In September 1857, a member of a religious sect killed himself on hearing the news that the object of his devout observance, Nikal Seyn, had died. Nikal Seyn was, in fact, John Nicholson, the leader of the British assault that recovered Delhi at the turning-point of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. What was it about Nicholson that prompted such devotion, not just from his religious followers, but from the general public? And why is he no longer considered a hero? The man called 'The Lion of the Punjab' by his contemporaries and compared to General Wolfe of Quebec, and even to Napoleon, has in recent times been dubbed 'an imperial psychopath' and 'a homosexual bully'. Yet his was a remarkable tale of a life of adventure lived on the very edge of the British Empire; of a man who was as courageous as he was ruthless, as loyal to his friends as he was merciless to those who crossed him. But it is also the story of how modern attitudes to race and Empire have changed in the years since he died. Previously unpublished material, including the diaries of contemporaries and personal letters, helps build a new perspective on Nicholson's personality. The book considers his sexuality and ambivalent attitude towards religion. It traces his murderous thoughts towards the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, John Lawrence, and reveals that, remarkably, the Nikal Seyni cult continued into the 21st century. This is the first book-length biography of Nicholson for over 70 years. A new account of the Irish soldier who became an Indian God, an examination of the cult of a dark hero, is long overdue.

Child prodigy and brilliant MIT mathematician, Norbert Wiener founded the revolutionary science of cybernetics and ignited the information-age explosion of computers, automation, and global telecommunications. His best-selling book, Cybernetics, catapulted him into the public spotlight, as did his chilling visions of the future and his ardent social activism.Based on a wealth of primary sources and exclusive access to Wiener's closest family members, friends, and colleagues, Dark Hero of the Information Age reveals this eccentric genius as an extraordinarily complex figure. No one interested in the intersection of technology and culture will want to miss this epic story of one of the twentieth century's most brilliant and colorful figures.

Ruins on Stone Hill What do you get when you mix a novice wizard, a reckless warrior, a sharp-tongued thief, & a saintly cleric? Swords, sorcery, & sarcasm. Glolindir thought he knew all about magic until he came face to face with his very first monster. He only survived thanks to his new friends: a gallant warrior as talented as he is reckless, a mysterious halfling whose knives are nearly as sharp as his tongue, and a saintly gnome whose very touch can heal. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of their troubles. Strange things have been happening around the little town of Ravenford. Before they know it, they are up to their necks in monsters and worse. From eerie ruins to underground caves to a ghostly forest devoid of life, they encounter the forces of darkness. Can they overcome their faults and work together to save the town, or will they die trying? Serpent Cult An army of darkness. A group of young heroes. A town hanging in the balance. "You'll be sorry... they'll enthrall... you all..." Voltark's shade had threatened. The mage had been part of a cult that practices the darkest of arts. For reasons shrouded in mystery, the group has set its sights on the little town of Ravenford. With new threats cropping up in and around the town, Glolindir and friends are faced with an impossible task: protect Ravenford from an army of monsters, assassins, and black magic. From the depths of the sea to the spires of Ravenford keep, the young heroes follow a twisted trail of intrigue and death. Surrounded on all sides and vastly outnumbered, do they even stand a chance against such overwhelming odds? Dark Monolith A cult of black mages and demons. The secret to the Thrall Masters’ terrifying power. A desperate race to find it before they do. “They’ll be able to make… golems that haven’t been seen… since the Thrall Masters walked the earth…” Tevlar’s corpse had warned. A hundred and fifty years have passed since the Thrall Masters nearly destroyed the land of Thac. Now the secret to their terrifying power has been found and the Serpent Cult is after it. To stop them, Glolindir and friends must seek out an ancient monolith hidden somewhere in the depths of the mysterious Darkwoods. Yet first they must deal with accusations of treason. They have been branded traitors and must prove themselves in trial by combat or be banished forever. From the tournament fields of Ravenford Keep to the depths of the Darkwoods, the young heroes face deadly traps, fierce monsters, and cunning demons. Can they reach the Dark Monolith before the cult? And if so, what terrifying magical force awaits them there? Enter a world of magic and adventure in this fun tale of heroes in the making. Perfect for fans of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons.

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE, THE IRISH TIMES AND THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT A provocative history of men who were worshipped as gods that illuminates the connection between power and religion and the role of divinity in a secular age Ever since 1492, when Christopher Columbus made landfall in the New World and was hailed as a heavenly being, the accidental god has haunted the modern age. From Haile Selassie, acclaimed as the Living God in Jamaica, to Britain’s Prince Philip, who became the unlikely center of a new religion on a South Pacific island, men made divine—always men—have appeared on every continent. And because these deifications always emerge at moments of turbulence—civil wars, imperial conquest, revolutions—they have much to teach us. In a revelatory history spanning five centuries, a cast of surprising deities helps to shed light on the thorny questions of how our modern concept of “religion” was invented; why religion and politics are perpetually entangled in our supposedly secular age; and how the power to call someone divine has been used and abused by both oppressors and the oppressed. From nationalist uprisings in India to Nigerien spirit possession cults, Anna Della Subin explores how deification has been a means of defiance for colonized peoples. Conversely, we see how Columbus, Cortés, and other white explorers amplified stories of their godhood to justify their dominion over native peoples, setting into motion the currents of racism and exclusion that have plagued the New World ever since they touched its shores. At once deeply learned and delightfully antic, Accidental Gods offers an unusual keyhole through which to observe the creation of our modern world. It is that rare thing: a lyrical, entertaining work of ideas, one that marks the debut of a remarkable literary career.

A forensic look into the Sepoy rebellion at Meerut in 1857 and the three-month siege and capture of Delhi which followed.

Heart Like a Fakir is a history of the final forty years of British East India Company rule in India as witnessed by General Sir James Abbott (1807–1896), the man for whom the Pakistani town of Abbottabad is named. Based on extensive research into primary source documents, the book uses the life of General Sir James Abbott as a narrative thread to explore the troubled period between William Dalrymple’s White Moghuls and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. General Sir James Abbott was one of the most remarkable characters in British colonial history, becoming Great Britain’s first guerilla leader, the first Briton to reach the fabled Central Asian city of Khiva, and a British Deputy Commissioner who became the King of Hazara. He may have also been the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King and the character of Mr. Kurtz in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. This book chronicles the remarkable collapse of the social contract between Britons and the peoples of India in the first half of the nineteenth century, taking a fresh look at British perceptions of race, gender, and the nature of social and sexual relationships between them, leading up to the Great Rebellion of 1857— the cataclysm that ended British East India Company rule.

The revised third edition of the 'Oxford Classical Dictionary' is the ultimate reference on the classical world containing over 6,200 entries. The 2003 revision includes minor corrections and updates and all Latin and Greek words in the text are now translated into English.