In the follow-up to Defender of Rome, Valerius Verrens is sent on a mission by the deranged Nero against a man he greatly admires Emperor Nero's grip on power is weakening. In every shadow he sees an enemy, and like a cornered animal, he lashes out at every perceived threat. His paranoia settles on the figure of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Rome's greatest general who leads the imperial legions in the East. Is Corbulo preparing to march against Rome and take the purple? Gaius Valerius Verrens, Hero of Rome, is ordered to Antioch with the power of life and death over Corbulo, a soldier he worships. There he finds that word of his mission has preceded him, and every man's hand is turned against him. But Corbulo's eyes are not on Rome, but on a new threat to the Empire's border. The Parthian King of Kings, Vologases, is marching to war, and if not stopped he might overwhelm the entire Roman east. Valerius marches at Corbulo's side. Outnumbered they make a stand in the barren wastes beyond the Tigris to meet Vologases in an epic contest of military might and ingenuity that will decide the fate of the Empire. And while he fights for the Empire, and for his own survival on the battlefield, Valerius must decide whether to complete his mission, or risk incurring his Emperor's dangerous wrath.

Roman commander leads his troops against the horde of the of the Druid warrior queen Boudicca to their last stand.

Bestselling author Douglas Jackson expertly brings the Roman Empire to life in this brutal and bloody historical adventure. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden. Readers are loving Gaius Valerius Verrens! "Breakneck action, vivid characters, a fresh, believable perspective, and a fabulous plot with a stunning, unexpected end. Don't want to read it yet? Are you barking mad?" - 5 STARS "A page turner that makes you want more" - 5 STARS "I couldn't put the book down" - 5 STARS "A cracking read" - 5 STARS "Hugely enjoyable" - 5 STARS ****************************************************************** AMIDST THE CHAOS AND CARNAGE OF CIVIL WAR, WHERE DO A HERO'S LOYALTIES LIE? AD 68: The Emperor Nero's erratic and bloody reign is in its death throes when Gaius Valerius Verrens is dispatched to Rome on a mission that will bring it to a close. With Nero dead, the city and the Empire hold their breath, pray for peace and await the arrival of his successor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania. But they pray in vain. Galba promises stability and prosperity, but his rule begins with a massacre and ends only months later in chaos and carnage. And so starts the Year of the Four Emperors: a time of civil war which will tear Rome apart and test Valerius's skills and loyalties to their very limit. Fortunate to survive Galba's fall, Valerius is sent on a mission by Rome's new Emperor, Otho, to persuade his old friend Vitellius to halt his armies, stop them marching in the north and therefore prevent inevitable confrontation and disruption. In an epic adventure that will take him the length and breadth of a divided land, the one-armed Roman fights to stay alive and stave off a bloodbath as he is stalked by the most implacable enemy he has ever faced. Gaius Valerius Verrens's adventures continue in Enemy of Rome.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE KANSAS CITY STAR From Anthony Everitt, the bestselling author of acclaimed biographies of Cicero, Augustus, and Hadrian, comes a riveting, magisterial account of Rome and its remarkable ascent from an obscure agrarian backwater to the greatest empire the world has ever known. Emerging as a market town from a cluster of hill villages in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., Rome grew to become the ancient world’s preeminent power. Everitt fashions the story of Rome’s rise to glory into an erudite page-turner filled with lasting lessons for our time. He chronicles the clash between patricians and plebeians that defined the politics of the Republic. He shows how Rome’s shrewd strategy of offering citizenship to her defeated subjects was instrumental in expanding the reach of her burgeoning empire. And he outlines the corrosion of constitutional norms that accompanied Rome’s imperial expansion, as old habits of political compromise gave way, leading to violence and civil war. In the end, unimaginable wealth and power corrupted the traditional virtues of the Republic, and Rome was left triumphant everywhere except within its own borders. Everitt paints indelible portraits of the great Romans—and non-Romans—who left their mark on the world out of which the mighty empire grew: Cincinnatus, Rome’s George Washington, the very model of the patrician warrior/aristocrat; the brilliant general Scipio Africanus, who turned back a challenge from the Carthaginian legend Hannibal; and Alexander the Great, the invincible Macedonian conqueror who became a role model for generations of would-be Roman rulers. Here also are the intellectual and philosophical leaders whose observations on the art of government and “the good life” have inspired every Western power from antiquity to the present: Cato the Elder, the famously incorruptible statesman who spoke out against the decadence of his times, and Cicero, the consummate orator whose championing of republican institutions put him on a collision course with Julius Caesar and whose writings on justice and liberty continue to inform our political discourse today. Rome’s decline and fall have long fascinated historians, but the story of how the empire was won is every bit as compelling. With The Rise of Rome, one of our most revered chroniclers of the ancient world tells that tale in a way that will galvanize, inform, and enlighten modern readers. Praise for The Rise of Rome “Fascinating history and a great read.”—Chicago Sun-Times “An engrossing history of a relentlessly pugnacious city’s 500-year rise to empire.”—Kirkus Reviews “Rome’s history abounds with remarkable figures. . . . Everitt writes for the informed and the uninformed general reader alike, in a brisk, conversational style, with a modern attitude of skepticism and realism.”—The Dallas Morning News “[A] lively and readable account . . . Roman history has an uncanny ability to resonate with contemporary events.”—Maclean’s “Elegant, swift and faultless as an introduction to his subject.”—The Spectator “[An] engaging work that will captivate and inform from beginning to end.”—Booklist

