Charles Dickens is with no doubts one of the most important British writers of all times. If you want to know more about Dickens, read my article : Charles Dickens, Spirit Of Christmas If I had to choose 10 of his most important works, I would choose the following: 1- David Copperfield 2- Oliver Twist 3- A Christmas Carol 4- Dombey and Son 5- The Pickwick Papers 6- Bleak House 7- Great Expectations 8- Little Dornit 9- A tale Of Two Cities 10- Hard Times Surprisingly, all these books and some more have been adapted to cinema and TV movies. Also some more that I have not named here. The following is just a show of this: A Tale of Two Cities David Copperfield Oliver Twist A Christmas Carol Great Expectations Little Dorrit Bleak House Hard Times The Pickwick Papers Dombey and Son If you want to know curiosities about Charles Dickens, I recommend this article: 15 Things You Never Knew About Dickens

Saint Nicholas was born in the IV century in a place that belongs to Turkey in our times. He was a man that provided from a rich family and became famous in those times because of his generosity with the poor. An epidemic left him without family so he became the heir of a big fortune. When he was 19, he became a priest. He invested big fortunes in making presents to poor children and orphans. Years later, Nicholas was vested bishop in Myra (Turkey). Photo By Klearchos Kapoutsis There are many stories around the generosity of Saint Nicholas. One of them is that when Christmas was near, a ruined merchant couldn't pay his daughter's dowry so she can marry. Nicholas heard this and left him a bag full of gold coins in his door. Since that moment the custom of exchanging presents in Christmas started to become more popular. Although the origin of giving presents for Christmas came from ancient Rome, when in the middle of December there were some celebrations in honor of Saturn in which the people gave presents to the children. Photo By Hammer51012 Saint Nicholas died in a date near Christmas so in some way it turned for History and forever into something like the father of Christmas, representing the values of generosity and goodness. The mortal remains of Saint Nicholas were taken to Bari (Italy), where a church with his name was built. Although Saint Nicholas was a thin man and carried the clothes of a priest, the image of Saint Nicholas (also known as Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, or "Santa") today is very different from this, and is due to the writer Clement C. Moore, who in a poem in 1823 described him as a fun, fat, short man, that carried a sleigh with 9 reindeer. Photo By MoonSoleil Years later the drawer Thomas Nast depicted a Santa Claus that was wearing red clothes with a hat, tall boots, and had a toy workshop in the North Pole. Haddon Sundblom, the Swedish drawer, in 1931, gave Santa Claus the popular appearance that has today, and was a commissioned work for Coca Cola.

In these days, Carnival is celebrated in many countries of the world, But did you know that...? The origins of Carnival go back to the times of the Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians, 5,000 years ago. The Romans celebrated Carnival in honor of Bacchus, god of wine. The most famous Carnivals in the world are those from Rio, Venetia, Canarias, New Orleans... In Carnival, happiness reigns, music and dance. The most varied people get together. This is inherited from the Romans' Carnivals, where during this holidays, the slaves mixed with their masters, and equality prevailed. The peculiarity of the Italian Carnival resides in the inclusion of their traditional characters like the Pierrot, Columbine and Harlequin. Taking advantage of these days of happiness and chaos, many countries make their most harsh critics both in politics as well as in the social with great humor sense. In their origins, the masks and makeup have the symbolism of scaring the bad spirits away from the harvest. The schools of Samba in Brazil practice all along the year to prepare the show of these days. Christianity allowed Carnivals as a celebration, and as a temporal permissiveness before the moment of meditation and prayer in Lent.

It's the 20 anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But did you know that...? It was built in just one night, in some hours between days 12th and 13th of August 1961. It was also called the Wall of Shame. It was demolished on November 10, 1989. The length of the Berlin Wall was more than 140 Kms long (87 miles). Its purpose was to divide Germany in two parts: West and East. One was the democratic Germany, and the other the communist (although called German Democratic Republic). That wall separated many family members. Many people died trying to cross that wall. They shot everyone that tried to go through that. Over 200 people died this way, and 5,000 tried to cross the wall. The wall made difficult to travel to Germany, and this was the cause of many protests. During a mass and live press conference with Gunter Schabowski (member of the German socialist party), the Italian journalist Riccardo Erman asked him when will the traveling permissions be legal between the two German countries. The politician answered "immediately", and that night people started to pull down the Wall of Shame with their hands. The Berlin Wall costed 16 million of German Marks. The pieces of the Wall of Berlin were sold as souvenirs and some Germans nowadays still have some of them in their houses. Fragments of the Berlin Wall have been auctioned sometimes.

