This abundantly illustrated book examines the figure of Balthazar, one of the biblical magi, and explains how and why he came to be depicted as a Black African king. According to the Gospel of Matthew, magi from the East, following a star, traveled t...

From the soaring castles of Sleeping Beauty to the bloody battles of "Game of Thrones", from Middle-earth in "The Lord of the Rings" to mythical beasts in "Dungeons & Dragons" and from Medieval Times to the Renaissance Faire to Disneyland, the Middle...

Illuminated manuscripts and illustrated or decorated books – like today's museums – preserve a rich array of information about how premodern peoples conceived of and perceived the world, its many cultures and everyone's place in it. Often a Eurocentr...

Distant blue hills, soaring trees, vast cloudless skies-the majesty of nature has always had the power to lift the human spirit. For some it evokes a sense of timelessness and wonder. For others it reinforces religious convictions. And for many peopl...