Late summer AD44 and the battle-weary Roman legions are in their second year of campaigning against the British tribes. Veteran officer Macro and recently appointed centurion Cato face another challenge in their battle for control of the British Isles. This is the fifth in this engrossing series of blood, guts, treachery and grit. They do stand on their own but it is so much more fun if you follow through the characters as they build. Under the Eagle is the first.

Comparison: Manda Scott’s Boudica, Steven Pressfield, Conn Iggulden.
Similar this month: Bernard Cornwell, James Barrington.

Synopsis

It is late summer AD44 and the battle-weary Roman legions are in their second year of campaigning against the British tribes. The troops’ commander, General Plautius, is under considerable pressure from the emperor to crush the natives once and for all. Centurions Macro and Cato are with the crack Second Legion under the precarious leadership of Centurion Maximus and it’s their task to hold a ford across the river Tamesis when the natives are forced into a trap. But Maximus’s nerve breaks at the critical point, allowing the enemy leader, Caratacus, and his men to escape. Outraged by this failure, General Plautius orders the decimation of the unit. Their choice: die, or escape to become a fugitive pursued by soldiers of their own ruthless army. Hiding from their former comrades, as well as the Britons, Cato’s small band of fugitives have only one chance to redeem themselves before they are hunted down like animals...

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About the Author

Simon Scarrow teaches at a leading Sixth Form College. He has in the past run a Roman History programme taking parties of students to a number of ruins and museums across Britain. Having enjoyed the novels of Forester, Cornwell and O'Brian, and fired by the knowledge gleaned from his exploration of Roman sites, he decided to write what he wanted to read - a military page-turner set during the Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation