Ancient Historical Fiction

376 AD: The Eastern Roman Empire is alone against the tide of barbarians swelling on her borders. Emperor Valens juggles the paltry border defenses to stave off invasion from the Goths north of the Danube. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, a pact between faith and politics spawns a lethal plot that will bring the dark and massive hordes from the east crashing down on these struggling borders. The fates conspire to see Numerius Vitellius Pavo thrust into the limitanei, the border legions, just before they are sent to recapture the long-lost eastern Kingdom of Bosporus.

On his deathbed, the 400-year-old emperor of Atlantis has reason to worry. Signar, the savage ruler of a powerful outlying state, is scheming to seize control of the empire, and not even its advanced technology can save it. Signar will halt his invasion if he can take the emperor’s daughter, the beautiful Empress Salustra, as his bride. Such a marriage contradicts the deepest feelings of Salustra’s heart, the secret wisdom of her lineage, and her sacred trust as Atlantis’s queen. But the emperor has a plan: Salustra will seduce Signar and then sentence him to death.

The Aventine is full of fracturing families. Wives plot to leave their husbands, husbands plot to spend more time with their mistresses. Masters must endure slaves taking obscene liberties, while aggressive slaves are learning to ape dangerous masters. But no one wants to hire an investigator during the holiday. Albia is lumped with her own domestic stress: overexcited children and bilious guests, too many practical jokes and her magistrate husband Tiberius preoccupied with local strife.

It's time to travel to a prehistoric paradise in this four book box set! This may be a little far-fetched, but darling, you deserve something extraordinary!

Au cœur d'une Afrique ancestrale, le vieux Tsongor, roi de Massaba, souverain d'un empire immense, s'apprête à marier sa fille. Mais au jour des fiançailles, un deuxième prétendant surgit. La guerre éclate : c'est Troie assiégée, c'est Thèbes livrée à la haine. Le roi s'éteint mais ne peut reposer en paix dans sa cité dévastée. À son plus jeune fils, Souba, échoit la mission de parcourir le continent pour y construire sept tombeaux à l'image de ce que fût le vénéré - et aussi le haïssable - roi Tsongor.

Veteran cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor sets out with his regiment to make what may be his final tour of the forts along Hadrian's Wall. Through a combination of military prowess, brutality and bribery, Marcus has spent 20 years keeping the savage Picts at bay. Feared by his enemies and hated by his superiors, his strength of will is the only thing that has held the disgruntled, poorly paid garrisons of the Wall in place as the failing Roman Empire's grip on Britannia weakened.

Tamworth, Mercia AD 825. The once-mighty kingdom of Mercia is in perilous danger. Their king, Beornwulf, lies dead, and years of bitter in-fighting between the nobles and cross-border wars have left Mercia exposed to her enemies. King Ecgberht of Wessex senses now is the time for his warriors to strike and exact his long-awaited bloody revenge on Mercia. King Wiglaf has claimed his right to rule Mercia, but can he unite a disparate kingdom against the might of Wessex who are braying for blood and land?

Vendredi 13 novembre 2015. L'air est encore doux pour un soir d'hiver. Tandis que les Bleus électrisent le Stade de France, aux terrasses des brasseries parisiennes on trinque aux retrouvailles et aux rencontres heureuses. Une ceinture d'explosifs autour de la taille, Khalil attend de passer à l'acte. Il fait partie du commando qui s'apprête à ensanglanter la capitale. Qui est Khalil ? Comment en est-il arrivé là ? Yasmina Khadra nous livre une approche inédite du terrorisme, d'un réalisme et d'une justesse époustouflants.

AD 69. The year of the four emperors. Three emperors have ruled in Rome this year and a fourth, Vespasian, has been named in the East. As the legions march toward civil war, Sebastos Pantera, the spy whose name means leopard, returns to Rome intent on bribery, blackmail and persuasion: whatever it takes to bring the commanders and their men to Vespasian's side. But in Rome, as he uses every skill he has ever learned of subterfuge, codes and camouflage, it becomes clear that one of those closest to him is a traitor who will let Rome fall to destroy him.

