"It has taken almost five years for the United States of Europe to stabilize its position in 17th-century Europe. Now it turns its attention to the New World, where the English have ceded their colonial claims to France. There are vast lands and rich resources across the Atlantic for any nations powerful enough to rule and control them--and equal incentive for other nations to block their path. The time-displaced Americans know about the future path that led to their own United States in North America, in the other universe they came from. But do they want to repeat that history as it was? Yes, they had democracy--but they are helping to create that in Europe. And they have learned the bitter prices paid for chattel slavery and the near-extermination of the native populations. Knowledge is power. Perhaps a new course can be taken. Accordingly, an expedition is sent to the New World to see just what might be happening there and what might be done. They are armed with their technology, among which are a radio and an airship. More importantly, they are armed with the knowledge of future history and their determination not to repeat the errors of their past. What could possibly go wrong?"--

"The newly formed United States of Europe, created by an alliance between the time-displaced Americans from the town of Grantville and the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, decides to send an embassy to the Chinese empire. One of the main purposes of the embassy is to establish trade in order to gain access to critical resources. The mission is a gamble--some might say, a long shot. The Ming dynasty is on the verge of collapse and China's rulers are suspicious of foreigners. The mission experiences one setback after another, but presses on. And they gain an important ally along the way: Zheng Zhilong, a former pirate now an admiral for the Ming navy and the head of an extremely wealthy Fujian province trading family. He knows through his Jesuit missionary connections that according to Grantville's history books, the Ming dynasty is in danger, from famines, bandit armies and barbarian invaders. And he is determined that, one way or another, he and his family will survive and even prosper. The embassy is joined as well by a young scholar, who helps them make inroads into China's complex and often dangerous society. Can the up-timers and their friends persuade the imperial dynasty and its mandarins to establish trade and diplomatic relations with the USE? They have one great asset: their knowledge may be the key to saving China from decades of mass suffering and civil war."--

"Time waits for no one, but for the residents of 17th century Europe the future comes calling-ahead of time! Due to a temporal disturbance known as the Ring of Fire, the 20th century town of Grantville, West Virginia finds itself transported through time and space to Central Europe in the year 1632. The turmoil resulting from the event has massive repercussions for the up-time citizens of Grantville, the down-time citizens of Europe-and the world at large. Massive political and social upheavals take place. But change happens on a smaller, human scale, too. In The Flight of the Nightingale, down-timer Francesca Caccini is inspired by the arrival of Grantville to seek a different destiny from what would have been her lot otherwise. And in Bach to the Future, Johann and his brothers commit themselves to preserve, protect, and promote their family's heritage from the future. Two short novels, set in Eric Flint's bestselling Ring of Fire series, that shine a light on the overlooked corners of the Ring of Fire universe, where small actions can have life-altering consequences"--

"Big Chief Elizabeth is the story of the extraordinary attempts by English adventurers to claim, divide, and colonize what would be the biggest jewel in Queen Elizabeth's crown: North America. From Richard Hore's 1636 journey to the ill-fated Sir Humfrey Gilbert's attempt, to Sir Walter Ralegh's extravant expeditions to Roanoke Island and Jamestown, which led to the first permanent English settlements in America, Milton tells a tale of startling greed, ruthless ambition, terrible hardship, and horrific wars between settlers and indigenous peoples." "For almost twenty years the fate of Ralegh's colonists was to remain a mystery. When a new wave of settlers sailed to America to found Jamestown, their efforts to locate the lost colony were frustrated by the mighty chieftain Powhatan - father of Pocahontas - who vowed to drive the English out of America, though Pocahontas herself made valiant attempts to thwart the massacre of settlers. While Ralegh's "savage" March had played a pivotal role in establishing the first English settlement in America, he had also unwittingly contributed to one of the earliest chapters in the decimation of the Native American population."--BOOK JACKET.

This work provides a comprehensive study of New England families and their English origins. The Second Series features articles on 750 to 1,000 immigrants (some of them covered by two or more articles), while a sizable number of other articles treat either clusters of nearly related immigrants or all settlers with a given surname. Most notable perhaps are the articles covering over 50 of the 125 New England immigrants for whom royal descent is now generally accepted.