Alice in Wonderland is top fashion due to the success of the trilogy of novels by Frank Beddor. Beddor renews the classic by Lewis Carroll and redefines the characters and the myth, mixing elements from science-fiction and magical fantasy. The Mad Hatter, The Cat, the white rabbit, and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) himself, and many more make their appearance in this trilogy with new strength in new adventures, with a more adult Alice, turned into the queen of a fantastic and also more adult Wonderland, but fascinating as well. In this new novel, "ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars", Arch tries to become the king of Wonderland, and to accomplish this he has taken away the power of imagination from Alyss and all the inhabitants of the strange universe. Because of this, Alyss will have to start a dangerous mission, protected by the head of the palace guard, Dodge Anders, to recover her powers and defeat her ArchEnemy. Beddor immerses us in a story full of dynamism that has everything: combats, love, betrayal, alliances between enemies, strange creatures, mysteries, even the apparition of the original Alice Liddell, in the Victorian London. When I read this book, I was surprised by the original atmosphere, that doesn't belong to the genre of science fiction nor to medieval fantasy, but to a genre of pure fantasy. A magic world with elements of those other universes, mixed with the Lewis Carroll's imagery. The end of the book seems the end of this trilogy, but is open enough to be continued in future stories, for the rejoice of the many fans of Alyss and Frank Beddor. You will travel through the fantastic worlds of Beddor in an spiral of events that will make your imagination fly, in a book that is written magnificently, and is easy to read at the same time. The followers of this trilogy can't miss this final episode. The new readers should get the full trilogy, that will surely enjoy. At the same time, there's a card game and an online game where you will browse through the fantastic world that Beddor describes, and you can do it in the official website: http://www.lookingglasswars.com/ In the official site there are you can also find: forums, freebies, music, artworks, and games. Enjoy it!

Her name was Elizabeth Báthory but she will always be remembered as the Blood Countess for her horrible crimes. Alongside with Vlad Tepes, she inspired Bram Stoker to write his novel Dracula. And this is because Elisabeth Báthory seems to belong to the imagination of an horror writer, but she was real, as real as her murders: 650 crimes. She was an aristocrat that belonged to one of the most important and influential families of Europe. When she was 11 years old she was given in marriage, but at 13 she had her first son, an illegitimate son that was taken out of the country as soon as he was born. So they had to marry her quickly, and they did it: when she was fifteen. Her husband was a general that was widely known for his cruelty. Sometimes he took his prisoners to their home to enjoy torturing them in company of her wife Elisabeth. She repeated the tortures with her servants. But Elisabeth spent little time with his husband because he took part in numerous battles, so she "entertained" herself having lots of lovers of both sexes, and getting deeper in the world of sorcery. When her husband died, she got even deeper in the world of black magic. Because of a fortuitous incident, Elisabeth thought that human blood had the power to rejuvenate. So she killed virgin girls to later take a bath with their blood. There were also cannibalism acts. She hid the bodies everywhere in her castle, the stench was unbearable, and her servants got rid of them in the fields. Rumors started to be spread: vampires. But soon the assassin was discovered: Elisabeth Báthory. Nor her power nor her money were able to stop her punishment. She was condemned to be shut up in a tower sealed with bricks, with just a hole to receive food and water. And she never saw the sun again.

Since the moment in which human beings made ships to move their merchandise or travel, since that moment piracy appeared. They were people that used to board other ships and steal them, and kidnap famous personalities. Much has been written about pirates, giving them even some charm that maybe was not present in reality, or who knows... What is true is that there have been great and very famous pirates, like: Policrates Policrates was a Greek pirate, one of the most famous pirates of antiquity. He lived in the Island of Samos. His wealth was so big that he ordered to build a palace, where he kept his treasures of gold and precious stones. He ordered to build 100 warships that practiced piracy boarding every ship that crossed their way. Redbeard His name was Oruç Reis, and was also called Baba Aruj. He got to be the governor of Algiers. He was a very ambitious pirate. Between his best booty there were 2 ships full of merchandise property of the Pope of Rome. This angered Catholics so much that they chased him for vengeance through land and sea. Blackbeard He started being a British soldier but he decided to devote himself to crime, becoming one of the most feared pirates. They said that his appearance was ferocious, and that he drank rum with gunpowder, and that he was able to fire up to 6 guns at the same time. He was near 2 meters tall, and he did some kind of magic trick in which he appeared with a cloud around his beard. Sir Francis Drake He was protected by Queen Elizabeth and in charge of attack the Spanish ships. He managed to destroy the plans of Felipe II to conquer England. His services were so useful that he was awarded a knighthood. Anne Borny She was a pirate woman. She left her traditional life to went on board of a ship disguised as a man. She fell in love with Calico Jack Rackham, another popular pirate with whom she did piracy during 4 years becoming famous for her cruelty and skill at arms. Captain Kidd His name was William Kidd and was a Scottish sailor. His enormous treasure was legendary and although he was a corsair for the British government, he was sentenced to death. Captain Roberts He was called Bartholomew Roberts and in the beginning he was a sailor but his ship was captured by the pirate Howell Davis, and he decided to join him turning himself into a pirate. When Davis died, he was named captain by election of the rest of the crew. In 2 years he captured 200 ships, becoming, with no doubts, one of the most successful pirates. He was very charismatic. He loved classical music, good clothes, and his gentlemanly personality was well-known. Images (in order): Ack Ook; Earcos; and Roybuloy.

