Valerio Massimo Manfredi

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BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR


Title: Alexander: Sands Of Ammon: Description:
book 2 Continuing the epic saga of Alexander the Great. The Sands of Ammon brilliantly describes Alexander's quest to conquer Asia, the limitless domain ruled by the Great King of the Persians. In a seemingly impossible venture. Alexander and his men storm Persian fortresses and harbours, crippling King Daruis' domination of land and sea. Even the legendary Haliacarnassus is defeated by the Macedionan armies. Ruthlessly. Alexander's war machine moves ever onward taking him up into the snow-covered Anatolian highlands, and ever closer to his destiny. But there is much danger ahead. Despite the defeat of Daruis, the Island City of Tyre and the Towers of Gaza prove to be formidable obstacles. Undeterred, Alexander surges forth over land and sea to the mysterious land of Egypt; And there, in the sands, lies the Oracle of Ammon, waiting to reveal an amazing truth to Alexander. One that will change his already amazing life

Title: Tyrant: Description:
Sicily,412 BC:The infinate duel between a man and a superpower begins

Title: The Spartan: Description:
Herodotus tells us that not all of the three hundred Spartan warriors died at the hands of Xerxes, King of the Persians, in the battle of the Thermopylae: two were saved bringing a life-saving message back to the city...This is the saga of a Spartan family, torn apart by a cruel law that forces them to abandon one of their two sons - born lame - to the elements. The elder son, Brithos, is raised in the caste of the warriors, while the other, Talos, is spared a cruel death and is raised by a Helot shepherd, among the peasants. They live out their story in a world dominated by the clash between the Persian empire and the city-states of Greece - a ferocious, relentless conflict - until the voice of their blood and of human solidarity unites them in a thrilling, singular enterprise.

Title: Alexander Vol 1: Child Of A Dream: Description:
Who could have been born to conquer the world other than a god? A boy, born to be a great king - Philip of Macedon - and his sensuous queen, Olympias. Alexander became a young man of imense, unfathomable potential. Under the tutelage of the great Aristotle and with the friendship of Ptolemy and Hephaiston, he became the mightiest and most charismatic warrior, capable of subjugating the known world to his power. A marvellous novel of one of history's greatest characters and his quest to conquer the civilised world. About the Author Italian historian and archaeologist Valerio Massimo Manfredi is Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Univeristy of Milan, and a familar face on European television.He was elected Man of the Year 1999 by the American Biographical Institute for ALEXANDROS, the bestselling trilogy based on the life of Alexander the Great. Manfredi's books have been published in Spain , France, Germany, Greece, and Russia. Excerpted from Alexander 1 by Manfredi Valerio Massimo. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved Prologue The four Magi slowly climbed the paths that led to the summit of the Mountain of Light. They came from the four corners of the horizon, each carrying a satchel containing fragrant wood for the rite of fire. The Wise Man of Sunrise wore a cloak of pink silk that shaded into blue and on his feet he had deerskin sandals. The Wise Man of Sunset wore a crimson gown streaked with gold and from his shoulders hung a long stole made of byssus and embroidered in the same colours. The Wise Man of Midday had a purple tunic decorated with golden ears of wheat and wore snakeskin slippers. The last of them, the Wise Man of the Night, was dressed in black wool woven from the fleece of unborn lambs and dotted with silver stars. They moved as though the rhythm of their walk were marked by a music that only they could hear and they approached the temple at the same pace, covering equal distances even though the first was climbing a rocky slope, the next was walking along a level path and the last two progressed along the sandy beds of dried-up rivers. They reached the four entrances of the stone tower at the same instant, just as dawn draped the immense deserted landscape of the plateau in pearly light. They bowed and looked into one another’s faces through the four entrance arches, and then they moved towards the altar. The Wise Man of Sunrise began the rite, arranging sandalwood branches in a square; next came the Wise Man of Midday who added, diagonally, bundles of acacia twigs. Onto this base the Wise Man of Sunset heaped cedar wood, gathered in the forest of Mount Lebanon and stripped of its bark. Last of all the Wise Man of the Night laid branches of stripped and seasoned Caucasian oak, lightning-struck wood dried in the highland sun. Then all four drew their sacred flints from their satchels and together they struck blue sparks at the base of the small pyramid until the fire began to burn – weak at first, faltering, then ever stronger and more vigorous: the vermilion tongues becoming blue and then almost white, just like the Celestial Fire, like the supernal breath of Ahura Mazda, God of Truth and Glory, Lord of Time and Life. Only the pure voice of the fire murmured its arcane poetry within the great stone tower. Not even the breathing of the four men standing motionless at the very centre of their vast homeland could be heard. They watched on enrapt as the sacred flame took shape from the simple architecture of the branches arranged on the stone altar. They stared into that most pure light, into that wonderful dance of light, lifting their prayer for the people and for the King: the Great King, the King of Kings who sat far away in the splendid hall in his palace, the timeless Persepolis, in the midst of a forest of columns painted purple and gold, guarded by winged bulls and lions rampant. The air, at that hour of the morning, in that magic and solitary place, was completely still, just as it had to be for the Celestial Fire to assume the forms and the motions of its divine nature. It was this nature which drove the flames ever higher towards the Empyrean, their original source. But suddenly a powerful force breathed over the flames and quenched them; as the Magi watched on in astonishment, even the red embers were suddenly transformed into black charcoal. There was no other sign, not a sound except the screech of a falcon rising up into the empty sky; neither were there any words. The four men stood dumbstruck at the altar, stricken by this most sad omen, tears welling in silence. At that same moment, far away in a remote western land, a young woman trembled as she approached the oaks of an ancient sanctuary. She had come to request a blessing for the child she now felt move for the first time in her womb. The woman’s name was Olympias. The name of her child came on the wind that blew impatiently through the age-old branches, stirring the dead leaves round the bases of the giant trunks. The name was: ALÉXANDROS

