Hannibal Barca was an extraordinary military leader and political reformer in the ancient world. His Carthaginian army's march with elephants over the Alps to attack rival Rome in 218 BCE is one of the most daring exploits in world history. Hannibal sacrificed his life to leadership and war, and became such a force in the world's imagination that centuries after his death, Roman mothers would scare their children by threatening, 'Hannibal is at the gates'. His sacrifice of self to a larger cause is still an inspiration today, and his battle plans are studied by modern students of conflict and...

For more than 2,000 years, plays, poetry, movies, and television have portrayed Cleopatra as an ambitious woman who used her beauty to seduce powerful men like Julius Caesar and Mark Antony in a ruthless attempt to increase her own power and wealth. But is this the real Cleopatra or one invented by male historians anxious to discredit an intelligent, competent woman who was the last great pharaoh of Egypt? In "Cleopatra", the true story reveals her to be a woman who used her great intelligence, imagination, personality, and indomitable drive in a tragic attempt to restore Egypt to the...

In the year 486 BCE, upon the death of his father, Darius I, Xerxes I became king of the Persian Empire. His kingdom, extending from present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east to Egypt and Libya in the west, was the largest empire of the classical age. However, all was not well within the Persian Empire, with the provinces of Egypt and Babylon in a state of rebellion and the tiny city-states of Greece refusing Xerxes' rule. Set nearly 2,500 years ago, this story of the Greco-Persian Wars pits the mighty Persian Army, one of the largest the world had ever seen, in a war of conquest...

In ancient history, Darius I stands alone as an administrator with unparalleled insight into the workings of an empire. Under his leadership, the Persian Empire grew to be the largest and most powerful diplomatic and economic force in the world. After he cleverly seized the throne and quelled a series of revolts, Darius undertook a radical reorganization of the different peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau, instituting the practices of religious tolerance, widespread economic reform, and a fair system of law that would later be adopted by the generations that followed him in the Near...

According to the "Hebrew Bible", David rose from humble beginnings as a sheepherder in the hills of Bethlehem to become the ruler of the ancient kingdom of Israel and the founder of an empire that included not only the modern state of Israel, but parts of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan as well. Courageous and conniving, pious and vengeful, warrior, poet, fugitive, and king, David is not only one of the most complex and fascinating figures in Hebrew scripture but also one of the ancient world's best-known leaders. "King David" uses the ample writings by and about the revered king of Israel to...

At the age of 28, Ehud Olmert became the youngest member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset. Slowly, he climbed the Israeli political ladder, adjusting his views and positions as the times and public opinion changed, until he achieved the ultimate prize - prime minister of Israel. But less than four months after achieving his life's dream, Olmert, the aspiring peacemaker, found himself leading Israel in a war against Lebanon. When hostilities ended without a victory by Israel, Olmert's popularity plummeted, and he found himself fighting for his political life. In this new biography, read how...

In thinking about ancient Egypt, certain images come to mind - the pyramids, the Sphinx, the vast Sahara Desert, the mighty Nile River, and the image of the lovely Queen Nefertiti. Officially called the Great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, she was related to King Tutenkhamen and may have even wielded great power, sharing the throne with her husband for a time. She was known for her great beauty, evidenced by a painted bust discovered in the early part of the 20th century. But much of Nefertiti's life remains shrouded in mystery. Ongoing archeological research may one day reveal answers...

The Queen of Sheba is celebrated by at least three of the world's great religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As Queen Makeda, she is revered as the founding mother of the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia. The story of her journey over thousands of miles of desert to ask 'hard questions' of King Solomon of Jerusalem has inspired books, poems, operas, art, and even a circus act. She was called a wise woman, a demon, and a seductress. She was accepted without question as a real person for thousands of years, yet by the end of the 19th century, the lack of scientific proof of her existence...

Almost 4,000 years ago, a young king named Hammurabi inherited the small and unimportant city of Babylon in the region of Mesopotamia, now in present-day Iraq. Over his lifetime, Hammurabi expanded Babylon in size and in importance, making the city the most important in the region by the time of his death. It would remain so for more than 1,000 years. Though Hammurabi was a politician, a diplomat, and a warrior, he is remembered mostly for his code of law, the tall monument of stone inscribed with hundreds of legal rulings that influenced the future laws of the region and then of the Western...

Ramses II, pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, left an indelible mark on ancient Egypt. Often known as Ramses the Great, his reign was a golden age when political and cultural life thrived. He created spectacular monuments, including the magnificent Abu Simbel temples, the royal city of Piramses, and his mortuary temple Ramesseum. As a military leader, he expanded the Egyptian sovereignty from Nubia in the south to Syria in the west. Brilliant and ambitious, he forged with the Hittite Empire the first-ever peace treaty.