A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond between Two Friends and a Lion Authors: Anthony Bourke and John Rendall. I knew of this story through YouTube. It was a story that moved me, and it was a surprise to see this book. The book is a new edition of another that appeared on 1971. Due to the big success of the YouTube video, it has been published again, and has been updated with more than 50 new photographs. The book tells the story of Christian, a lion that was sold as a pet but his owners decided that he was born to be free. So they took him to Africa. One year later, they traveled to Africa to visit their lion, and their reunion was really moving. Here you are the video: The Host: A Novel Author: Stephenie Meyer. The famous American writer Stephenie Meyer (author of Twilight Series, New Moon and Eclipse) , has written this novel: The Host. The Host has become a best seller quickly. The book is about a mix of science-fi and a love story. The extraterrestrials dominated the Earth and Wanderer invaded a human body. She begins to feel emotions, hunger, fears, love... And begins a fight between the soul of the body that she has taken and herself.

Some time ago the 200 anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth was celebrated. All of us know that he was the scientist that developed the theory of natural selection. His ideas are studied in on line schools and high schools frequently. But did you know that...? He wanted to be a doctor like his father but he had fear for blood. He was a very curious man in all the facets of his life, including gastronomy, so he joined the Club of Gastronomy of the University to taste the most weird meals including owl steak. He married with a cousin of him after making a list with the advantages and disadvantages of marrying. He was a fanatic of the game Backgammon. There are 4 mountains with his name. Watching his own little children, he wrote some journals in which he compared them with the behavior of the apes. Later, these studies were of great scientific value. Some famous quotes of Charles Darwin: "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered he value of time". "I love fool's experiments. I'm always making them". "How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children". "As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities". "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it's those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert than this or that problem will never be solved by science".

In these dates that are so close to Christmas, it's unavoidable to watch some movie or TV series based on a novel by Charles Dickens. His tenderness, his sensibility, and his analysis of the human essence make him an irresistible author. Charles Dickens was born on February 7th 1812, in a modest family with many children (he had 9 brothers), and as in many of his books, with many economical problems. His father was an alcoholic, very fond to gambling, and the quantity of debts accumulated joined with so many mouths to feed brought Charles Dickens, his mother and his brothers to suffer big economical difficulties. Since he was a very little child he had to work to help in his home, in a shoe factory. He couldn't go to school since he was nine, but his desire to better himself and his love for knowledge made him become a brilliant self-taught mind. When he was 15, he worked as a messenger for a law firm. He rose to the post if secretary of one of the lawyers of the firm, and later he became journalist of the Parliament, writing descriptions of the happenings. He signed his works with the pseudonym of "Boz". But he always wanted to write novels. He started to work as a writer publishing chapters of his novels, and the public appreciated them. He did a series of works that were illustrated by great artists like George Cruikshank, Robert Seymour, or H.K. Browne (Phiz). These works were very praised and influential in his times. Charles Dickens never forgot his modest origins. His compromised attitude was always reflected both in his works as in his social life, becoming the administrator of some charity organizations, and in his fight for civil rights, and against slavery. Another one of his social battles was to fight to reach an international agreement about intellectual property rights for authors and artists. In 1843, he published "A Christmas Carol", that quickly became a classic tale for children in these Christmas date. A classic that has reached our days. For some time, he directed a theater company, and his novels were successfully spread in England and the United States, and through the whole world. He died in 1870, leaving us literary jewels like "Oliver Twist", "David Copperfield", "A Christmas Carol", "Dombey and Son"... Charles Dickens was a writer that never forgot the hard beginnings of his life, and denounced the human miseries with the wish to show human shortcomings to his readers, and make them be better.