Title: The Last Legion: Description:
The story opens on the day that the Western Roman Empire collapses finally in 470AD, with the city itself over-run. In the preceeding months a small group of British Roman soldiers, led by a true hero, have journeyed to the city and have arrived just before the final climax. The task they have set themselves is to save the spirit of the empire by rescuing the young son of the last Emperor, Romulus Augustus. Having found him and taken him away they decide to journey across northern Europe as there are strong rumours that an entire Legion of the Roman Army has remained loyal to Rome and has become an independent unit. They hope by finding the Legion and establishing the boy as the legitmate Emperor a stand can be taken and the Empire revived. However, their search is fruitless and eventually the leader and the child return to the Britain of the Dark Ages, where they re-emerge in legend as Merlin and Arthur Pendragon

Title: Empire Of Dragons: Description:
Southern Anatolia, 260 AD. The town of Edessa, a Roman outpost, is on its last legs, besieged by the Persian troops of Shapur I. Roman Emperor Licinius Valerianus agrees to meet his adversary to draw up a peace treaty, but it is only a trap and the Emperor and his twelve guards are chained and dragged away to work as prisoners in a solitary Persian turquoise mine. After months of forced labour the Emperor dies, but his guards make a daring escape lead by the heroic and enigmatic chief, Marcus Metellus Aquila. They meet a mysterious, exiled Chinese Prince, Dan Qing, and agree to safeguard his journey home to reconquest his throne from his mortal enemy, a eunuch named Wei. Thus begins the adventures of the Romans and the Prince as they journey to China. There they will discover that they aren't the first of their kind to arrive in China: they were preceded centuries before by the survivors of the 'lost legion'.

Title: Heroes (formerly Talisman Of Troy): Description:
Formerly published as "Talisman of Troy", this novel has been retitled. A castaway tossed onto a deserted beach is the last survivor of a world that no longer exists. He has a terrible, fascinating story to tell - the true reason for which the Trojan War was fought ...The protagonist of this tale is Diomedes, the last of the great ancient Greek Homeric heroes, who seeks to return to his beloved homeland after years of war against Troy. But, destiny has other plans for him. Betrayed by his wife, who plots to murder him and persecuted by hostile gods, he has no choice but to turn his sails west, towards Hesperia, the mysterious mist-shrouded land that will one day be called Italy. He ventures boldly into this new world, for he carries with him the magic Talisman of Troy, a mysterious, powerful idol that can make the nation that possesses it invincible ...