Gaius Valerius Verrens returns to Rome from the successful campaign against Boudicca in Britain. Now hailed a Hero of Rome, Valerius is not the man he once was. And neither is Rome the same city as the one he left.

From the best-selling coauthor of The Disaster Artist and “one of America's best and most interesting writers" (Stephen King), a new collection of stories that range from laugh-out-loud funny to disturbingly dark—unflinching portraits of women and men struggling to bridge the gap between art and life A young and ingratiating assistant to a movie star makes a blunder that puts his boss and a major studio at grave risk. A long-married couple hires an escort for a threesome in order to rejuvenate their relationship. An assistant at a prestigious literary journal reconnects with a middle school frenemy and finds that his carefully constructed world of refinement cannot protect him from his past. A Bush administration lawyer wakes up on an abandoned airplane, trapped in a nightmare of his own making. In these and other stories, Tom Bissell vividly renders the complex worlds of characters on the brink of artistic and personal crises—writers, video-game developers, actors, and other creative types who see things slightly differently from the rest of us. With its surreal, poignant, and sometimes squirm-inducing stories, Creative Types is a brilliant new offering from one the most versatile and talented writers working in America today.

Brings to life one of the most critical moments in American history through the eyes of one of its most misunderestimated presidents--Andrew Johnson. Until now, books on Johnson have focussed exclusively on the impeachment trial (these books sold well during Clinton's impeachment proceedings). By contrast, award-winning journalist and novelist Howard Means focuses upon the first 45 days of Johnson's presidency, beginning with the assassination of Lincoln on April 14 and ending at the close of May 1865, when Johnson declared his terms of peace and set the nation on a course that still reverberates in our own time. Means' book shows how the nation's future hung in the balance when a Southerner (a slave-holder at the start of the Civil War) and a Democrat was being called upon to replace the most famous Republican president in history. At a time that required the most delicate of political touches, Johnson had shown that he was perhaps the most obstinate man in America. He had been drunk at his own inauguration as vice-president only a month before. Not only did Mary Todd Lincoln detest him, she also thought he had been among the plotters that murdered her husband. How would Johnson lead the nation? Would he be a reconciler like Lincoln? Or would he, as the Radicals and much of the nation expected, side with them? (The Avenger takes his place comes from a poem by Herman Melville that appeared shortly after Lincoln's death.) For forty-five days the nation--including a deeply anxious South--waited. That crucial month and a half is the focus of this book.