The fourth in the bestselling Alfred series from number one historical novelist, Bernard Cornwell. It is 885. England is at peace; the Danes rule the north and King Alfred holds the south. But trouble stirs when a band of Vikings invade London. Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Alfred's greatest warrior, must lead his men to attack the Viking raiders in the south. But his allegiance to the King will be tested in perhaps the most threatening way yet. View More...
Italy, 11th Century. The Byzantine Empire rules much of Europe and in the Italian states it does so through force and bribery but the indigenous populations are restless. Arduin of Fassano, with the Lombard and Norman men he commands are mercenaries for the young and enterprising Byzantine general, Michael Doukeianos. However, Arduin feels the time may have come to rejoin his Lombard brethren and rise up in revolt against their Eastern rulers. A crucial city in this revolt is the fortress of Melfi. General Doukeianos appoints Arduin to protect it, unaware of his imminent betrayal. To guard ... View More...
1326. In an England riven with conflict, knight and peasant alike find their lives turned upside down by the warring factions of Edward II, with his hated favourite, Hugh le Despenser, and Edward's estranged queen Isabella and her lover, Sir Roger Mortimer. Yet even in such times the brutal slaughter of an entire family, right down to a babe in arms, still has the power to shock. Three further murders follow, and bailiff Simon Puttock is drawn into a web of intrigue, vengeance, power and greed as Roger Mortimer charges him to investigate the killings. Michael Jecks brilliantly evokes the turmo... View More...
Vespasian is serving as a military officer on the outskirts of the Roman Empire, suppressing local troubles and defending the Roman way. But political events in Rome - Tiberius' increasingly insane debauchery, the escalating grain crisis -draw him back to the city.When Caligula becomes Emperor, Vespasian believes that things will improve. Instead, he watches his leader deteriorate from Rome's shining star to a blood-crazed, profligate madman. Lavish building projects, endless games, public displays of his incestuous relationship with his sister, Drusilla, and a terrified senate are as nothing ... View More...
Britannia, 45 AD: Vespasian's brother, Sabinus, is captured by druids. The druids want to offer a potent sacrifice to their gods - not just one Roman Legate, but two. They know that Vespasian will come after his brother and they plan to sacrifice the siblings on Midsummer's Day. But to whom will they be making this sacrifice? What were the gods of this land before the Celts came? Only the druids still hold the secret and it is one of pure malevolence.Vespasian must strive to save his brother whilst completing the conquest of the south-west of the haunted isle, before he is drawn inexorably bac... View More...
A hero forged in battle. A legend born. Thracia, AD30: Even after four years military service at the edge of the Roman world, Vespasian can't escape the tumultuous politics of an Empire on the brink of disintegration. His patrons in Rome have charged him with the clandestine extraction of an old enemy from a fortress on the banks of the Danube before it falls to the Roman legion besieging it. Vespasian's mission is the key move in a deadly struggle for the right to rule the Roman Empire. The man he has been ordered to seize could be the witness that will destroy Sejanus, commander of the Praet... View More...
Rome, AD41. Caligula has been assassinated and the Praetorian Guard have proclaimed Claudius Emperor - but his position is precarious. His three freedmen, Narcissus, Pallas and Callistus, must find a way to manufacture a quick victory for Claudius - but how? Pallas has the answer: retrieve the Eagle of the Seventeenth, lost in Germania nearly 40 years before.Who but Vespasian could lead a dangerous mission into the gloomy forests of Germania? Accompanied by a small band of cavalry, Vespasian and his brother try to pick up the trail of the Eagle. But they are tailed by hunters who kill off men ... View More...
Rome, AD 51: Vespasian brings Rome's greatest enemy before the Emperor. After eight years of resistance, the British warrior Caratacus has been caught. But even Vespasian's victory cannot remove the newly-made consul from Roman politics: Agrippina, Emperor Claudius's wife, pardons Caratacus.Claudius is a drunken fool and Narcissus and Pallas, his freedmen, are battling for control of his throne. Separately, they decide to send Vespasian East to Armenia to defend Rome's interests. But there is more at stake than protecting a client kingdom. Rumours abound that Agrippina is involved in a plot to... View More...
One Man: Born in rural obscurity. One Destiny: To become one of Rome's greatest Emperors. 26 AD: Sixteen-year-old Vespasian leaves his family farm for Rome, his sights set on finding a patron and following his brother into the army. But he discovers a city in turmoil and an Empire on the brink. The aging emperor Tiberius is in seclusion on Capri, leaving Rome in the iron grip of Sejanus, commander of the Praetorian Guard. Sejanus is ruler of the Empire in all but name, but many fear that isn't enough for him. Sejanus' spies are everywhere - careless words at a dinner party can be as dangerous ... View More...
Stricken with grief after the death of Queen Lostris, Taita becomes a hermit, studies the occult and transforms himself into a warlock. He discovers there has been a divine purpose in his suffering when he is called upon to save the dynasty of Queen Lostris from the evil that looms over Egypt. View More...