Mike Duncan

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA #1 ABA INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE BESTSELLERFrom the bestselling author of The Storm Before the Storm and host of the Revolutions podcast comes the "immensely compelling" (The New York Times) story of the Marquis de Lafayettes lifelong quest to defend the principles of liberty and equality. Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette. Over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist, and abolitionist. As a teenager, Lafayette ran away from France to join the American Revolution. Returning home a national hero, he helped launch the French Revolution, eventually spending five years locked in dungeon prisons. After his release, Lafayette sparred with Napoleon, joined an underground conspiracy to overthrow King Louis XVIII, and became an international symbol of liberty. Finally, as a revered elder statesman, he was instrumental in the overthrow of the Bourbon Dynasty in the Revolution of 1830. From enthusiastic youth to world-weary old age, from the pinnacle of glory to the depths of despair, Lafayette never stopped fighting for the rights of all mankind. His remarkable life is the story of where we come from, and an inspiration to defend the ideals he held dear.

From the creator of the award-winning podcast series The History of Rome and Revolutions comes the "remarkably engaging" (Washington Post) history of the bloody battles, political machinations, and human drama that set the stage for the fall of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. Beginning as a small city-state in central Italy, Rome gradually expanded into a wider world filled with petty tyrants, barbarian chieftains, and despotic kings. Through the centuries, Romes model of cooperative and participatory government remained remarkably durable and unmatched in the history of the ancient world. In 146 BC, Rome finally emerged as the strongest power in the Mediterranean. But the very success of the Republic proved to be its undoing. The republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome now ruled: rising economic inequality disrupted traditional ways of life, endemic social and ethnic prejudice led to clashes over citizenship and voting rights, and rampant corruption and ruthless ambition sparked violent political clashes that cracked the once indestructible foundations of the Republic. Chronicling the years 146-78 BC, The Storm Before the Storm dives headlong into the first generation to face this treacherous new political environment. Abandoning the ancient principles of their forbearers, men like Marius, Sulla, and the Gracchi brothers set dangerous new precedents that would start the Republic on the road to destruction and provide a stark warning about what can happen to a civilization that has lost its way.

Una narrativa histórica brillante, que se lee casi como un thriller político moderno.Poder, mecenazgo, propaganda y política. Estos son temas cotidianos de nuestra sociedad, que inundan las redes sociales y las secciones de noticias. Sin embargo, por mucho que pensemos que nuestra politica es a menudo indecorosa e impulsada por la codicia y la corrupcion, seguimos siendo ingenuos amateurs en comparacion con nuestros antepasados romanos.Mike Duncan, creador de uno de los podcasts de la historia de Roma mas descargados en internet, ha escrito un libro oportuno sobre las ultimas decadas de la Republica romana, que describe con acierto la confusion politica, social y economica que finalmente condujo al surgimiento de la dictadura del imperio. Con un estilo muy legible, adecuado para todo tipo de lectores, presenta una vision fascinante de los problemas a los que se enfrentaba Roma al convertirse en el poder hegemonico del mundo mediterraneo.En el camino hacia la tormenta se unieron la desigualdad economica, la polarizacion politica, la corrupcion y la ambicion despiadada, ecos que le sonaran siniestramente familiares al lector de hoy, testigo de la fragilidad de las instituciones republicanas contemporaneas.