The Sword and the Scimitar

From the cruelty of the slave markets of Algiers to the majesty of Topkapi, the sultan's seraglio in Istanbul, to the convent of the noble Knights of St. John in Malta, this is a novel of the timeless struggle between the religions and cultures of the east and west. Nico and Maria, Maltese brother and sister, are separated when young Nico is abducted by Moorish slavers. Taken to Algiers to be the personal slave of a wealthy merchant, he becomes a pawn in household politics and sets out to escape. Extraordinary events lead him to the court of Suleiman the magnificent, Sultan of the Ottomans. Maria, stranded in Malta with unsympathetic parents, makes her own plans to escape the island and find her brother. She joins a group of Jews - forced by their Christian rulers to renounce their faith - who continue their rituals clandestinely. French aristocrat Christien de Vries yearns to prove himself as a surgeon in the Order of St. John, to which he was pledged as an infant but joined only as a result of a life-altering oath. These unforgettable characters find themselves caught up in the sweep of history as the Ottomans confront the Knights in the historic Siege of Malta, and the fate of Europe hangs in the balance.

Literature & Fiction

David Ball

Genre Fiction

Hutchinson

From the cruelty of the slave markets of Algiers to the majesty of Topkapi, the sultan's seraglio in Istanbul, to the convent of the noble Knights of St. John in Malta, this is a novel of the timeless struggle between the religions and cultures of the east and west. Nico and Maria, Maltese brother and sister, are separated when young Nico is abducted by Moorish slavers. Taken to Algiers to be the personal slave of a wealthy merchant, he becomes a pawn in household politics and sets out to escape. Extraordinary events lead him to the court of Suleiman, the magnificent Sultan of the Ottomans. Maria, stranded in Malta with unsympathetic parents, makes her own plans to escape the island and find her brother. She joins a group of Jews - forced by their Christian rulers to renounce their faith - who continue their rituals clandestinely. French aristocrat Christien de Vries yearns to prove himself as a surgeon in the Order of St John, to which he was pledged as an infant but joined only as a result of a life-altering oath. These unforgettable characters find themselves caught up in the sweep of history as the Ottomans confront the Knights in the historic Siege of Malta, and the fate of Europe hangs in the balance.

Random House]

From the acclaimed author of Empires of Sand comes a mesmerizing new adventure that Jean Auel cites as “crowded with events that both forecast and mirror the conflicts of today.” Sweeping from the drawing rooms of Paris to the palace of Suleiman the Magnificent to the dark hold of a slave ship racing across the sea, here is a dazzling story of love and valor, innocence and identity, an epic novel of the clash of civilizations on a barren island where the future was forged. The Mediterranean, the sixteenth century: Lying squarely in the midst of the vital sea lanes between the Christian West and the Ottoman Empire in the East, and ruled by the ancient Order of the Knights of St. John, Malta will become the stage upon which the fate of the world turns. For one of its sons, the hand of violence strikes swiftly, when young Nicolo Borg is seized by Barbary slavers and launched on a remarkable journey to the court of the supreme ruler of the Muslim world. Renamed Asha, plotting his escape even as he swears allegiance to the god of his masters and is schooled in the arts of culture and war, the innocent boy will be transformed into one of the Sultan’s deadliest commanders. For Nico’s beloved sister, Maria, his loss fires her hatred for the knights who did nothing to save him and her dreams of escape from her stifling home. As the headstrong girl grows into a fierce beauty, she will capture the attention of one man in particular, Christien de Vries, a surgeon-knight torn between duty and desire, caught up in Malta’s frantic preparations against the coming Ottoman storm. Around Nico and Maria are men and women who will share their destinies: Dragut Raïs, a brilliant corsair, arch-rival of the knights…Giulio Salvago, a priest in full flight from his carnal nature…Alisa, a young beauty hidden away in a harem…Jean de La Valette, the master knight who is Malta’s only hope for survival. As the mighty Ottoman fleet bears down on the tiny island, as Nico Borg makes his way back to his homeland at the helm of a warship, Ironfire moves inexorably to a shattering climax where all will face ultimate justice in the murderous cauldron of siege warfare. Brilliantly capturing the crosscurrents of a storied age, Ironfire is historical fiction in the grand tradition, a stirring realization of a pivotal moment in time that irrevocably shaped the world we inhabit today.

Ironfire By Ball David W

United States

Random House Publishing Group

Backwards & Forwards, A Technical Manual for Reading Plays

Southern Illinois University Press

One hundred years ago, the people of Scituate proudly boasted not only of living in the coastal town but also of inhabiting the various villages––among them Greenbush, the West End, North Scituate, the Harbor, Scituate Center, Egypt, and Humarock––that comprised their community. Taming the four cliffs of Scituate, the townsfolk harnessed wind and wave to power their mills, scoured and scraped seafloor rocks to gather valuable moss, and outlasted some of the most powerful storms ever to hit the New England coast. Images of America: Scituate takes us on a tour of Dreamwold, “Copper King” Thomas W. Lawson’s beautiful country estate, and through the villages to meet the endless list of interesting people who lived there, from Henry Turner Bailey, the U.S. delegate to six International Art Congresses, to Uncle John Brown, celebrated as “the Oldest Man in Scituate.” Along the way, we patrol the beaches with the surfmen of the U.S. Life-Saving Service under the shining beacons of Scituate and Minot’s Lights coming across the wrecks of the Columbia and the Etrusco.

Scituate (MA) (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Scituate Historical Society

John J. Galluzzo

Fred Freitas

Carol Miles

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

The best-selling script analysis book for thirty-five years Considered an essential text since its publication thirty-five years ago, this guide for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather than contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts. Ball developed his method during his work as literary director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, exposition, imagery, conflict, theatricality, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play. Also included are guides for discovering what the playwright considers a play’ s most important elements, thus permitting interpretation based on the foundation of the play rather than its details. Using Shakespeare’s Hamlet as illustration, Ball assures a familiar base for clarifying script-reading techniques as well as exemplifying the kinds of misinterpretation readers can fall prey to by ignoring the craft of the playwright. Of immense utility to those who want to put plays on the stage (actors, directors, designers, production specialists) Backwards &amp; Forwards is also a fine playwriting manual because the structures it describes are the primary tools of the playwright.

Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays

Humor & Entertainment

If you want a literary classic reading with five-dollar words, stop here. If you want space age information to stimulate your thirst for knowledge, stop here. If you want a little humor, a little humility, and a little philosophy, continue to the next line. If you want to read about a wonderful author, stop here and burn the book. My writing is intended purely for entertainment and allowing you into my world as a young lad growing up in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. I enjoyed a unique culture unmatched anywhere on the planet and I am blessed to have been a part of it. Everything I write about is based on fact and experience as seen by a young boy in that place known as Almost Heaven but Not Quite.

Ground Hog Dinner

Humor & Satire

McClain Printing Company

The author of GROUND HOG DINNER has done it again by bringing new life to a collection of humorous short stories about life in his beloved Moatsville, West Virginia. He has resurrected stories that ooze from memories of long ago in writing MOATSVILLE STORIES An Appalachian Upbringing. It provides a window to the past and gives a peek of what life was like around the village of Moatsville where its sons and daughters did their part to make this a great nation. The stories are painted by words and cover an array of subjects. Anyone who grew up in the Allegheny Mountains owns a piece of their unique culture. These stories, and many others, help us to better understand our values, our beliefs, and our desires. The lives of the people have not been touched up in these stories to make them appear different than who they really were. Purity of the events and people has been maintained to show what life was like growing up in Appalachia. The stories are humorous, intriguing, informative, and true. They are about real people and real life. It was a time in history when pride, patriotism, and the moral fabric of society were held in high esteem. It was before tattoos captured beautiful bodies and drugs destroyed young lives. It was before big government owned your wallet and yuppies took control of society and wasted what had taken numerous generations to build. It was a time when life was not so complicated and most people in rural America were self-sufficient. Business was done with a handshake and your word was your bond. We are not charged with the burden of proof or challenged to pass judgment on the people in the stories. Their experience was real to them and all we have to do is enjoy our journey as we walk in their footsteps of yesterday. Each day is a short story in our travel through life and it is important to not let them be forgotten or thrown away. Most people would not be remembered if it was not for their part in a story. Greatness does not mean that one must possess huge material wealth, or hold numerous degrees, or be famous, or have super-natural powers; Greatness is what we leave in the minds of others. The men, women, children, and dogs identified in this collection of short stories left lasting impressions and therefore achieved their own greatness. The folks around Moatsville, Arden, Clemtown, Nestorville, and Tacy, West Virginia, filled the bill of being great friends, great neighbors, great characters, and ones who left wonderful memories. Their legacy is our treasure. Those who had the good fortune of being exposed to life in the Allegheny Mountains were blessed to have known real heroes.

Moatsville Stories

Biographies & Memoirs

Memoirs

David Ball on Damages: The Essential Update

Trial Guides, LLC

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Books by David Ball