Brothers in Blood, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 384

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

 

Brothers in Blood picks up the tale of our two heroes straight after the events of The Blood Crows. Marco and Cato have re-joined General Ostorious’s army and are hot on the heels of the infamous Briton leader Caratacus.  With defeat of Caratacus’s army looking imminent, Marco and Cato are sent North on a diplomatic mission to try and ensure the island’s most powerful tribe- the Brigantes, remain loyal to Rome.

If this is not dangerous enough, an old acquaintance from Rome comes to Britannia to warn the duo of an assassin sent to kill them! As a rift between the Emperor’s two most powerful advisors widens, Marco and Cato must eliminate this agent before they disrupt the fragile peace between Rome and its Briton allies.

This was another great read from Scarrow. I didn’t like it as much as The Blood Crows but the plot was extremely thrilling and as usual, Scarrow portrays the sieges and battles in the book in all their grimy and bloody details. Another solid edition to the Eagles series and I can’t wait to see where the next novel takes our two heroes!

Of course I would suggest this book to anyone who has read any of the other Eagles novels. I’d also suggest it to fans of Ben Kane, Anthony Riches, Gordon Doherty and Nick Brown.

For author’s official website click here.

The Blood Crows, Simon Scarrow

 

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 384

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato, Centurion Quertus

 

Marco and Cato are back in another epic adventure in The Blood Crows. The novel sees our heroes return to Britain after their secretive work in Rome and the Imperial Palace is completed. Both soldiers are looking forward to army life as they return to the province where they started to make a name for themselves. With their new promotions, the duo hope they can get back to some ‘proper soldiering’ and put the espionage of Roman politics behind them.

The province of Britannia hasn’t changed much since the two heroes were last there. Even though the Emperor has announced the province conquered and peaceful, both Marco and Cato know that they have some tough battles ahead of them. The Briton leader Caratacus has mustered a sizable army and has turned to guerrilla warfare in an attempt to humble the Roman war machine. The Roman army is too big and slow to catch the Briton’s hit-and-run troops which have started to use the mountains of modern day Wales as their base.

Marco and Cato’s task is to take charge of the small fort of Bruccium deep in the enemy territory. The Perfect of the fort has being killed in a suspicious way and Cato is tasked to take control of the fort and hassle the local population. However as Cato and Marco find out, not all is as it seems in Bruccium with its’ temporary leader (Centurion Quertus) ruling both his men and the local Britons with an iron fist.

The Blood Crows trailer

This is the twelfth book in the Eagles series and I’ve kind of put off reading it for a while because I thought the series was getting a little long in the tooth, especially when the duo returned to Britain. However, after reading The Blood Crows I was reminded just how great these novels are and how good the duo of Marco and Cato are.

The thing that really made this book for me was the dialogue between Marco, Cato and Centurion Quertus. Firstly I loved Quertus’s character, his ferocious nature and crazy streak reminds me of Jorg from Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns. Quertus’s challenge to Cato’s authority leads to great dialogue between the two soldier and builds so much tension in the novel, which I think hasn’t been there in other books in this series. Quertus also adds ruthlessness to Marco which we haven’t really seen before and I think these new influences on both characters makes the series a lot fresher.

Even though this is the twelfth book in the series I can honestly say it was my favourite and I’ve just downloaded Brothers in Blood and can’t wait to read it! I’d suggest this book to anyone who loves Ancient Roman fiction and of course to people who have already read any of the other Eagle novels. In addition if you’re a fan of author’s like Ben Kane, Anthony Riches, Gordon Doherty and Nick Brown you will love this series!

For author’s official website please click here.

Sword and Scimitar, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 430

Main Characters:

Thomas, Richard, Maria.

Simon Scarrow is back with his brand new novel the Sword and Scimitar! The book is based around the Ottoman/Turk invasion of Malta in 1565 and tells the tale of an English Knight called Thomas. Thomas is part of the Templar Order of St. John that has its base on Malta. However, as a young man Thomas is exiled from the order because of a love affair he has with a young noble woman who is in the Order’s protection.

 Thomas returns home to England and lives out the next twenty years of his life on his small land holding. But, one day a French Knight turns up at Thomas’s farm with a summons from the Order’s new leader, telling Thomas to return to Malta to help fight off the imminent Ottoman threat. He decides that he will return to Malta, but not to help fight the Turks, but in the vain hope that his love (Maria) will still be there. Unluckily for Thomas, the French Knight has been noticed by the authorities in London and Thomas has to travel there to explain why a Catholic, French Knight has been in correspondence with a Catholic English Knight, in what is now a Protestant Kingdom. Thomas is confronted by Robert Cecil and explains about his summons back to the Order. Cecil seizes this opportunity and sets Thomas a mission to receive an important document that was lost in Malta with the death of Henry VIII. To aid him in this mission, Cecil sends one of his best agents called Richard to act as Thomas’s squire and to look for the document. What Thomas and Richard don’t know is that their coming together is not a coincidence, but part of a thorough plan of the Queen of England’s spymaster.

When the duo reaches Malta, they soon discover that finding the document is the least of their worries. They will have to fight the hardest battle of their lives to help the small Christian garrison stem the flow of the Ottoman horde that looks to conquer the whole of Europe! Plus, enemies within the Order of St. John will make it harder for Richard to find the document and Thomas to find Maria.

This was an excellent book from Simon Scarrow and shed some light on a period of history that I was not that familiar with, but which defined the era of conflict between Christianity and Islam. The story was also interesting because it told the tale of a Catholic Knight living in Elizabethan England. It showed the dual loyalties to both the crown and the church which many Catholics had, but which over the centuries were discriminated against because they were seen (by Protestants) as been only loyal to the Pope. The story of the siege was also brilliant and extremely detailed, telling of the new war techniques, which both sides used as warfare moved away from sword, shield and bow, to gun, cannon and pike.

However, I did have one issue with this book and that was the ending; it seemed to drag! I personally think if Scarrow ended the book a hundred pages earlier then it would have been much better. I thought the last hundred pages really didn’t need to be there, it sort of reminded me of a movie when it cuts to black and you think ‘that’s the ending’ but then it goes on for another thirty minutes which doesn’t really need to be there.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book and would suggest it to any Simon Scarrow fans. I would also suggest it to fans of C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake series because they are both set in the Tudor period and both revolve around a mystery.

For author’s official website click here.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a FREE copy of this book!. To enter, just follow the instructions on this post and for more information click here.

Under The Eagle, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 434

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

As some of you may know, earlier this year I reviewed Praetorian by Simon Scarrow. As I said in my review, it was the eleventh book in Scarrow’s Eagle series. These next few reviews will be the reviews of the ten books that prelude Praetorian. I would just like to say that because I will be putting all ten up at once, each book will only have a brief overview of what happens. This is because I would like to fill you in with what happens in the series leading up to Praetorian but not bore you with ten long reviews been posted all at once. Plus I read these earlier Eagle books a few years ago so I can’t remember exactly what I thought of them at the time! So here we go. The first book in the series is Under the Eagle, I hope you enjoy it.

Set in 42 AD on the eve of the Roman invasion of Britain, Under the Eagle follows the tale of two very different legionaries. The first is Quintus Licinius Cato (Cato).  The son of a palace slave, Cato is released from his serfdom on the condition that he joins the roman army stationed in Germany. After arriving at the camp, Cato soon finds that he will have to adjust to the life of a soldier and put his cushy life from the palace behind him. Cato’s adjustment becomes worse as he is appointed the rank above his other legionaries because of his connections with the Imperial palace. Cato will have to show that he is not just a bookish boy from the Imperial palace but a leader of men, otherwise his Centurion Marco will be on his case!

Marco couldn’t be more different from Cato. After spending ten years in the army Marco is finally raised to the prestigious post of Centurion.   Life couldn’t get much better for Marco. Doing some ‘good soldiering’ in the best Legion in the Roman army, Marco is looking forward to future campaigns in Germany. That is until Marco find his new Optio (second in charge) is the new green boy from the palace, Cato. Marco and Cato’s relationship is just that of Centurion and Optio until Cato’s gifts with administration and the fact he save’s Marco’s life see them become the best of friends, as they find out where the Legion will be campaigning in the next year- Britannia.

