Brutal Valour: The Tragedy of Isandlwana (The Anglo-Zulu War Book 1)

It is December 1878, and war looms on the horizon in South Africa. British High Commissioner Sir Henry Bartle-Frere seeks to dismantle the powerful neighbouring kingdom of the Zulus and uses an incursion along the disputed border as his justification for war. He issues an impossible ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, demanding he disband his armies and pay massive reparations. With a heavy heart, the king prepares his nation for war against their former allies.

Leading the invasion is Lieutenant General Sir Frederic Thesiger, Baron Chelmsford, a highly experienced officer fresh off a decisive triumph over the neighbouring Xhosa tribes. He and Frere are convinced that a quick victory over the Zulus will negate any repercussions from the home government for launching what is, in essence, an illegal war.

Recently arrived to South Africa are newly-recruited Privates Arthur Wilkinson and Richard Lowe; members of C Company, 1/24th Regiment of Foot under the venerable Captain Reginald Younghusband. Eager for adventure, they are prepared to do their duty both for the Empire and for their friends. As Frere’s ultimatum expires, the army of British redcoats and allied African auxiliaries crosses the uMzinyathi River at Rorke’s Drift into Zululand. Ten days later, the British and Zulus will meet their destiny at the base of a mountain called Isandlwana.

Crucible of Honour: The Battle of Rorke's Drift (The Anglo-Zulu War Book 2)

It is January of 1879. While three columns of British soldiers and their African allies cross the uMzinyathi River to commence the invasion of the Zulu Kingdom, a handful of redcoats from B Company, 2/24th Regiment are left to guard the centre column’s supply depot at Rorke's Drift.

On the morning of 22 January, the main camp at Isandlwana, just ten miles to the east, comes under attack from the entire Zulu army and is utterly destroyed. Four thousand warriors from King Cetshwayo’s elite Undi Corps remained in reserve and were denied any chance to take part in the fighting. Led by Prince Dabulamanzi, they disobey the king’s orders and cross into British Natal, seeking their share in triumph and spoils. They soon converge on Rorke’s Drift; an easy prize, with its paltry force of 150 redcoats to be readily swept aside.

Upon hearing of the disaster at Isandlwana, and with retreat impossible, the tiny British garrison readies to receive the coming onslaught. Leading them is Lieutenant John Chard, a newly-arrived engineer officer with no actual combat experience. Aiding him is B Company’s previously undistinguished officer commanding, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, along with 24-year old Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne, and a retired soldier-turned civilian volunteer named James Dalton.

Unbeknownst to either the British or the Zulus, half of the centre column, under Lord Chelmsford’s direct command, was not even at Isandlwana, but fifteen miles further east, at Mangeni Falls. However, with a huge Zulu force of over twenty-thousand warriors between them and the drift, their ammunition and ration stores taken or destroyed, and an impossible distance to cover, Chelmsford’s battered column cannot possibly come to the depot’s aid, and must look to their own survival. The defenders of Rorke’s Drift stand alone.

Lost Souls: The Forgotten Heroes of Eshowe (The Anglo-Zulu War Book 3)

In January 1879, three columns of British soldiers under the command of Lord Chelmsford, commenced the invasion of the Zulu Kingdom. The southern No. 1 Column led by Colonel Charles Pearson advances on the old mission station at Eshowe. Their intent is to establish a fort and supply depot from which to support the centre No. 3 Column’s advance on the Zulu royal kraal at Ulundi. As the vast column of British soldiers and their African allies slogs its way across the coastal hills, the incessant rain and threat of typhoid promise to be as fearful a nemesis as the lurking armies of Zulu warriors.

Unbeknownst to Pearson, calamity struck a hundred miles to the north when nearly half of No. 3 Column is destroyed during a catastrophic battle at a mountain called Isandlwana. Despite the garrison at Rorke’s Drift subsequent repelling of the Zulu onslaught, the entire invasion is left in tatters. Over a thousand imperial soldiers now lie dead, in a war which the Crown never authorised or wanted.

