Page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Legate's Daughter

Literature & Fiction

Wallace Breem

Genre Fiction

Arrow

The Legate's Daughter

The scene is Rome in the troublesome year 24 B.C.  Emperor Augustus is in ill health and the city is seething with intrigue. There is speculation about the succession, uncertainty in the capital and unrest on the frontiers. The question of an heir is acute. Augustus has only one child, a daughter, Julia. She is married to Marcellus, marking the young man with the Emperor's favour, but some disagree with the match. Powerful rivals engineer crisis and conspiracy. These events are seen through the eyes of Curtius Rufus, ex-centurion, gambler, and a man dissatisfied with life. He comes to the attention of Augustus's lieutenant, Marcus Agrippa, who leads Curtius into the puzzling affair of the legate's daughter, kidnapped, it appears, by pirates and held in captivity in the African desert. His expedition is blocked and frustrated at every turn, but Curtius and his comrades press on into the unknown wilderness to negotiate with the girl's captors. The Romans are almost held prisoner in their own camp, but by steady nerves, courage and bluff, Curtius triumphs in his efforts to rescue her, only to return to Rome and a cruelly ironic ending to his risky adventure.

Teen & Young Adult

Weidenfeld & Nicolson History

"The Leopard and the Cliff" has been out of print for a long time with second-hand copies being elusive; nonetheless it has a grim resonance with today demonstrating the futility of fighting in that part of the world. "Wallace Breem is a writer who never disappoints one. He has an extraordinary power of treating military disaster in depth and yet with pace, whether on the frontiers of Rome or British India, and of analysing the tensions of command. Gripping as an action story, deeply moving on the individual level, it involves one as an eye-witness from beginning to end". (Mary Renault). "I found the book gripping. I am not a Frontier man but the account of the tribal situation on the Frontier and of the atmosphere accords with all I have read or heard about it. The author brings out movingly and with skill several points of vital importance to an understanding of British India and the Frontier in particular. Everything depended on India (in this case Pathan) co-operation; this broke down once the British showed lack of confidence and began to retire. The clash of loyalties which then arose was highly dramatic and painful for those involved. The loneliness of such a man as Sandeman is also brought out with skill". (Philip Mason, author of "A Matter of Honour: An Account of the Indian Army, Its Officers and Men").

The Leopard and the Cliff

Faber&Faber

The scene is Rome in the troublesome year 24 B.C. Emperor Augustus is in ill health and the city is seething with intrigue. There is speculation about the succession, uncertainty in the capital and unrest on the frontiers. The question of an heir is acute. Augustus has only one child, a daughter, Julia. She is married to Marcellus, marking the young man with the Emperor's favour, but some disagree with the match. Powerful rivals engineer crisis and conspiracy. These events are seen through the eyes of Curtius Rufus, ex-centurion, gambler, and a man dissatisfied with life. He comes to the attention of Augustus's lieutenant, Marcus Agrippa, who leads Curtius into the puzzling affair of the legate's daughter, kidnapped, it appears, by pirates and held in captivity in the African desert.

ORION PAPERBACKS

Banished to the Empire’s farthest outpost, veteran warrior Paulinus Maximus defends The Wall of Britannia from the constant onslaught of belligerent barbarian tribes. Bravery, loyalty, experience, and success lead to Maximus’ appointment as "General of the West" by the Roman emperor, the ambition of a lifetime. But with the title comes a caveat: Maximus needs to muster and command a single legion to defend the perilous Rhine frontier. On the opposite side of the Rhine River, tribal nations are uniting; hundreds of thousands mass in preparation for the conquest of Gaul, and from there, a sweep down into Rome itself. Only a wide river and a wily general keep them in check. With discipline, deception, persuasion, and surprise, Maximus holds the line against an increasingly desperate and innumerable foe. Friends, allies, and even enemies urge Maximus to proclaim himself emperor. He refuses, bound by an oath of duty, honor, and sacrifice to Rome, a city he has never seen. But then circumstance intervenes. Now, Maximus will accept the purple robe of emperor, if his scrappy legion can deliver this last crucial victory against insurmountable odds. The very fate of Rome hangs in the balance. Combining the brilliantly realized battle action of Gates of Fire and the masterful characterization of Mary Renault’s The Last of the Wine, Eagle in the Snow is nothing less than the novel of the fall of the Roman empire.

Eagle in the Snow: A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand

Contemporary

Rugged Land

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wallace Breem. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wallace Breem

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wallace Breem. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Legate's Daughter

The Legate's Daughter

The Leopard and the Cliff

The Legate's Daughter

Eagle in the Snow: A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand