Prince Yeonsan-gun turns into a tyrant out of grief for his mother's death. He orders beheadings of all the officials who displease him or who advised the previous king to depose the queen. He becomes crueler by the day. But in 10th year of his reign, he is kicked out of the throne and dies a tragic death.
Set against the backdrop of an imperial victory in the civil war leading up to the Meiji Restoration, Fallen Blossoms tells the story of the sorrows of women in a geisha house in Kyoto by recounting the relationships of its inhabitants.
Ancient Korea, 17th century. The powerful Khan of the Jurchen tribe of Manchuria, who fights the Ming dinasty to gain China, becomes the first ruler of the Qing dinasty and demands from King In-jo of Joseon to bow before him; but he refuses, being loyal to the Mings.
Journeys through some of the most significant events in America's rise to power, reliving the improbabilities that demonstrate what the Founders always believed: that events unfolded according to a master plan.
Queen Yun reigned with King Sunjong since she was just 13 years old. She hid the royal seals needed to complete an agreement between Korea and Japan which would lead to Korea's annexation.
Irena Sendler is a Catholic social worker who has sympathized with the Jews since her childhood, when her physician father died of typhus contracted while treating poor Jewish patients.
Thomas Crimmins is a new warder, or guard, in an Irish prison. He is young, naive, and idealistic, determined to serve his country by his part in meting out justice to criminals.
Jean Wells believes she kills a man during a hit-and-run one evening. A man named Joe appears and, in exchange for keeping silent about the murder, blackmails Wells.