Showing results by author "Jack Ludlow" in All Categories

Six brothers, trained since birth to become great warriors, prepare to experience their first taste of battle…The Norman/French border, 1033. The sons of Tancred de Hauteville are following in their father’s footsteps. As knights, they have but one true purpose: to fight. But denied service with their Duke, they are forced to take employment as mercenaries: their unequalled battle skills are for hire to the highest bidder.

In 20 years the de Hauteville brothers have gone from penniless obscurity to become the most potent warrior family in Christendom. Now, at the head of the tribe stands Robert, who has only one aim: to expand his power by military conquest. Roger, the youngest of the brothers, is a giant in build and a great fighter. In company - and sometimes in conflict - with Robert, he will seek to raise the family to the pinnacle of influence.

Fifth century of the Byzantium Empire. Flavius Belisaurius is son of the governor of Dorostorum City, and his father has two goals: to keep out the barbarians and to expose the deep roots of secular and ecclesiastical corruption. Seeking to prevent a raid, the Governor enlists the help of the powerful magnate, Senuthius Vicinus. Vicinus's corruption is widespread but his support is crucial to win the battle.

The Byzantine Empire rules in Southern Italy, but the indigenous populations are restless. The Lombards are no exception to this. One of their number, Arduin of Fassano, is appointed by a young Byzantine general to hold the key to Apulia. He is unaware that Arduin intends to join his Lombard brethren and rise up in revolt, hiring to aid him the Norman mercenaries of Campania.

The Hundred Years’ War is over and newly-knighted Sir John Hawkwood is headed for France to make his fortune as a freebooter. Violence and extortion are rife, and the freebooters will stop at nothing to capture the Papal City of Avignon. This is only the beginning. Italy beckons, and with it, yet more battles against rival mercenaries, powerful cities and the Papal State.

1096. The Pope has called for a crusade to free Jerusalem, and half the warriors of Europe have responded. Among them is the Norman, Count Bohemund, one-time enemy of Byzantium. In company with his warrior nephew, Tancred of Lecce, Bohemund must once more cross the Adriatic to the lands of the Byzantine Empire. His first task, pushing back the infidel Turks, calls for an uneasy alliance with old enemy Emperor Alexius. But can the Crusaders trust the wily Emperor?

Two boys appeal to the famed Roman oracle for a glimpse into their future, and the Sybil draws an omen of death. As they flee from the cave in fear, Aulus and Lucius make an oath of loyalty until death - one that will be tested in the years to come. Thirty years on and Aulus, now Rome's most successful general, faces his toughest battle. Barbarian rebels have captured his wife and are demanding the withdrawal of Roman legions from their land. It is unthinkable for Aulus to agree, and he fears she must be forfeit for Rome.

Justinian, the Byzantine emperor, is desperate to revive the empire's glory. Among his actions to this effect is the dispatch of his brave general, Belisaurius, to fight the Persians in the East. But Justinian fights paranoia and grows concerned that Belisaurius will become a threat to his power and person.

Who can Flavius Belisarius call an enemy? The Goths he must fight to take Italy back for the Byzantium. Or is it the intrigues of the Empress Theodora, who fears his ambitions. There is his own wife, betraying him in more than one way and Justinian, the unreliable emperor he helped to the throne. Sixth-century Byzantium, a hotbed of intrigue; Italy and Persia where he must combat some of his fellow generals.

Rome has lost its greatest warrior; Aulus Cornelius is dead. Although he is hailed as a hero, the betrayal by cowardly governor Flaminus is not forgotten. Aulus' death has left his sons with grave responsibilities. While Titus swears vengeance against Flaminus, and to become as great a general as his father, Quintus chooses to pursue politics - under the guidance of Lucius Falerius, now the most powerful senator in Rome. Despite his fortune, Lucius is haunted by the prophecy that binds his fate to Aulus'. As he trains his son, Marcellus, he manipulates the Cornelius family to his own ends.