When Jules Verne was 11 years old he planned his first big journey. He would become a sailor. But his adventure lasted very little because his parents discovered him and took him back home. He promised not to travel anymore. He would just travel with his imagination. And with the imagination, Jules Verne make us all travel. With him, we've been around the world in 80 days, and we've make a journey to the center of the Earth, but with our imagination. Jules Gabriel Verne was born on February 8, 1828 in Nantes (France). He was the oldest of five brothers, and had always been a restless mind. Since he was a little child he collected scientific articles, and science was always of great interest for him. Following the will of his father, he studied law, but the idea of working as a writer was always on his mind, although his father ridiculed him for this, and this plunged him in a deep sadness. But he never surrendered. When Jules Verne went to Paris, it was a liberation for him. He met many intellectuals. Amongst them, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. Amazed by the scientific innovations of his times, he decided to make a project: create a new literary style that can talk about the advance of science, the projects of mankind to dominate nature and overcome the barriers of the establishment. But his father, horrified by the project of his son stopped to help him economically. So to make a living, Jules Verne wrote theater plays and sometimes operas of low quality. The demand of this kind of works was pretty high, so he had not much time for doing what he really loved. In 1856 he met whom will be his wife: Honorine de Viane Morel. He settled in Paris and worked as a financial broker. Very unsatisfied, he did his last attempt and turned a short novel that he already had written into his first big novel. "Five Weeks in a Balloon" was a big success. He was 35 years old and a contract that allowed him to live as what he always wanted: being a writer. For some time, he also was in politics. Alongside with H. G. Wells, both writers are considered as the fathers of science fiction. Albeit at last he may devote to what he always liked, the life of Jules Verne was not too easy. His son was interned in a psychiatric hospital during years. His very beloved nephew shot him in a leg, and he was lame because of this for life. Jules Verne was so devoted to writing that he even suffered from facial paralysis episodes. The health of Verne was very fragile. He was diabetic, and ended loosing his sight and hearing. On March 24, 1905, Jules Verne died in his home. There were a series of posthumous books published, that were revised by one of his sons, Michael. But Jules Verne left us a vast collection of works. Artworks of literature that were adapted to theater and cinema an countless times. Works that had an entertaining plot plus the reflection of great knowledge of science: geology, mineralogy, paleontology... Detailed descriptions of dinosaurs, ecosystems... All his works are detailed documentaries that imply an enormous investigation work. But the main thing in the works of Jules Verne is that without a doubt he was a visionary, a very advanced man for his times, that was even able of predicting inventions that years later became materialized, or even will be some day in the future. Jules Verne has made us and makes us all travel with the best of the winds: the imagination.

Howard Phillip Lovecraft (1890-1937) is one of the most important authors of the horror genre. The way he mixed terror with science fiction (extra-terrestrials, travels to other times and dimensions) turned him into one of the most influential writers of this genre, and he's one of the most read and quoted during generations. His life was always filled with misfortune. He was born on August 20th, 1890 in Providence (Rhode Island). When Lovecraft was 3 years old, his father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, was interned in a psychiatric hospital, where he was confined until he died. So Howard was educated by his mother, 2 of his aunts, and his grandfather. Lovecraft's mother put all her frustrations on his son. She was a very neurotic woman, and very possessive, that put strange ideas in her son's mind, telling that he was very ugly, that the others will hurt him, and that the best that he could do was to not get too far from her to avoid those problems. She also transmitted him racist ideas. And she turned him into a lonely, fearful, and introverted boy, and over all that, with a strong dependence from his mother. But Lovecraft was a brilliant being. When he was 2 years old, he recited poetry, and at 3 he already know how to read. At 7, he started to write his first stories. The book that impressed him most in his first years was "One Thousand And One Nights" (that was also the favorite book of Lord Byron). He read it when he was five. Under the influence of this book, during his first years he used a pseudonym "Abdul Alhazred", the same that he used years later for the character of the Necronomicon. As a curiosity, Alhazred is an anagram: "All has read". The first work of Lovecraft that has arrived till our days is "The Poem of Ulysses", that he wrote when he was seven years old. Soon, he was captivated by the fiction genre. His grandfather told him stories of Gothic horror, and Lovecraft soon felt trapped by this genre. Lovecraft was a very sickly child, so he went very little to school, always being mainly self-taught. When he was 8 years old, he mastered science, specially chemistry and astronomy. At 9, he already was a writer in an amateur magazine, and also in the astronomy magazine of Rhode Island. In his studies in Rhode Island, he wrote a monthly column of astronomy in a newspaper, and did many journalism works. In 1904 his grandfather died and the familiar economy worsened. They moved from their luxurious Victorian mansion to a much more modest new home. This depressed Lovecraft very much, specially leaving far away the old library where he passed all his childhood. He even thought in committing suicide. Four years later he suffered a nervous breakdown. His difficulties with maths prevented him from going to the University of Brown and becoming an astronomer. This, that may seem a minor problem, supposed a constant humiliation in his mind for all his life. He couldn't ever go to pick up his graduation diploma. During this phase of his life in which he was dominated by depression, he rarely went out of his house, and lived confined, more and more subdued to his mother. But there was a happening that broke this confinement. When he was reading a magazine ("Argosy"), he found a love story written by Fred Jackson, and decided to make a letter with a poem attacking Jackson. A big controversy arose between detractors and defenders of Jackson. Finally, Lovecraft ended becoming member of the "United Amateur Press Association", an association of amateur writers that published their own works. And published 13 numbers of his own amateur magazine. Lovecraft managed to become the President of the National Amateur Press Association. And with a new optimism he recovered his love for writing fiction. In 1923, he appeared in the popular magazine "Weird Tales". He contacted with many other collaborators, writers that had a constant communication by mail that left more than 80,000 letters written. One of his friends was Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan The Barbarian. His mother fell ill, and was interned in a psychiatric hospital, the same one that saw the last days of Lovecraft's father. After a operation, she died. Lovecraft was 31 years old. Lovecraft was ruined, so he started to work as a copy editor for other writers. In a journalists meeting, he met the woman that was his future wife: Sonia Greene. Sonia was a merchant that had a hat shot, and worked in the United Amateur Press Association. But her health started to be worse and lost her hats shop. Lovecraft did not find any job. She moved to Cleveland trying to improve their situation, and Lovecraft stayed in Brooklyn, and soon asked her to divorce. He returned to Providence, and wrote incessantly. From this stage, he left us works like "The Call Of Cthulhu". He also promoted the works of other writers, and was interested in Politics. One of his aunts dies and he moves to the house of his other aunt. Their economical problems continued. He fell ill of cancer and died. He was buried in the family vault of his grandfather. Lovecraft died without seeing any of his books published. His stories were scattered all over an endless list of magazines, and lived without knowing the enormous success that he had years after his own death. And without knowing that he will become one of the most influential science fiction and terror authors in History.

For many, Lord Byron is a famous poet. But besides that, George Gordon Byron was a disconcerting character: extravagant, interesting, and also a very advanced man for his times. Lord Byron was born in London, on January 22, 1788. He belonged to an important aristocratic English family. His father died when he was just 3 years old. He was a captain, and his mother was his second wife, Catherine Gordon of Gigh, a very temperamental woman. When George Gordon Byron was ten, he inherited a fortune, and also debts, from his great-uncle, in addition to the title of Baron Byron. George was born with a deformity in a foot. Many said that he'll never be able to walk. But his tenacity pushed him to fight against this problem. It was said that he learned to run before to walk. He suffered many jokes for this deformity, and also needed the special cares of his nurse: Mary Gray, with whom, very early, he was initiated into sexuality. If Lord Byron inherited something from his father, it was the taste for women, the promiscuity, and the liking for love affairs. During all his life, Lord Byron had a love/hate relationship with his mother. Catherine was devastated by the early loss of her husband, and the former infidelities of him. She called her son "the little devil", and he called his mother "the old woman" or "the widow". Although Lord Byron always said that his mother was the only person that truly understood him. For all his life, he was very fond to reading. His favorite book was "One Thousand And One Nights". His first poems were born from his first disappointments in his love life. When he was 18 years old, he published his first poems book. This first book was very criticized. The answer to this critics was a satyric work, and this was his first success. His stance at the College was full of scandal. In Cambridge, George Gordon Byron stood out as brilliant student as well as for his extravagances, his excesses, and his bisexual encounters. During this time, he also established important friendships, and very positive contacts. He also learned boxing and fencing, where he reached a high level. Without money, he returned to the house of his mother, where he spent all day and night writing. For a time, he was attracted to politics, and managed to have a seat in the House Of Lords, but he left it and went to travel. He traveled through Greece, Spain, Portugal, Malta... these travels inspired him in his works. When he was in Turkey, he tried to discover Troy. And during this time, he had many love relationships, both with men as with women. The published poems got the approval of the public. Lord Byron was a poet that offered a vision beyond the rules. He offered an exaltation of the senses and an infinite nostalgia. He married with Anna Isabella Mibarke. His marriage lasted for a year, and they had a daughter called Augusta Ada. As a curiosity, Augusta Ada is considered the first programmer of History, as she wrote the first sentences for a computer that Charles Babbage tried to build. Babbage and Ada had a great friendship. When the mother of Lord Byron died, he suffered a big depression. Death obsessed him, and searched for shelter in his half-sister Augusta Leigh. He was accused of incest for this. He abandoned England and continued traveling through Europe, leaving many love and scandal stories behind him. In his travels, Byron met great personalities of his times. An anecdote is that during a meeting with friends, they decided to write a series of terror stories. One of those friends was Mary Shelley, that wrote the popular Frankenstein. He also met Goethe, whom he defined as the first talent of his century. Some time later, politics seduced him again. In 1824, and when he was only 36 years old, Lord Byron died. It was in the fight for independence of Greece against the Turkish. Byron caught a fever and that was what put an end to his life, a life full of emotions and searches.

Francisco De Orellana was born in Trujillo (Spain) in 1511 and died in 1546. Francisco De Orellana was a cousin of Francisco Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro, both of them conquerors and adventurers. When Francisco was only seventeen, he traveled to Central America. He joined his cousin's (Francisco Pizarro) expedition as a soldier and took part in the conquer of the Inca empire. He lost an eye in battle, and before he was 30, Francisco De Orellana had been an important part in the colonization of Peru. He founded the city of Guayaquil, and became a very wealthy man. Between the advantages that Francisco De Orellana had compared to other adventurers there is his deep knowledge of the American lands, and that he knew several Amerindian languages. When the war between Francisco Pizarro and Diego De Almagro started (both of them were powerful Spanish conquerors), Orellana joined his cousin and created a small army that fought in the battle of Salinas, in which Diego De Almagro was defeated. Tired of so many adventures, he retired to Ecuador, and became the governor of Santiago De Guayaquil. For some time, he had a peaceful life, but one day he received some news: Gonzalo Pizarro was looking for men to go to the "Country of the Cinnamon", and Orellana joined the expedition. Cinnamon was a very valued spice. In that time, it had a value very similar to gold's. In addition, they were also trying to find El Dorado, a mythical place that was supposed to have big quantities of gold, and a city with streets of gold. The search for El Dorado was an obsession for many adventurers. But when Orellana was going to meet his cousin, he was already gone. But he had left him a message telling Orellana to follow him and meet on the way. So Orellana and his men crossed the Ecuadorian Andes. It was a very dangerous area, hard to go through, with hard environmental conditions. Orellana lost many men before he arrived to the camp of his cousin Gonzalo Pizarro. But far from finding forests full of trees of cinnamon, they found dangerous swamps that were impossible to inhabit. The expedition was very tired, they had very little supplies left, and many men had died. They had no strength to cross the jungle. They found a river and decided to build a ship. It was very hard as they had to cut trees, create furnaces, and the needed forges to build the vessel. As they were still many men, Gonzalo Pizarro ordered Orellana to take 60 of their men and go down the river to find supplies. As Orellana knew many native languages, he could manage to communicate with the Indians, and ask for help. But Orellana and his men didn't find any village while they were navigating by the rivers Coca and Napo. They suffered so much hunger that they even ate their own shoes. Orellana feared a mutiny, but he refused any special privileges, he suffered the same hunger as his men. They arrived to a village and the people there received them with generosity giving them food. Orellana couldn't accomplish the mission that Gonzalo Pizarro gave him, as his men didn't want to go back. They awaited Pizarro in that place. One month passed, and there were no news about Pizarro, so they went on board and went down the river. In Napo River they saw there were more turbulences as they advanced, until they reached the Amazon River. The name of Amazon was given because in their travel they found some terrible warrior women that reminded them of the legendary Amazon, so they gave the river this name. They built a new ship, called Victoria, and Orellana and his men survived to many risks before they arrived to the sea. Between the biggest menaces there were those warrior women that were very skilled with the bow and arrows. Their Queen was called Conori, and had great treasures. In the Amazon River they discovered the most exuberant vegetation that anyone could imagine. They arrived to the Caribbean Sea, to the island of Cubagua. They had not discovered El Dorado nor the Country Of Cinnamon, but they discovered the Amazon River. Orellana was accused of betrayal for abandoning Gonzalo Pizarro, but his men testified and he was found innocent. The following year, Orellana married. They ordered him a new expedition to the Amazon River. This time, the path will be the other way round, from the sea to the river. But that journey was much harder than the previous, and most of the crew died, and Orellana himself with his wife.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was born in Bloemfontein (South Africa). His parents were English. His mother decided to leave South Africa and move to England. Tolkien was 3 years old and his brother 2. They settled in Sarehole Mill, near Birminham. He won't never see his father again, because he died the year after his wife left South Africa. When Tolkien was twelve, his mother also died, and he and his brother became orphans, and went under the care of their aunt and the catholic priest Francis Xavier Morgan. Francis was of Spanish origin, and had always helped Tolkien's mother. She had converted to Catholicism. So Tolkien was educated in the Catholic faith. When Tolkien was 16 years old, he met Edith Mary Bratt. She was orphan too, and they fell in love. Father Francis didn't want that this relationship continued because he was afraid that Tolkien may not end his studies. So Tolkien awaited until he was 21 years old, and the evening of his birthday he wrote to Edith telling her about his love and that he wanted to marry with her. She answered that she was going to marry another man, but she had only accepted because she thought that Tolkien had forgot her. So they met together again, Edith converted to Catholicism, and they married in 1916. Their marriage lasted for 55 years and they had 4 children. One of his sons, Christopher, years later ordered and edited some of the works of his father. World War I started. Tolkien fell in various diseases in the war, and they sent him back home. When he was ill, he wrote some of the stories of the Silmarilion. When he was back home, in one of his walks through the country with his wife, Edith began to dance among the flowers. This inspired the story of Beren and Luthien. So Tolkien often called his wife "my Luthien". Tolkien became a teacher. He met other intellectuals in Oxford, and created the discussion group called "The Inklings", where Tolkien and his friends read their stories together, criticizing and analyzing them. During these years, he wrote "The Hobbit". C.S. Lewis (the author of The Chronicles Of Narnia) encouraged Tolkien to bring his book to an editor. "The Hobbit" was published in 1937, and was so successful that they asked him to write a sequel. So Tolkien wrote "The Lord Of The Rings". The 30 years after that, he was completely devoted to write. In the year 1945, the University of Oxford gave him the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature for his philology works (not for his novels). To talk about Tolkien is talking about one of the greatest writers of the fantasy genre. His sceneries are the result of his memories, of moments of his life. As a curiosity, one of his most charismatic characters (Gandalf), is based in a doctor that cured him from the bite of a spider when he was a little child. Tolkien was also an erudite of languages, and created his own ones. Creating sceneries, characters, and lineages that can only emerge from the mind of a genius, Tolkien became a timeless writer.

