Jonathan Keeble

Following the overwhelming victory on D-Day, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin all seek to shape the global future to their own ends and win the race to Berlin.

The British launch Operation Market Garden, the greatest airborne operation the world has ever seen. It is a bold roll of the dice, which, if successful, will end the war in weeks. But behind the scenes, spies are working, and plans are betrayed, the operation fails and thousands of Allied soldiers die.

The Traitor of Arnhem tells a never-before-told story of this iconic operation, and of the very different figures working in secret to cause the catastrophic defeat.  Drawn from unseen records and shedding fresh light on the operation and the spies responsible for its failure, this is an incredible account of the battle that would go on to shape the twentieth century.

Porlock Weir, Exmoor, 1361. Thirteen years after the Great Pestilence, plague strikes England for the second time. Sara, a packhorse man's wife, remembers the horror all too well and fears for the safety of her children. Only a dark-haired stranger offers help but at a price that no one will pay.

Fear gives way to hysteria in the village, and when the sickness spreads to her family, Sara finds herself locked away by neighbours she has trusted for years. And as her husband - and then others - begin to die, the cost no longer seems so unthinkable.

The price that I ask from one willing to pay... a human life.

Thomas Edward Lawrence first set foot on the hot sands of Arabia in 1909. By 1918 there was a £20,000 price on his head.

His journey to this point has long been legend. From his first postings as archaeologist, liaison and map officer, to fighting alongside guerrilla forces during the Arab Revolt, journeying more than 300 miles through blistering heat to capture Aqaba, to his involvement in peace conferences that decided the future of the Middle East, Lawrence gave over his life fully to this land and its people.

With detailed access to records and an in-depth knowledge of the exploration routes and mindset of those who venture into the unknown, in Lawrence of Arabia, Fiennes brings us at last to a true and full account of this mysterious adventurer who captivated the world.

The West's centuries-old status as the centre of global wealth and power is coming to an end. As the new powers - China and India from Asia and others from Africa and Latin America - rise to the top of the world's pecking order, how should the West react? Kishore Mahbubani argues passionately and provocatively that the West can no longer impose its power and ideals on the world at large, and - paradoxically - that only by admitting its decline can the West set itself up for strategic success in the long term. Mahbubani examines the myths and self-delusions of Western power with an outsider's critical eye, and the shocking freshness of his geopolitical analysis will give all Westerners and political thinkers pause for thought.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped history. In the decades after the collapse of Soviet communism, the West convinced itself that liberal democracy would henceforth be the dominant, ultimately unique, system of governance - a hubris that shaped how the West would treat Russia for the next two decades. But history wasn’t over.

Putin is a paradox. In the early years of his presidency, he appeared to commit himself to friendship with the West, suggesting that Russia could join the European Union or even NATO. He said he supported free-market democracy and civil rights. But the Putin of those years is unrecognisable today. The Putin of the 2020s is an autocratic nationalist, dedicated to repression at home and anti-Western militarism abroad. So, what happened?

Putin and the Return of History examines this question in the context of Russia’s thousand-year past, tracing the forces and the myths that have shaped Putin’s politics of aggression.

Gina Wolfe is searching for her missing husband, believed dead, and thinks Superintendent Dalziel can help. What neither realizes is that there are others on the same trail. Dalziel and Pascoe are about to learn the hard way exactly just how much difference a day makes.

London, 1655, and Cromwell's regime is under threat from all sides. Damian Seeker, Captain of Cromwell's Guard, is all too aware of the danger facing Cromwell. Parliament resents his control of the Army while the Army resents his absolute power.

In the east end of London, a group of religious fanatics plots rebellion. In the midst of all this, a stonemason uncovers a perfectly preserved body dressed in the robes of a Dominican friar, bricked up in a wall in the crumbling Black Friars.

Ill-informed rumours and speculation abound, but Seeker instantly recognises the dead man. What he must discover is why he met such a hideous end, and what his connection was to the children who have started to disappear from around the city. Unravelling these mysteries is challenging enough, and made still harder by the activities of dissenters at home, Royalist plotters abroad and individuals who are not what they seem...

Book 2 in the Damian Seeker series.

It's AD 44. Macro and newly appointed centurion Cato are ordered to provide Verica, ruler of the Atrebatans, with an army. But despite the Atrebatans' official allegiance to Rome, open revolt is brewing, for many want to resist the Roman invaders. Macro and Cato must win the loyalty of the disgruntled levies, and they face the greatest test of their army careers as only they stand between the destiny of Rome and bloody defeat.