For author’s official website click here

The Eagle's Conquest, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 432

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

The second book in the Eagle series see’s Marco and Cato arrive on the shores of Britannia at the head of the Second Legion. The pair now comes to realise the task the Legion has been set as they fight wave after wave and tribe after tribe of British warriors. The Legions must crush the hordes of the indigenous people before they can mass together and overwhelm the Roman Legions.

However the British are not the only threat to Rome. As Marco and Cato find out, a mysterious group known as the Liberators emerges and plans to overthrow the Emperor and bring Rome back to the glory it held during its Republic.  Marco and Cato have to act quickly if they want to prevent the Liberator’s plan from happening and help save their comrades in Britannia from been left to their fate…

For author’s official website please click here

When The Eagle Hunts, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 430

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

It is the winter of 44 AD and the Roman army has pushed back the indigenous tribes of the Southern Eastern coast of Britain and consolidated their gains by capturing the fort and town of Camulodunum (modern day Colchester). The leader of the Roman Legions General Plautius, feels so confident in the army’s position in Britain that he sends for his wife and children to join him at Colchester. However on their journey to join Plautius they are captured and held by the famous and terrifying Druids.

The General must save his family, it is well known all over Britain what the Druids do to their captives. But he is leading an army so he cannot go himself. To solve this problem he asks for two volunteers to locate and rescue his family. These volunteers we know very well, Marco and Cato. Will they find the General’s family in time or will they become caught as well?

For author’s official website please click here

The Eagle And The Wolves, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 430

Main Characters:

Marco Cato

After a year of occupation the relations between the Romans and the British tribes becomes tense. Even the tribes that have sworn fealty to the Romans are becoming hostile, removing their old pro-Roman rulers and replacing them with young anti-Roman ones.

Marco and Cato, now veterans in the conflict between Rome and Britain are charged with training the troops of ones of these old and peaceful tribal leaders. The rabble that turns up for training would never become Legionaries but it is the only force that will keep Rome’s ally protected from its anti-Roman subjects. Marco and Cato must craft these warriors into the well-disciplined fighting machine that is a Roman Century.

Meanwhile the Liberators and other groups are plotting against the Emperor and the armies in Britain. Marco and Cato must keep their eyes on the Emperor’s enemies to make sure that they and their comrades serving under the Eagles are not all destroyed because of the games politicians play.

For author’s official website please click here

The Eagle's Prey, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 466

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

Over a year has passed since the Roman invasion of Britain. After the first initial victories over the British tribes, the Roman Legions now become the subjects of raids and hit and run attacks. The British tactics move away from open warfare and towards a guerrilla one, where they pick at the Roman strength without engaging them in a pitched battle (that they could never win). This frustrating type of war starts to show on the Roman armies as moral becomes low and soldiers are killed daily by the British raids.

In an attempt to land a crushing and decisive blow to the British, the Legions force the enemy leader Caratacus into a pitched battle. Seeing this as an end to British resistance the soldiers and the Empire cannot wait to finally draw the invasion to a close. The Emperor needs a victory to consolidate his place as the leader of Rome and the Legionaries want to leave the wet and miserable Britain and return to their families.

However not everything goes to plan. The battle does not turn out as well as everyone expected and the fault of this embarrassment falls through every level of the Roman army until it hits the bottom and falls on Marco and Cato’s shoulders. Will this be the end of Marco and Cato as officers in the army, or will they triumph over their own personal enemies and keep their place in the Second Legion?

For author’s official website please click here

The Eagle's Prophecy, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 499

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

The sixth book in the Eagle series sees Marco and Cato in Rome awaiting a military tribunal concerning the death of an officer in the battle with Caratacus at the end of the last book. Meanwhile a dispatch carrying important Imperial scrolls across the Mediterranean is intercepted and stolen by a group a vicious pirates.  The Imperial Secretary Narcissus needs to get these scrolls back quickly and secretly, the Emperor’s enemies must not find out they have been stolen.

But who could he ask? Who would be loyal enough to retrieve the scrolls and not tell anyone about them? Narcissus decides to send Marco and Cato after the scrolls and then blackmail them with the result of their military tribunal to buy their secrecy.  At first the pair are happy to go on Narcissus’ errand, it gets them out of the cesspit that is Rome. However this changes when they find out their superior officer for finding the scrolls will be Vitellius, their arch-enemy.

We see the pair in a new surrounding as they go off in search of the pirates, looking all over the Mediterranean in their search. But will they find the pirates in time and stop them revealing the scrolls to the Emperor’s enemies?

For author’s official website please click here

The Eagle In The Sand, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 501

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

The Eastern Frontier of the Roman Empire is in trouble.  Often seen as the ‘backwater’ of the Empire, its troops are in a poor state as well as its forts and roads. Its officers are also corrupt, believing that because of their distance from Rome they are outside Roman law and are therefore outside the limits of punishment. Meanwhile unrest is happening in Judea. After the crucifixion of Jehoshua seventeen years earlier at the hands of the Romans, his followers have united under one man Bannus in an attempt to remove Rome from the region for good.

Marco and Cato, after just been proved innocent in a case concerning the death of an officer, are posted to the Eastern front in an attempt to keep their heads down (as they have enemies all over the Empire) and in an attempt to train the troops protecting the Eastern frontier. When they arrive in Judea they find the situation much worse than what they were told back in Rome. Not only are the troops poorly trained, the forts ruined, the officers corrupt and the threat of a Jewish uprising very real,  it is also very likely that one of Rome’s oldest enemies Parthia will invade the Eastern frontier.

For author’s official website please click here

Centurion, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 533

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

Centurion picks up after Eagle in the Sand and sees our two heroes posted on the Eastern frontier of the Empire. After training their troops to the standard expected in the Roman Legions. Marco and Cato must now focus their attention on the huge Parthian army massing on the borders of Palmyra. Palmyra itself is at risk of revolting and as a measure to stop this happening, Rome sends in troops to protect the royal household of Palmyra. Seeing this as an aggressive manoeuvre, the Parthians invade. Marco and Cato must fight their way through a lengthy siege and a gruesome pitched battle to push back the Parthian hordes and protect Rome’s dominance in the East.

For author’s official website please click here

The Gladiator, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 366

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

After a successful campaign in Palmyra and finally pushing back the invading Parthian armies.  Marco and Cato have finally earned the right to return to Rome and seek a more lucrative position in the Roman Army. However sailing off the coast of Southern Crete, their small transport is caught in the middle of a devastating earthquake. Limping into the harbour on the island of Crete, they find that the earthquake has destroyed whole cities and towns. In the chaos that follows, a slave uprising emerges with the gladiator and ex-pirate Ajax (from The Eagles Prophecy) surfacing as its leader. As the rebellion picks up momentum and more slaves and equipment become available, the rebels soon defeat the island’s garrison forces. It soon falls to Marco and Cato to rally the troops in the province and quash the rebels. But will they succeed or will the rebellion and Ajax be to powerful?

For author’s official website please click here

The Legion, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 366

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato, Ajax

The slave rebellion on Crete has ended but its leader Ajax has gotten away. With permission from the governor of Crete, Marco and Cato set out on their journey around the Mediterranean in search of the ex-gladiator. Their search leads them to Egypt, where they find out Ajax is not trying to raise another rebel army as they expected but is going to strike Rome in its heart. Marco and Cato must stop Ajax’s plot or the whole Roman Empire could crumble under hunger and rebellion.

For author’s official website please click here

Praetorian, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline

Pages: 350

Main Characters:

Marco, Cato

Praetorian is the eleventh book in Simon Scarrow’s epic ‘Roman’ series, or as I like to call it ‘Marco and Cato’ series. This book sees Marco and Cato back in Rome awaiting their final appointments to Prefect and Centurion after their victory over the rebel Gladiator Ajax in Egypt. However, Rome and the Emperor Claudius come under threat from a group known as the Liberators, who want to return Rome to the ways of the Republic. The Emperor’s imperial secretary Narcissus blackmails Marco and Cato into becoming his spies. As the plot to depose the Emperor comes from within the ranks of the Claudius’ own troops the Praetorian Guard. The plan to uncover the plot is simple, return to the ranks of the Praetorian Guard, seek out any conspirators within the ranks and have them and the threat removed from the Emperor, easy. But as Marco and Cato find out, there is more than one conspiracy to depose the Emperor and they must stop them soon or all of Rome could be destroyed.