Thanks to the stratagems of Bohemund de Hauteville, leader of the Apulian Normans, the Crusade has taken the city of Antioch, and just in time. Once the besiegers, Bohemund and his men are about to become the besieged - a huge Turkish-led army, commanded by the fearsome General Kerbogha, is fast approaching. Provisions are desperately needed, but the surrounding countryside is near barren and the storerooms of Antioch much depleted. The Crusaders will not hold out for long without falling prey to starvation.

11th century Italy. The domination of the Normans is causing trouble. At their head is the feared Robert de Hauteville, the 'Guiscard', who has colonised much of Italy and commands the triple Dukedom of the extended Norman family. But Robert has made many enemies, including the ever-powerful papacy in Rome. The newly elected Pope Gregory exercises his vendetta against the Normans by encouraging them to sail to Byzantium and fight the Turks. But first he must deal with the Guiscard.

1938: As Hitler sets his sights on the Sudetenland, not everyone in Britain is willing to appease him. Convinced that the fürher’s land hunger is insatiable, the head of the SIS recruits Cal Jardine to help him prove that Czechoslovakia is threatened with invasion. Before heading undercover to Prague, however, Jardine must first extricate himself from France, where his attempts to smuggle guns to Spain have been held up by a group of fanatical fascists. Finally arriving in Czechoslovakia, working undercover for the SIS proves no less dangerous.

Lucius Falerius is dead, and Rome in its entirety mourns the passing of its most powerful senator. It falls to his son Marcellus to carry out his father's legacy and restore the rights promised to the defeated Sicilian slaves, yet there are those who will not see the honour of Rome compromised and the slaves assuaged. On the Roman border provinces there is trouble, and the legions move north to neutralise the threat posed by the Celts.

1935: Cal Jardine is a soldier of fortune. Forced to leave Hamburg, he is recruited by a secretive British committee to smuggle guns to Abyssinia. But first Jardine must procure the weapons from Romania. Taken to the Horn of Africa, the arms are then transported over a harsh landscape into the hands of the Ethiopian Army.

When a favour to a friend leaves Cal Jardine caught up in the Spanish Civil War, he finds that he must take a bunch of athletes and turn them into fighters. He meets the revolutionary, Juan Laporta, and if they do not make a perfect combination as fighters they form an effective one, both in Barcelona and then as they advance into the interior. But trouble is brewing in the person of communist diehard Manfred Drecker which threatens the fight and Cal himself.

Italia meridionale, undicesimo secolo. Il potere esercitato sulla Puglia da parte dell’impero bizantino sta iniziando a scricchiolare. Rivolte e tumulti imperversano lungo la costa adriatica. Il longobardo Arduino, un mercenario al servizio del generale Michele Doceano, decide di sequestrare la fortezza di Melfi. L'unico modo per fronteggiare l'esercito nemico è però quello di ottenere l'aiuto di Guglielmo D'Altavilla e dei suoi sei fratelli.

La cerimonia funebre del longobardo Guaimaro, che un tempo era stato un potente duca di Salerno, sta per essere celebrata in sordina. La campana rintocca, il vescovo è pronto per avviare la liturgia, finché una parola interrompe la solenne sacralità del momento: "Normanni". Si apre così il primo romanzo della serie che vede come protagonisti i sei fratelli Altavilla, nobili di origine normanna che contribuirono a cambiare per sempre il destino dell'Europa.

Vi befinder os i år 1033 ved den normanniske/franske grænse. Tancred de Hautevilles seks sønner er siden fødslen blevet oplært til at være krigere og følge i deres fars fodspor. Da de bliver nægtet at tjene deres hertug, drager de to ældste sønner, Wilhelm og Drogo, sydpå for at prøve lykken som lejesoldater i det italienske magtopgør mellem Byzantium, Salerno, Capua og Den Katolske Kirke med paven i spidsen.

It’s the perfect Special Forces snatch, kidnapping the Vice President of the USA and killing three of his Close Protection Team? For Brit Jamie Strachan, ex-SAS soldier and long-time friend of Vice-President, Phil Beekman, it looks too perfect. The Veep is ex-Delta Force so he knows how to survive. With the help of feisty New Yorker, Clare Holman, Jamie Strachan is able to access the investigation trying to find him. He is soon mystified and damned curious... Beekman is vying for the Presidential Nomination; he needs to be at the convention.