Britannia, AD 44. The time has come to claim Britain for the Empire. Centurions Cato and Macro are preparing for the final battle. The British savages will surely stand no chance against the might of the unstoppable Roman army. But veteran Macro is having doubts about the promised ease of their success. Will they be victorious - or will the battle cost more than they could ever imagine?  Book 5 of series.

In the first century AD the Roman Empire faces a new threat from its long-standing enemy Parthia. Parthia is vying with Rome for control of Palmyra, an officially neutral kingdom. Palmyra's royal household is on the brink of open revolt, and so a task force under the command of experienced soldiers Macro and Cato is dispatched to defend its king and guard its borders. When Parthia hears of the Roman army's presence, it starts amassing its troops for war. Macro's cohort must march against the enemy, deep into treacherous territory. If Palmyra is not to fall into the clutches of Parthia, they will have to defeat superior numbers in a desperate siege. The quest for a lasting peace has never been more challenging, nor more critical for the future of the Empire. 

AD 48. Roman Centurions Cato and Macro are returning to Rome from a harrowing campaign, but are shipwrecked when an earthquake strikes the island of Crete. Struggling ashore they discover panic, devastation and a slave revolt. Led by a gladiator called Ajax, the slaves are driven by a bloodthirsty desire for revenge. Taking control of the local garrison, Cato and Macro must save the province, before the rebellion can threaten the Empire itself.

When the actions of a rebel gladiator in Egypt threaten the stability of the Roman Empire, Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro know he must be stopped. The locals are holding the Romans responsible for the attacks and Ajax's crew have been making along the coast and now Egypt is dangerously volatile.

Tasked with tracking and defeating the renegade, Cato and Macro are soon hot on Ajax's trail, determined to destroy the enemy. But will the strength of a psychotically fatalist gladiator and his new-found allies, hell-bent on destruction, defeat the Roman warriors?

Book 10 in the Eagles of the Empire series.

Britannia, AD 51. For nearly a decade, the Roman Empire has fought to assert its hold over Britannia. But relentless opposition from native tribes led by the fanatical King Caratacus threatens to destroy everything.

Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro are dispatched from Rome to aid the campaign. Placed in command of an outpost in the remote western mountains, they face a challenge even more deadly than the unremitting attacks of barbarian forces. For they must wrench control of the fort from Centurion Quertus, a man who wages a savage personal war and inspires a loyalty in his men above their bond with Rome.

With dangerous enemies on both sides, Cato and Macro face the fight of their lives to bring peace to the most perilous frontier in Europe. 

The Roman Empire's conquest of Britannia is under threat from within.

A messenger on the streets of Rome has been intercepted and tortured, revealing a plot to sabotage the Roman army's campaign against Caratacus, commander of Britannia's native tribes. A treacherous agent's mission is to open a second front of attack against them and eliminate the two Roman soldiers who could stand in the way.

Unwarned, Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro are with the Roman army pursuing Caratacus and his men through the mountains of Britannia. Defeating Caratacus seems within their grasp. But the plot against the two heroes threatens not only their military goals but also their lives.

Roman Britain, AD 52. The western tribes, inspired by the Druids' hatred of the Romans, prepare to make a stand. But can they match the discipline and courage of the legionaries?

Wounded during a skirmish, Centurion Macro remains behind in charge of the fort as Prefect Cato leads an invasion deep into the hills. Cato's mission: to cement Rome's triumph over the natives by crushing the Druid stronghold. But with winter drawing in, the terrain is barely passable through icy rain and snowstorms.

When Macro's patrols report that the natives in the vicinity of the garrison are thinning out, a terrible suspicion takes shape in the battle-scarred soldier's mind. Has the acting Governor, Legate Quintatus, underestimated the enemy, his military judgement undermined by ambition? If there is a sophisticated and deadly plan afoot, it's Cato and his men who will pay the price.

It is AD 54. The soldiers of the Roman army patrol a growing empire from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, from the Atlantic to the banks of the Nile. Rome brutally enforces its rule, and its legions are the most efficient and aggressive fighting force in the world. Two battle-scarred veterans of this army, Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, have survived years of campaigning in Britannia and have been recalled to Rome.

Their time in the teeming, dangerously political city is short, and soon they are travelling with the Praetorian Guard to Spain, a restless colony where simmering tension in the face of Roman rule is aggravated by bitter rivalry amongst the natives. The challenges that face two old friends and their comrades in arms are unlike any they have seen before - in a land that declares itself unconquerable.

AD 55. The Emperor Claudius is dead. Nero rules. His half-brother Britannicus has also laid claim to the throne. A bloody power struggle is underway.

All Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro want is a simple army life, fighting with their brave and loyal men. But Cato has caught the eye of rival factions determined to get him on their side. To survive, Cato must play a cunning game, and enlist the help of the one man in the Empire he can trust: Macro.

As the rebel force grows, legionaries and Praetorian Guards are moved like chess pieces by powerful and shadowy figures. A political game has created the ultimate military challenge. Can civil war be averted? The future of the empire is in Cato's hands.

It is AD 55. As trouble brews on the eastern fringes of the Roman Empire, Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro must prepare for war…

The wily Parthian Empire has invaded Armenia, a frontier territory claimed by Rome, ousting King Rhadamistus. The king is ambitious and ruthless, but he is vital to Rome's strategic interests. General Corbulo must restore him to power, while also readying the troops for war with the powerful Parthian Empire. Corbulo orders new arrivals Cato and Macro, and their elite cohort of Praetorian Guards, to carry out the task.

Marching into unmapped and unfamiliar terrain to restore an unpopular king is a perilous mission. Allies cannot be trusted and foes lurk on all sides. The bravery and skill of the Roman army will be tested to the limit.

AD 56. Battle-hardened veterans of the Roman army Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro are garrisoned at the eastern border, aware that their movements are constantly monitored by spies from dangerous, mysterious Parthia. But the enemy within could be the deadliest threat to the Legion... and the Empire.

There's a traitor in the ranks. Rome shows no mercy to those who betray their comrades, and the Empire. But first the guilty man must be discovered. Cato and Macro are in a race against time to expose the truth, while the powerful enemy over the border waits to exploit any weaknesses in the Legion. The traitor must die.

Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro, hardened veterans of the Roman army, have faced the Empire's enemies from Britannia to Parthia, from Hispania to Judea. Now once again they are on a mission that will imperil their lives and those of all who serve with them. Loyal to the last to their comrades in battle, fearless in the face of the most brutal or barbaric opponents, they are the finest men the Emperor can call on in the service of Rome. 

AD 58. Fifteen years after Rome's invasion of Britannia, centurion Marco is back. The island is settled now, bustling with commerce. Macro's goal is to help run his mother's Londinium inn, and exploit his land grant. He's prepared for the dismal weather and the barbaric ways of the people. But far worse dangers threaten all his plans.

A gang led by an ex-legionary rules the city, demanding protection money and terrorising those who won't pay up. The Roman official in charge has turned a blind eye. Macro has to act. He needs the back-up of the finest soldier he knows: Prefect Cato. But Cato is in distant Rome. Or is he?

As the streets run red with blood, the army's heroes face an enemy as merciless and cunning as any barbarian tribe. The honour of Rome is in their hands ...

It is AD 60. The hard-won province of Britannia is a thorn in the side of the Roman Empire, its tribes swift to anger, and relentless in their bloody harassment of the Roman military. Far from being a peaceful northern enclave, Britannia is a seething mass of bitter rebels and unlikely alliances against the common enemy. Corruption amongst greedy officials diverts resources from the locals who need them. For the military, it's a never-ending fight to maintain a fragile peace.  Now it's time to quell the most dangerous enemy tribes. Two of Rome's finest commanders - Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro - are charged with a mission as deadly as any they have faced in their long careers. Can they win the day, or could this be the last battle? 

Two heroes of the Roman army - Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, now battle-scarred veterans, tough and resilient - lead their best men into the midst of an enemy both fearless and resourceful. Far from Rome in cold, rainy, unwelcoming Britannia, the soldiers need all their training to stand strong and undaunted as constant attacks challenge morale. And a leader like no other sends fear through the ranks: Boudica. 

AD 61. Britannia is divided. The rebel horde has been defeated. But the leader, Boudica, and her remaining warriors are still at large. With them is the eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, taken in ambush, flaunted as proof that Rome can yet be beaten.

The toll has been heavy, with countless men lost, and major towns in ruins. The bodies of the dead are strewn across the streets. And for Centurion Macro, there is the scarring knowledge that his mother perished in the attack on Londinium.

As Macro's heart burns for revenge, he and his comrade-in-arms Prefect Cato are tasked with hunting down the remnants of the enemy army. There can be no peace until the queen is captured or killed. And Roman honour will only be restored when the eagle standard has been recovered.

AD 62. Under the reckless and tumultuous leadership of Emperor Nero, Rome is descending into near-anarchy and conspiracy. The brutal execution of 400 slaves has led to rioting and discontent. Only the strongest soldier could maintain control. And so Nero turns to Prefect Cato to help save his reign from collapse.

Cato has been lying low after a heroic campaign to quash the Boudica uprising. Now he is called upon to serve again. As the new Prefect of the Urban Cohorts in Rome, Cato needs a loyal and proven officer by his side. Centurion Macro is willing to step up.

