"In this fascinating work of popular history, the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings and The Royal Art of Poison uncovers the bedroom secrets of American presidents and explores the surprising ways voters have reacted to their leaders’ sex scandals.
While Americans have a reputation for being strait-laced, many of the nation’s leaders have been anything but puritanical. Alexander Hamilton had a steamy affair with a blackmailing prostitute. John F. Kennedy swam nude with female staff in the White House swimming pool. Is it possible the qualities needed to run for president—narcissism, a thirst for power, a desire for importance—go hand in hand with a tendency to sexual misdoing?
In this entertaining and eye-opening book, Eleanor Herman revisits some of the sex scandals that have rocked the nation's capital and shocked the public, while asking the provocative questions: does rampant adultery show a lack of character or the stamina needed to run the country? Or perhaps both? While Americans have judged their leaders' affairs harshly compared to other nations, did they mostly just hate being lied to? And do they now clearly care more about issues other than a politician’s sex life?
What is sex like with the most powerful man in the world? Is it better than with your average Joe? And when America finally elects a female president, will she, too, have sexual escapades in the Oval Office?"
"The story of poison is the story of power....
For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. Servants licked the royal family’s spoons, tried on their underpants and tested their chamber pots. Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications and filthy living conditions. Women wore makeup made with lead. Physicians prescribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin cream, drinks of lead filings and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. The Royal Art of Poison is a hugely entertaining work of popular history that traces the use of poison as a political - and cosmetic - tool in the royal courts of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the Kremlin today.
'A macabre and entertaining romp...Herman writes vividly and with great humor, combining detailed research with easy narrative, making her book both enthralling and sinister.' The Washington Times"
"The epic scope of Outlander meets Game of Thrones for teens in the riveting conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman's Blood of Gods and Royals series, Dawn of Legends.
As humans and monsters clash and royal blood flows, a new age will dawn …
Prince Alexander of Macedon has battled both men and monsters, but this final war will determine his fate … and the future of all mankind. While Macedon's enemies close in from all corners of the earth, Alexander must fulfill one last prophecy that dictates only he—and he alone—can ensure humanity's survival against the age of the deadly Spirit Eaters.
As the threads of fate draw Alexander closer to his destiny, an exiled queen will meet a runaway princess, a young sorceress will set the final path of her heart in motion and generals will choose their final battles. Before the light of victory can shine, enemies must become allies, Death must be tamed and hearts must break.
Who will rise and who will die? All is revealed in the epic finale to New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman's rich and fantastical Blood of Gods and Royals series.
'Herman mixes real history with magic, mystery and intrigue, putting the “epic” in epic fantasy!'—Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of the Study series"
"Alexander the Great meets Game of Thrones for teens as the compelling fantasy series Blood of Gods and Royals continues.
As the end of an age approaches, blood soaks the earth, twisted prophecies wield immeasurable power and tyrants demand impossible sacrifices.
PRINCE ALEXANDER of Macedon's mind has been touched by an incomprehensible evil, even as his betrothed travels from afar to unite their kingdoms against a terrible darkness that threatens both realms: the Spirit Eaters.
From the distant shores of Illyria to a small deserted island, the deadly consequences of Smoke Blood magic loom and lost civilisations emerge to reveal the existence of a weapon that may do the impossible—kill the last living god. As magic rises and warriors clash, the fate of all Macedon rests in the hands of the unstable prince and those whose loyalty can no longer be trusted.
The rich and fantastical world of New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman's Blood of Gods and Royals series has never been so wickedly wonderful … or wildly dangerous.
'Herman mixes real history with magic, mystery and intrigue, putting the “epic” in epic fantasy!'—Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of the Study series"
"Alexander the Great meets Game of Thrones for teens in Book Two of the captivating fantasy series Blood of Gods and Royals.
In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust.
After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat.
Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt.
The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing.
And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor.
New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of ancient history with epic fantasy in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series."
"Weaving the fantasy appeal of Game of Thrones with the shocking details of real history, New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known, Alexander the Great, in book one of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.
Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn and, in their ashes, empires rise.
Alexander, Macedon's sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world, but finds himself drawn to a newcomer …
Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while keeping her own mission hidden: kill the queen. But she doesn't account for her first love …
Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means competing with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander's unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters."