Over the coming days, the Zulus surround the fort at Eshowe, cutting off all communications and resupply efforts. With the British Empire now reluctantly committed to war, reinforcements are dispatched from England. In a race against time, Lord Chelmsford rallies the arriving forces into a relief column. Should they fail to break through to Eshowe and relieve the garrison, Colonel Pearson and another thousand British soldiers will suffer the same fate as the poor souls whose bodies still lie unburied along the slopes of Isandlwana.

I Stood With Wellington

In February, 1815, after nine months in exile, Napoleon Bonaparte, the deposed Emperor of the French, escaped from the Isle of Elba. Seizing the initiative while the European powers bicker amongst themselves at the Congress of Vienna, Napoleon advances towards Belgium with an enormous army. The French Emperor knows that if he can achieve a decisive victory and capture Brussels, it will shatter the already fragile European alliance.

Leading the allies is Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington; the venerable British field marshal who defeated Napoleon’s best generals in Spain, yet who the emperor had never personally met in battle. Napoleon knows that if he can draw away Wellington’s chief Prussian ally, Gebhard von Blucher, and destroy his army first, he can unleash his entire might against the British. A victory over the unbeaten Wellington will cripple the alliance even further, as it will then deprive them of both English soldiers and financing.

In Belgium, Captain James Henry Webster has finally returned to a line regiment after being terribly wounded at the Siege of Badajoz three years prior. He is given command of a line company within the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, the elite of the British Infantry.

A series of indecisive clashes will lead to a collision between the two greatest military minds of the age and the bloodiest single day of the entire century, as Wellington and Napoleon lead their armies to either immortality or oblivion. For Captain Webster, he fights for both his nation and to protect his young daughter in Brussels. Along with the rest of the Guards Division, he finds himself at the apex of the battle, where the fate of the entire world will be decided; at a place called Waterloo.

Soldier of Rome: Reign of the Tyrants: The Year of the Four Emperors - Part I

The year is 68 A.D., and the vast Roman Empire is in chaos. Provinces are in rebellion, while Emperor Nero struggles to maintain the remnants of his political power, as well as his last shreds of sanity. In the province of Hispania, the governor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, marches on Rome. In his despair, Nero commits suicide. Galba, the first Emperor of Rome from outside the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, is at first viewed as a liberator, yet he soon proves to be a merciless despot, alienating even those closest to him.

A member of the imperial court, and former favorite of Nero, Marcus Salvius Otho seeks to become the childless Galba’s successor. When he is snubbed for another of the new emperor’s favorites, Otho decides to take the mantle of Caesar by force. At the same time, the governor of Germania, Aulus Vitellius, is proclaimed emperor by his legions, leading Rome into civil war.

In the east, the empire’s fiercest general, Flavius Vespasian, has been embroiled in suppressing the rebellion in Judea over the last two years. With nearly one third of the entire Roman Army under his command, he wields formidable power. At first attempting to stay above the fray, and with the empire fracturing into various alliances, Rome’s most loyal soldier may soon be compelled to put an end to the Reign of the Tyrants.

Soldier of Rome: Rise of the Flavians: The Year of the Four Emperors - Part II

It is April of 69 A.D., and Rome’s first civil war in a hundred years has ended. Emperor Otho, who violently overthrew the tyrannical Galba just three months before, is dead. The triumphant armies of the Rhine coerce the senate into ratifying their governor, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor. While there is an uneasy hope that peace has returned to Rome, Vitellius’ cronyism and utter incompetence soon alienates most of Rome’s patricians, along with many of the provinces.

After just two months, the imperial armies in the east, along with much of the populace, have had enough of corrupt despots. The legions in Egypt, Syria, and Judea rebel, declaring the venerable general, Flavius Vespasian, emperor. Support for his rule quickly spreads, as soldier and citizen alike demand that he put an end to the reign of the tyrants.

