdotes, making complex historical events accessible and intriguing. Norwich's love affair with France began as a child, and he recounts his personal memories with nostalgic charm. His narrative is interspersed with humorous footnotes and insightful commentary, painting a rich picture of France’s influence on global culture, politics, and gastronomy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNorwich wrote this book to address the significant gaps in the average English-speaking person's knowledge of French history. While many may have heard of Napoleon or Marie Antoinette, fewer know the stories of heroes and villains that have shaped France across centuries. His final book serves as an engaging attempt to fill these gaps, offering readers a comprehensive introduction to French history, delivered with elegance and a delightful lightness of touch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrance\u003c\/em\u003e is packed with heroes and villains, adventures and battles, romance and revolution. It’s not just a history book; it's an odyssey through the trials and triumphs that have forged the spirit and identity of one of the world's most influential nations. From the storming of the Bastille to the grandeur of Versailles, from the strife of the World Wars to the colourful streets of modern Paris, this book brings the past to life with remarkable clarity and passion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Julius Norwich's final masterpiece is more than just a recounting of historical events; it's a celebration of the French spirit. Full of memorable stories and racy anecdotes, \u003cem\u003eFrance\u003c\/em\u003e makes for a compelling read, sure to inspire anyone interested in the adventurous history of the country that has inspired the world to live, dress, eat, and love better. For history enthusiasts and Francophiles alike, this book is a testament to Norwich's enduring legacy as a historian and storyteller.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45711924822252,"sku":"9781473663848","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781473663848.jpg?v=1725979275"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-venice-by-john-julius-norwich-9780241953044","title":"A History of Venice","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRenowned historian John Julius Norwich's classic history of Venice - with a fresh new cover look.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIntricate, captivating, beautiful, romantic, unique, unforgettable . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA History of Venice\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of this most remarkable of cities from its founding in the fifth century, through its unrivalled status for over a thousand years as one of the world's busiest and most powerful city states, until its fall at the hands of Napoleon in 1797. Rich in fascinating historical detail, populated by extraordinary characters and packed with a wealth of incident and intrigue, this is a brilliant testament to a great city - and a great and gripping read.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House Distribution","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46337741422828,"sku":"9780241953044","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3243983482274.jpg?v=1743717236"},{"product_id":"shakespeares-kings-by-john-julius-norwich-9780571340255","title":"Shakespeare's Kings","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a sparkling, fast-paced narrative, \u003cem\u003eShakespeare's Kings\u003c\/em\u003e chronicles the turbulent events that inspired Shakespeare's history plays, from Edward III to Richard III.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a time of uncertainty and incessant warfare—when the crown was constantly contested, alliances were made and broken, and the people rose up in revolt—this was the raw material that inspired Shakespeare's dramas. But what really happened between 1337 and 1485? Where did history stop and drama begin?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Julius Norwich establishes just how real Shakespeare's characters and events are and what liberties he took with the facts to entertain his audience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShakespeare's Kings\u003c\/em\u003e is an illuminating companion to history and to the richness of Shakespeare's imagination, with a body of work which still shapes our view of the past today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46551704404204,"sku":"9780571340255","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11078663482391.jpg?v=1750007807"},{"product_id":"cities-that-shaped-the-ancient-world-by-john-julius-norwich-9780500293409","title":"Cities that Shaped the Ancient World","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJohn Julius Norwich presents a sweeping tour of forty great cities that shaped the ancient world and its civilisations\u003c\/em\u003e — and which in turn have shaped our own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe cities of the ancient world built the foundations for modern urban life, their innovations in architecture and politics essential to cities as we know them today. But what was it like to live in Babylon, Carthage or Teotihuacan?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the first cities in Mesopotamia to the spectacular urban monuments of the Maya in Central America, the cities explored here represent almost three millennia of human history. Not only do they illustrate the highest achievement of the cultures that built them, but they also help us understand the rise and fall of these ancient peoples.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEminent historians and archaeologists with first-hand knowledge of each site give voices to these silent ruins, bringing them to life as the teeming, state-of-the-art metropolises they once were.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832672014572,"sku":"9780500293409","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2754953482366.jpg?v=1758398386"},{"product_id":"sicily-by-john-julius-norwich-9781848548978","title":"Sicily","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSicily is the key to everything\u003c\/em\u003e - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe author of the classic book on Venice turns his sights to Sicily in this beautiful book full of maps and colour photographs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI discovered Sicily almost by mistake . . . We drove as far as Naples, then put the car on the night ferry to Palermo. There was a degree of excitement in the early hours when we passed Stromboli, emitting a rich glow every half-minute or so like an ogre puffing on an immense cigar; and a few hours later, in the early morning sunshine, we sailed into the \u003ci\u003eConca d'Oro,\u003c\/i\u003e the Golden Shell, in which the city lies. Apart from the beauty of the setting, I remember being instantly struck by a change in atmosphere. The Strait of Messina is only a couple of miles across and the island is politically part of Italy; yet somehow one feels that one has entered a different world . . . This book is, among other things, an attempt to analyse why this should be.