An epic re-creation of the exhilarating and mysterious time when the Sun King ruled Egypt, Ramses, the Son of Light, has become the rage in France. With over two million copies sold, it is the greatest publishing phenomenon to hit the shelves there in 20 years. Rameses is only 14 when his father, the Pharaoh Seti, begins testing his true mettle. Being the younger of two sons, the proud Ramses has a problem with being relegated to second place.

Athelstan is the king of the English, uniting the petty kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, the Danish-held Five Boroughs and York following the sudden death of his father, King Edward. His vision is to unite the realms of the Scots and the Welsh in a peace accord that will protect their borders from the marauding threat of the Norse Vikings. Whilst seemingly craving peace and demanding loyalty with an imperium over every kingdom, Athelstan could dream of a much bigger prize.

In words that might have been ripped from today's combat dispatches, Steven Pressfield, the best-selling novelist of ancient warfare, returns with a riveting historical novel that re-creates Alexander the Great's invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 B.C., a campaign that eerily foreshadows the tactics, terrors, and frustrations of contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War - the battle to destroy Rome from within - is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet - one sure to bring the empire to its knees. Worse, the Praetors believe Nic holds the key to finding this amulet, and they will stop at nothing to steal it, even if that means harming the people Nic holds most dear.

Rome, 56 BC. The great general Pompey has conquered the East; Julius Caesar is defeating the Gauls; only Egypt, with its strategic granaries and vast treasuries of gold, still eludes the grasp of Rome. The city itself is becoming ever more corrupt, as the last generation of the Roman Republic indulges in political backstabbing, endless lawsuits, scandalous love affairs, and the occasional murder.

Lost between the timeless lines of Homer’s epic, the women of Troy finally stand to be counted. Their story is one you’ve never encountered, and it will change the fate of Troy forever.

Endlich komplett! Harris' Bestseller-Reihe um den klugen Politiker und brillanten Redner Cicero. Cicero, größter Redner seiner Zeit, weilt mit seinem Sekretär Tiro im Exil. Da er seinen politischen Feind Caesar zu unterstützen verspricht, kann er nach Rom zurückkehren, wo er sich wieder zu öffentlichem Ansehen emporkämpft. Genial und fehlbar, angsterfüllt und doch unbändig mutig - der mit sich ringende Mensch hinter dem Politiker Cicero macht die Geschichte so unwiderstehlich.

In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying, and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers. But these sister's lives—and the lives of their people—are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. They are forced to adopt Confucian teachings, secure marriages, and pay ever‑increasing taxes.

Iceland, AD 935. Einar Unnsson is destined to be great. When he fights, a frenzy comes upon him. It makes him lethal in battle – so lethal he just defeated the man his own father sent to kill him. Now, with Einar exiled from his kingdom, his father turns his vengeance on Einar's mother – his escaped former bedslave. Yet Einar is in no position to protect her. He's made an enemy of the powerful King Eirik and must fight for his own life before he can save her. Einar depends on the Wolf Coats, a band of fearsome, bloodthirsty warriors, but they're convinced the fates have cursed them.

Victory is in sight for Kivilaz and his Batavi army. The Roman army clings desperately to its remaining fortresses along the Rhine, its legions riven by dissent and mutiny, and once-loyal allies of Rome are beginning to imagine the unimaginable: freedom from the rulers who have dominated them since the time of Caesar. The four centurions - two Batavi and two Roman, men who were once comrades in arms - must find their destiny in a maze of loyalties and threats, as the blood tide of war ebbs and flows across Germania and Gaul.

150 AD. Alaric, once lord of the Ravensworn is no longer feared nor revered. It has been six long years since his great defeat. He now lives life in the shadows. All hopes of glory and eternal rest in the Heroes Hall are gone. Alaric is alone. An outlaw to his land. When a band of horsemen appear on the horizon, eager to recruit the man they still believe to be a lord of war. And so Alaric is pulled back to a life he thought had forsaken him. For in the far north of Germania lies a tribe in desperate need of aid.