This was a great novel from Scarrow and even after eleven books in the series the plots still keep me wanting to read on and on. I thought this book was a change to the other books in the series. This was more of a mystery book as Marco and Cato try and uncover who is planning to kill the Emperor. Whereas the other books I think are more your historical fiction, filled with action, battles, and romance. For me this was a nice change as it just made me want to find out who the conspirators are. As always this book is well written. It is extremely detailed, really creating a feeling of what Rome looked, felt and smelled like in Antiquity. In places it is also very funny. This is because of the relationship between Marco and Cato. Cato is the young idealistic Prefect, deeply in love with a senator’s daughter. Marco on the other hand is the older legionary veteran, who likes nothing more than ‘good soldiering’. The friendship is unusual but makes for great reading.

This was a great book. I would suggest it to anyone who has read any of the other ‘Marco and Cato’ books (but read the others first or you may not understand this one!). I would also suggest this book to anyone who has read Conn Iggulden’s Emperor Series as that series is set a few centuries before and helps give context to the situation in the Rome of Marco and Cato’s time (plus they are brilliant books).

Young Bloods, Simon Scarrow

Publisher: Headline Review

Pages: 594 (Paperback 2007)

Main Characters:

Napoleon Buona Parte, Arthur Wellesley

Young Bloods is an amazing book by Simon Scarrow. The first book of the Revolution Quartet, this book is set between the years 1769-1795 and follows the childhood and early lives of two of the best generals ever, Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington). Scarrow tells the story of the two young commanders who were both born in the same year and come from the same origins of wealthy fathers from provincial origins.

Both of Napoleon and Arthur have different paths, but have the same destiny. Napoleon is the best in his artillery class, at the Royal School in Paris but is discriminated against because of his Corsican origins. Whereas Wellesley is the third son of a powerful aristocrat and is overshadowed by his two older brothers, forcing him to try and start a career for himself in the army. Both lives look bleak for the two young officers as there is no apparent future for them, that is until the events in Paris on the 14^th July 1789.

The events of the French Revolution open new doors for the two young officers. For Napoleon it sees the removal of the aristocrats from leading roles in the French army and gives him a chance to move up in the ranks of the army. For Wellesley it gives purpose to his life. The ideas of the Revolution risk everything his family has and forces him to take an active role in the army to try and win honour and prestige.

This was a great book. I am a massive fan of Simon Scarrow, especially his Marco and Cato series. I have had this book for a long time and have for some reason avoided reading it because I was not that interested in the Napoleonic era of history. But after some study at uni, and a certain Total War game, I decided to give it a chance, and from the first page I was hooked! It is brilliant, so exciting and you really feel for the two main characters because you know how good they are, but they are ignored by their superiors because of their backgrounds.

As I said, this was brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone who has read Scarrow’s Marco and Cato series, or to anyone who is a fan of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series. A great book and I can’t wait for the next one, The Generals.

For author’s official web-site:

http://www.scarrow.co.uk/

The Generals, Simon Scarrow

 

Publishers: Headline Review

Pages: 626 (Paperback 2008)

Main Characters:

Napoleon Bonaparte, Arthur Wellesley

The Generals, is the second book of Simon Scarrow’s Revolution Quartet. Based between the years 1799 and 1804, the book follows the life of two of history’s greatest Generals, Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley (future Duke of Wellington). The novel follows the development of the two men’s early military careers. It follows Napoleon through his campaign in Italy to his glorious invasion of Egypt as he fights off foes both at home and abroad. It follows Arthur half way across the world to India where he tries to expand British rule and influence in the subcontinent. Which sees him take on his first independent military command.