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born in 1869 in Pokrovskoye (Russia). Many kings, tsars and emperors have had the advice of a wise man, or a wizard, but it could be said that Rasputin is the last known sorcerer that a tsar had. Rasputin grew up in the beautiful fields of Siberia without any kind of studies or education, and survived stealing cattle. He had two brothers that died drowned. He named his children with the same names as his brothers. When he was eighteen, he was punished and sent to Verkhoturye Monastery. After three months in this monastery, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary, and this started his life as a mystic. Short time after this, he joined a sect called the Khlysts, that used to make many parties and orgies. Rasputin had to abandon this sect for being a conspirator. He met a holy man called Makariy, that influenced him very much. Some time after this, Rasputin married Praskovia Fyodorovna Dubrovina, and had three children with her. As he was a very promiscuous man, it is known that he had many illegitimate children. He abandoned his family for mystical reasons, and went on a pilgrimage through Greece and Jerusalem. All this time, he lived among peasants, serving them to heal their diseases and predicting their future. He increased very much his esoteric knowledge and what he knew about natural medicine. In 1903, he went back to Russia. Everybody in Saint Petersburg talked about that famous clairvoyant called Rasputin, that had magical powers. His popularity reached the ears of the Royal Family. In 1908, the wife of the Tsar Alexandra Fyodorovna called him, hoping that Rasputin could save the heir Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from hemophilia. Through hypnosis, he managed to calm the illness of the heir, and that made Rasputin appear as the savior of the Royal Family. Thus, he became a central piece of the palace. Soon, Rasputin acquired a great power and the Russian government was in his hands. Some people called him "The Mad Witch". It was also said that a big part of the women of the Russian Court had laid in his bed. It was the World War I, and Russia entered in it. Rasputin was so powerful, and the Russian people felt betrayed by the Tsars, that some movements of opposition started to generate. The Romanov dynasty began to be very unpopular, and the Romanov found Rasputin was the cause of this. Worrying about all this, they prepared the assassination of Rasputin. The prince Felix Yusupov was the leader of the plot. It was said that he was gay and felt attraction for Rasputin, but he rejected him, and he felt very offended for this. They invited Rasputin to the Palace, for healing a niece of the Tsar that was ill. One of the weaknesses of Rasputin was eating, and they put cyanide in his dinner. Rasputin suspected because nobody seemed to want to start dinning, so he said that he won't had a bite until they give him a cup of wine from Krimea and Madeira. The cyanide seemed to make no effect on him, although he gave him enough to kill 5 men. So seeing that he didn't died, Yusupov felt anxious and shot him. When he approached to see if he was dead, Raputin tried to strangle him. So Yusupov's men shot Rasputin in the back 3 times. But Rasputin was still alive, so they threw him to the river waters. The postmortem examination revealed that he drowned. When they found the corpse, they took his heart out, and cut his virile member, that nowadays is exhibited in the erotic museum of Saint Petersburg (Russia). The last predictions of Rasputin were that the end of the Romanov Family will come. It was a true prediction, as short time after his death, the Russian Revolution started, and Lenin reached the power, and put an end to the Romanov dynasty. Rasputin was a man that has a passionate life, was born without the most essential, and ended having the power of his country in his hands. Even nowadays, he is still an enigmatic figure that everybody talks about.

