A Historical Novel About Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci was not only a genius as an artist, but also as a scientist and engineer. If he were alive today he would hold the status of an Einstein or Hawking. He invented various ›flying machines‹, an early robot and pumps which are still in use today. But above all he left a fascinating legacy of artwork, the most famous of which is probably his Mona Lisa and her mysterious smile. Numerous art experts, historians and authors have courted or used the mystery-cloaked work of Leonardo da Vinci in their writing. John Vermeulen's main aim – as in all his historical novels – was to discover the man behind the name. He imagined what he was like, how he dealt with his loneliness as an illegitimate child and – surrounded by female admirers – with his homosexuality, how he perceived his models, patrons and clients and what it was like during his residences at the various rulers' courts. A historical novel, which is so gripping and vivid that you feel as though you were actually there.

The young Jeroen van Aken – who, as a master, would dub himself Hieronymus Bosch – grew up in an era characterised by its fear of witches and devils and in which the fate of those suspected by the Church was to be burnt at the stake. He was connected by a profound – and, in the eyes of society, indecent – love to his older Sister Herberta, who introduced him to the subtleties and techniques of painting. Bosch befriended alchemists, philosophers and freethinkers, through whom he learned of the existence of 'Ecco Homo', the secret brotherhood of the free spirit, which would later provide the inspiration for his masterpiece, ›The Garden of Earthly Delight‹. However, the underlying ridicule of the Church and the authorities evident in his work proved to be a thorn in the side for many, and for one person in particular: the inquisitor and fanatic Jakob Sprenger, the »devil in a monk's habit«. Aleyt van der Meervenne, Bosch's cultured and powerful wife, was forced to bring all of her influence to bear to protect his life. Based on little-known facts and a wealth of supposition, John Vermeulen brings this extraordinary artist back to life. His intention is not to solve the riddles presented by the artist's oeuvre, but to let himself be guided by its influence on his imagination. The result is a compact, riveting and sensuous novel with refined dialogue and scene-changes worthy of a film – and, of course, the wonderful art descriptions that vividly recreate Bosch's work before the reader's eyes.

He is known as the ›prince of modern geography‹. His discovery of the ›Mercator projection‹ allowed the earth's spherical form to be translated on to a two-dimensional map for the first time. The maps he made changed the world and made the oceans safer to navigate. We are speaking of Gerhard Mercator (1512 - 1594), humanist, scholar and cosmographer, whose life spanned one of the most interesting centuries in history, an era of breakthrough and change, of voyages of discovery – and of the merciless Inquisition, to which Mercator himself was to fall victim. Arrested for his Lutheran beliefs, he was incarcerated for several months; he owed his eventual release to influential benefactors at the court of Charles V. He subsequently left his Dutch home of Löwen and sought refuge with his family in the liberal city of Duisburg, where he was to develop his most significant ideas. John Vermeulen demonstrates his expert ability to intertwine fact and fiction. His aim is not to write a detached biography, but to allow the reader to experience the dramatic life of a man forced to battle against intrigue and ignorance, of a husband whose energy was drained by a difficult marriage, of a father who raised six children of whom only one would survive, of a scholar who discovered his heart's true desire late in life – and was only able to enjoy the fruits of his labours at a ripe old age.