War and rebellion hold few fears for these seasoned veterans. But the politics and intrigue of Rome make every day as perilous as the battlefield. And the fates of both men, and of the empire, lie in the hands of the most volatile emperor of the age. Death awaits anyone who dares to defy Nero...

Book 24 in the Eagles of the Empire series.

In 1917, one of the most influential and contentious events in recent history, the Russian Revolution unleashed the greatest political experiment ever conducted, one which continues to influence both Eastern and Western politics today. This is a concise and straightforward overview: from the circumstances behind the rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, to the consequences of their struggle for a new socialist utopia.

The ‘Great War’, from July 1914 to November 1918, was without parallel. It brought to an end four dynasties, ignited revolution, and forged new nations. This is a concise account of the unprecedented battles on land, sea and in the air and describes the Home Front, espionage, and the politics behind them.

No one liked Jake Kinsey. A rich man, he acquired Exmouth’s trophy penthouse flat, and now he’s dead. DS Jimmy Suttle, a newcomer to the Devon and Cornwall force from his old job on Major Crimes in Portsmouth, is the one detective who suspects that Kinsey has been killed, but there is very little evidence. Left to work alone, Jimmy is all too conscious that time is lengthening the odds against any kind of result. And with a wife embittered by the move to a remote country cottage, Suttle must gamble his own integrity against the mounting chaos of the lives around him.

Lieutenant John Pearce's companions arrive in London just in time to join him in fetching a ship laden with contraband back from France - an illegal act but very profitable. Are Pearce and his Pelicans sailing into prosperity or danger? Book 7 of series.

Deep within the Arctic Circle, three environmental scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station trudge through a blizzard landscape in search of shelter. There's a cabin ahead. It appears abandoned. No lights or tell-tale smoke. No snowmobile parked outside. The first thing the team's medic, Dr Sheila Mackenzie, notices when she enters is the smell. It's rank, rotting, foetid. Then suddenly there's movement. A figure, barely recognisable as human, lies slumped on a sofa, his face staring back at her in the torchlight. It's hideously disfigured by livid pustules, rivulets of blood run from his nostrils, his chest covered in black bile. Momentarily Dr Mackenzie can't comprehend what she's seeing. Then the alarm bells begin to ring. These are the signs of chronic, deadly infection....But the man is trying to say something. She edges closer to him and it's then that the convulsions begin. His body erupts into a violent fit of coughing, spewing out a toxic cocktail of blood, bile and mucus....Dr Mackenzie already knows it's too late. She is contaminated....Setting in train a terrifying chain of events that threatens millions with a deadly, man-made contagion.... And so begins Frank Gardner's gripping new thriller, with troubled MI6 Operative Luke Carlton in pursuit of an extraordinary conspiracy - and a weapon more gruesome than anything the world has seen....

A fascinating insight into the early years of Horatio Nelson and Emma Lyon, starting with Nelson's arrival at Chatham aged 12 to join his first ship the Raisonable, and with Emma rejecting life as a domestic servant to live in a bawdy house.  Book 1 of series.

Their days of death-defying adventure seemingly behind them, acclaimed archaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, ex-SAS soldier Eddie Chase, live like any normal family. However, when a mythical civilisation is unearthed deep in the Antarctic ice, they are drawn into a battle for control of its astonishing power.

Dashing from New York to New Zealand, from futuristic Chinese cities to the outback of Australia, they soon confront the gravest threat they've ever faced. Pursued by ruthless mercenaries and a secret special forces unit, Nina and Eddie discover the clock is counting down to the extermination of all humanity...

Book 15 in the Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase series.

Scotland Yard Superintendent Perry Trethowan is enjoying an evening at a cosy Yorkshire pub when an old woman shows him an original, unpublished Brontë manuscript. Trethowan agrees to engage in a little literary detective work, but he doesn’t realise that the manuscript is motive for theft, torture – and murder.

Widely renowned as one of the founders of Western philosophy, Socrates placed philosophy on the sound basis of reason. This succinct account includes selections from his work and chronologies that place Socrates in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.

The philosophy of Aristotle dominated Western thought for over a thousand years. Above all, Aristotle is credited with the founding of logic. He divided human knowledge into separate categories, and enabled our understanding of the world to develop in a systematic fashion.

Philosophy has always been dangerous for philosophers; Friedrich Nietzsche made it dangerous for everyone. His ideas presaged a collective madness which was to ravage Europe, drawing a chilling parallel with the insanity that gripped Nietzsche towards the end of his life.