[Celtic Tetralogy 03] • Red Queen, White Queen

The Savage Vengeance of Boadicea

I wish there were a man strong enough to stand against me

AD61: Nero has a comfortable grip on his empire. In Gaul, in Germany, in the Middle East, all is quiet. But in Britain his tax collectors beat and rape the daughters of an obscure minor chieftain, sparking an upheaval that is to cause seventy thousand deaths and bring to his ears the name Boadicea.

Against the backdrop of Boadicea's doomed, bloody rebellion, Henry Treece sets the story of young Gemellus Ennius, whose secret mission is complicated by his love for a British princess, and whose relationship with his Celtic half-brother reflects the conflict between tribalism and civilisation.

Treece's empathic understanding of the Celtic spirit combines here with a masterly attention to detail, in a powerful rendering of the stark, confused, violent mood of the age.

Mr Treece can certainly keep your heart beating and your eyes glued to his pages - The New York Times

Cover Illustration: Michael Heslop