This was a good read. It took a lot longer for me to read this book than it usually does but that is because I read it over Christmas and New Year so I couldn’t read it as often as I would have liked. However it was still a good read building up the story started in Scarrow’s first book Young Bloods. Like Young Bloods, the detail in this book is brilliant really creating an atmosphere when describing the battles, making you feel like you are in the middle of one, trying to dodge lead bullets and round shot! The stories of the two young commanders is also gripping making you want to read on because these events really happened.

I would suggest this book to any Simon Scarrow fan or anyone interested in the Napoleonic Period and Wars. I would also suggest it to any fans of the Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell as they are both set in the same time period.

For author’s official web-site:

http://www.scarrow.co.uk/

Fire and Sword, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline Review

Pages: 657 (Paperback 2009)

Main Characters:

Napoleon Bonaparte, Arthur Wellesley

Fire and Sword is the third book of Simon Scarrow’s ‘Revolutionary Quartet’. The novel continues the story after the previous book The Generals in 1804 and follows the political and military careers of two of the best Generals ever, Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley (future Duke of Wellington), as both the British and the French Empires finally comes to clashes in Continental Europe.

The novel follows Napoleon as he tries to tighten his grip on the Continental Powers, Russia, Austria and Prussia. After a glorious victory at Austerlitz, Napoleon subdues the Austrians, whilst befriending Tsar Alexander of Russia and crushing Prussia.  After defeating his enemies in Europe it gives Napoleon a chance to turn his energies to defeating his greatest foes Britain and gaining peace throughout his Empire.

Meanwhile in Britain, Arthur Wellesley has returned from a triumphant campaign in Denmark where he has distinguished himself as a leader of men. Because of his efforts in Denmark, Arthur’s plan of the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula is put into action. After a failed attempt by his superiors, Arthur is given command of the Army of Portugal and starts his campaign against his greatest enemy the French.

Again like its prequels this was a great book. Full of action from battlefields, to conspiracies, to affairs this book keeps you totally entertained, making you just want to read on and on. It is also great at setting the scene for the next novel and the climax of the Battle of Waterloo.

As I said it was a great book and I would suggest it to any of you that is into the Napoleonic era. I would also suggest this book to any of you that is into the Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell as they are both set in the same time period.

For author’s official web-site:

http://www.scarrow.co.uk/

Fields of Death, Simon Scarrow

Publishers: Headline Review

Pages: 694 (Paperback 2010)

Main Characters:

Napoleon Bonaparte, Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington)

This is the final book in Simon Scarrow’s epic Revolution Quartet. The book follows the end of the rivalry between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington, heading to the climax of the Battle of Waterloo. Finishing a war that has lasted over twenty years, whilst fulfilling the life time ambition of one of these two great men.

The novel picks up at the end of Fire and Sword and continues the struggle happening in Europe. Whilst Napoleon is falling back after his defeat in Russia, Wellesley is pushing his army up through the Spanish Peninsula and even contemplating the invasion of France itself. I won’t say too much about what happens in this book because I assume that some people may not know what historically happened. However for those of you that do know, the same happens in this book and is portrayed in a brilliant way by Scarrow, describing what both commanders were feeling whilst one leaders Empire was been destroyed and the others ambition of disposing a tyrant were coming true.

This was a good book, the only issue I had with this book is that it seemed every other chapter was a battle, which I felt was becoming a bit repetitive. Of course, Scarrow was portraying his novel in a way which was accurate to what happened in history, and in history there were many battles leading to the downfall of Napoleon. Perhaps it is because I am a historian and knew what the end result was made me think these battles were abit tedious, however for someone who does not know the history, they may enjoy all of the battles. To be fair to Scarrow, they were all well detailed and very exciting, filled with action and gore, but for me I just wanted to get to the end and see the demise of Napoleon.

All in all, this book and the series was brilliant. I am a massive fan of Scarrow and his books have kept me entertained for hours at a time. I would suggest this book and series to anyone who is interested in the Napoleonic era. Great series can’t wait to read Scarrow’s latest book, Praetorian

For author’s official web-site:

http://www.scarrow.co.uk/