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro in Agust 1947. His family was rather strict y disciplined. And he was quite rebel, so they interned him up to three times in a mental institution before he was 17 for trying to "moderate" his personality. But his free spirit prevented him from following the same path that others had decided for him. He started to study law, but he abandoned in the 60s, influenced by the hippie culture. He went to travel all over the world, through America, Europe, and Africa. He was traveling for two years, and when he returned, he started to write song lyrics. He also worked as journalist, scriptwriter, theater director, executive in the music company Polygram, and directed the Express Underground newspaper. In 1974 he was sent to jail, accused of subversive activities against the Brazilian government. He got married with the painter Christina Oiticica. With her, he traveled to Holland and met a man called Jean that introduced Coelho to the RAM (Regnus Agnus Mundi) fraternity. It is a religious catholic group that has its origins in the Medieval Spain. Jean became Coelho's spiritual guide. Coelho was appointed knight of the RAM order. He wrote "The Pilgrimage", inspired in his religious experiences with the RAM, after his pilgrimage through the Road of Santiago. After this book, he wrote "The Alchemist" (1988), "Brida" (1990), "The Valkyries"... and so many books that made him be recognized universally as a well-known writer. "The Alchemist" was named book of the year by the Library Association of USA. In Paris he was given the Legion d'Honneur decoration, one of the highest of France. He serves as Special Counsellor for Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). And is also member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. In addition, he has an endless list of awards and decorations, but without a doubt, his best award are his readers and his thousands of followers all over the world. He got all this due to his unforgettable, poetic, emotional, deep and philosophic style of writing. One of the keys of the success of Paulo Coelho are his famous and full of wisdom quotes, with which Coelho makes you think about the different facets of life.

Thanks to J. K. Rowling, many children and not so children, have become interested in fantasy genre books, and with that, to reading. Many children from all over the globe translate her books from English to their own languages, because they can't wait for the translated editions. It's not easy that children, so used to this audio-visual society, have welcomed so well Rowling's books. Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July of 1965 in England. Joanne's mother was very keen on reading, and Joanne inherited that hobby. Joanne not only liked reading since she was a child, she even liked to write her own stories. The first story that Joanne wrote was when she was 6 years old. It was about a rabbit and its friends. The Rowling family moved several times. In one of them, they went to Winterbourne, where Joanne started a friendship with a neighbor called Ian Potter. She used this surname for his character Harry Potter. One of the hardest blows in Joanne's life was the death of her mother. After a long illness that lasted for 10 years, Joanne's mother died of multiple sclerosis, without knowing the success that her daughter will have. When her mother died, Joanne moved to Portugal. It was the year 1990. She had already graduated in Exeter University, and went to Portugal to work as an English language teacher. She had wrote two novels, but never thought in publishing them. During a travel by train from Manchester to London, she had the idea of Harry Potter. It took her 6 years to structure the wizard's story. And this story will go in 7 books. In Portugal she met her first husband, with whom she will have a daughter. When her daughter was born, she already had written several chapters of "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone". They divorced and Rowling moved to Scotland, to work as teacher again. "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone" was rejected by many editorials, until one of them accepted. They advised her to sign the novel with initials. She used J. for her name (Joanne), K for Kathleen (the name of her grandmother) and Rowling. A North American editor offered her the chance to publish her books in the U.S.A. He would give her some money in advance, something that was really good for Joanne, who had some economic problems. Her book received positive critics very soon. The following books of Harry Potter ensured her success. When Harry Potter reached the cinemas, it turned into an absolute success. Everybody read her books and the merchandising of the young wizard started to be sold. Joanne has become one of the most rich women in the world. She married again and had more children. A part of Joanne's earnings goes to investigation of multiple sclerosis, the illness that killed her mother. The seventh book of Harry Potter is the last of his saga. With this book, she ends an important phase of her life. Harry Potter was decisive not only for Joanne's life, but also for many of her readers, that enjoyed through the eyes of a young wizard and his friends.