Calling on Booksellers to 'Build a Great Empire' List

Independent bookstores with Book Sense once again have the opportunity to help fashion a Book Sense History Top Ten list compiled in conjunction with The History Channel (THC).

The new list will feature titles about empires throughout history, and will be released in October, when THC launches a weekly series, "Engineering an Empire," focusing on the architectural triumphs of great civilizations.

Booksellers are encouraged to nominate titles about the building of history's great empires, either in hardcover or paperback, frontlist or backlist. Nominations may be e-mailed to [email protected], or they may be submitted via the online submissions form on ABA's trade website, BookWeb.org.

The deadline for the History List is September 8.

The extraordinary engineering feats of the Egyptian empire will be the first covered in the History Channel's series, which will be hosted by actor and art historian Peter Weller. This two-hour broadcast will use cutting-edge computer graphics and interviews with noted Egyptologists to tell the story of the construction of Egypt's monumental masterpieces -- pyramids, temples, fortresses, harbors, and canals. Twelve subsequent one-hour shows will showcase the architectural achievements of Greece, China, Russia, The Mayans, and other civilizations.

THC reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. It has earned three Peabody Awards, six News and Documentary Emmy Awards, as well as the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's "Save Our History" campaign, which is dedicated to historic preservation and history education.