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe stepping stone between Europe and Africa, the gateway between the East and the West, at once a stronghold, clearing-house and observation post, Sicily has been invaded and fought over by Phoenicians and Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Germans, Spaniards and the French for thousands of years. It has belonged to them all - and yet has properly been part of none.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Julius Norwich was inspired to become a writer by his first visit in 1961 and this book is the result of a fascination that has lasted over half a century. In tracing its dark story, he attempts to explain the enigma that lies at the heart of the Mediterranean's largest island.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis vivid short history covers everything from erupting volcanoes to the assassination of Byzantine emperors, from Nelson's affair with Emma Hamilton to Garibaldi and the rise of the Mafia. Taking in the key buildings and towns, and packed with fascinating stories and unforgettable characters, \u003cem\u003eSicily\u003c\/em\u003e is the book he was born to write.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833473290476,"sku":"9781848548978","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/4131443482846.jpg?v=1758461854"},{"product_id":"four-princes-by-john-julius-norwich-9781473632981","title":"Four Princes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e'Never before had the world seen four such giants co-existing. Sometimes friends, more often enemies, always rivals, these four men together held Europe in the hollow of their hands.'\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFour Princes\u003c\/i\u003e explores the lives of four great princes—Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and Suleiman the Magnificent—who were born within a single decade. Each looms large in his country's history, and author John Julius Norwich broadens the scope to show how, against the rich background of the Renaissance and the turmoil of the Reformation, their wary obsession with one another laid the foundations for modern Europe. Individually, each man could hardly have been more different—from the scandals of Henry's six wives to Charles's monasticism—but together, they dominated the world stage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the Field of the Cloth of Gold, a pageant of jousting, feasting, and general carousing so lavish that it nearly bankrupted both France and England, to Suleiman's celebratory pyramid of 2,000 human heads (including those of seven Hungarian bishops) after the battle of Mohacs; from Anne Boleyn's six-fingered hand (a potential sign of witchcraft) that had the pious nervously crossing themselves to the real story of the Maltese falcon, \u003ci\u003eFour Princes\u003c\/i\u003e is history at its vivid, entertaining best.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a cast list that extends from Leonardo da Vinci to Barbarossa, and from Joanna the Mad to \u003ci\u003ele roi grand-nez\u003c\/i\u003e, John Julius Norwich offers the perfect guide to the most colourful century the world has ever known and brings the past to unforgettable life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46843700445420,"sku":"9781473632981","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18467333482712.jpg?v=1758808030"},{"product_id":"the-kingdom-in-the-sun-1130-1194-by-john-julius-norwich-9780571340231","title":"The Kingdom in the Sun, 1130-1194","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen on Christmas Day, 1130, Roger de Hauteville was crowned first King of Sicily, the island entered a golden age. Norman and Italian, Greek and Arab, Lombard, Englishman and Jew all contributed to a culture that was fantastically cosmopolitan; and to an atmosphere of racial and religious toleration unparalleled in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut sixty-four years later, to the day, when the bastard King Tancred was defeated, the sun set on the Sicilian Kingdom. In this second volume of John Julius Norwich's scintillating history of the Normans in Sicily, Norwich describes the 'happiest and most glorious chapter of the island's history.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46850315682028,"sku":"9780571340231","price":36.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11078423482391.jpg?v=1759081011"},{"product_id":"the-normans-in-the-south-1016-1130-by-john-julius-norwich-9780571340248","title":"The Normans in the South, 1016-1130","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChronicling the 'other Norman invasion', \u003cem\u003eThe Normans in the South\u003c\/em\u003e is the epic story of the House of Hauteville, and in particular Robert Guiscard, perhaps the most extraordinary European adventurer between the times of Caesar and Napoleon. In one year, 1084, he had both the Eastern and Western Emperors retreating before him and one of the most formidable of medieval Popes in his power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis brother, Roger, helped him to conquer Sicily from the Saracens, and his nephew Roger II went on to create the cosmopolitan kingdom whose remaining monuments still dazzle us today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Normans in the South\u003c\/em\u003e is the first of two volumes that recount an extraordinary chapter in Italian history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46850342715628,"sku":"9780571340248","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11078593482391.jpg?v=1759083312"},{"product_id":"the-ultimate-christmas-cracker-by-john-julius-norwich-9781529324938","title":"The Ultimate Christmas Cracker","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1969, John Julius Norwich, the legendary popular historian, gathered together the favourite things he'd come across in the last 365 days into one short charming pamphlet. Initially just a treat for his friends, it rapidly turned into a huge word-of-mouth success. Soon, the arrival of John Julius Norwich's latest \u003cem\u003eChristmas Cracker\u003c\/em\u003e became as essential a part of the English Christmas experience as holly and mistletoe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNorwich had a brilliant eye for a story and telling detail, and his Crackers are full of jokes, warmth, and wit. Here in one bumper book is his final and 50th \u003cem\u003eChristmas Cracker\u003c\/em\u003e, alongside all the very best bits as picked out by his daughter Artemis Cooper. This is the perfect Christmas gift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47461666095340,"sku":"9781529324938","price":49.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529324938-the-ultimate-christmas-cracker.jpg?v=1774974490"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/john-julius-norwich.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}