The Roman Empire is now divided, with Italia and the western provinces still loyal to Vitellius, while every province east of Pannonia has declared its allegiance to Vespasian. Brothers Gaius and Lucius Artorius unwittingly find themselves on opposing sides of this hateful conflict. Fathers will make war on their sons and brother will slay brother in the blood-soaked cauldron of civil war.

Soldier of Rome: Rebellion in Judea (The Great Jewish Revolt series Book 1)

In the year 66 A.D. the Roman province of Judea exploded in rebellion. Far from being a revolution of unified peoples, the various Jewish factions of Sadducees, Zealots, Sicarii, and Edomites are in a state of civil war; as anxious to spill the blood of each other as they are to fight the Romans.

The Judeans find hope when the Romans commit a serious tactical blunder and allow their forces to be ambushed and nearly destroyed in the mountain pass of Beth Horon. Following the disaster, Emperor Nero recalls to active service Flavius Vespasian, the legendary general who had been instrumental in the conquest of Britannia twenty-three years before.

In the northern region of Galilee, a young Judean commander named Josephus ben Matthias readies his forces to face the coming onslaught. A social and political moderate, he fears the extremely violent Zealot fanatics, who threaten to overthrow the newly-established government in Jerusalem, as much as he does the Romans.

Soon Vespasian, a tactical and strategic genius who had never been defeated in battle, unleashes his huge army upon Galilee. His orders are to crush the rebellion and exact the harshest of punishments upon those who would violate the Peace of Rome. Lacking the manpower and resources to face the legions in open battle, Josephus knows he will need plenty of cunning, ingenuity, and, perhaps, even the intervention of God Himself, lest the once proud Kingdoms of Judah and Israel should become a kingdom of the damned.

Soldier of Rome: Vespasian's Fury (The Great Jewish Revolt series Book 2)

It is July of 67 A.D. The brutal, forty-seven day siege of the rebel stronghold of Jotapata, in Galilee, has ended. The Roman armies of Vespasian destroyed the city and captured the leader of the resistance, Josephus ben Matthias. While being interrogated by the Roman commanding general, Josephus makes a bold prediction; Nero’s reign grows short and, in time, Vespasian himself will rise to become emperor. Intrigued, while also viewing the Jewish general as a great source of intelligence, Vespasian spares his life. He then unleashes a hell storm of fury upon the rest of Galilee and into Judea itself.

In Jerusalem, the fall of Jotapata is a tragic loss, with Josephus presumed dead and venerated as a martyr. The moderate government under Hanan ben Hanan is greatly weakened as a result of the defeat, with the various extremists seeking to install their own leaders as head of the Jewish State. The rival zealot factions soon become embroiled in a bitter and extremely violent civil war, oblivious or uncaring about the common enemy that is laying waste to the land.

Three thousand miles away, Rome is in a constant state of political turmoil. Vespasian attempts to stay above the fray, intent on finishing off the rebellious zealots, yet with Josephus’ prophetic words ever-echoing in his mind.

Soldier of Rome: The Fall of Jerusalem (The Great Jewish Revolt Book 3)

The Flavians have arisen. Following the death of Emperor Nero, four men battled to become ‘Caesar’ in what was now called The Year of the Four Emperors. Flavius Vespasian, the fearsome general previously in command of the furious onslaught against the rebellion in Judea, emerged victorious. As emperor, he must return to Rome, leaving his son, Titus, to destroy the rebels and capture Jerusalem.

The Judean capital finds itself under siege, not just from the imperial army but from its supposed protectors. Since the overthrow of the post-Roman government, a bitter and extremely violent struggle raged for over a year, as various zealot factions battle for control of the Jewish state. John of Giscala, who murdered the moderate, Hanan ben Hanan, rules the city through brutality and terror. His chief rival, a former Sicarii ally named Simon bar Giora, is a man of even greater ferocity who recognises neither John’s government nor that of Rome. The factions descend into madness, bringing untold misery to the people of Jerusalem.

As Titus advances towards the Jewish Holy City with his massive army of seventy-thousand imperial soldiers, the warring Judean factions must decide whether to stand together against the coming onslaught or die in a bloodbath of mutual hatred.

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