Michael Praed

213 BC. Syracuse. Under the merciless Sicilian sun, a city is at war.

Outside the walls, a vast Roman army waits. Yet the city's incredible defences, designed by Archimedes, mean that Syracuse will not be taken easily.

A veteran of the bitter war since its beginning, Quintus is ready to give his life in the service of the Republic. But dangers face him from within his own ranks as well as from the enemy - who include his former friend, the Carthaginian, Hanno.

Hanno has been sent by his general Hannibal to aid Syracuse in its fight against Rome. Pledged to bring death to all Romans, he is diverted from his mission by the discovery of Quintus' sister Aurelia, a captive within the city.

Two friends on opposing sides. A woman caught between them. They are about to meet in one of the most brutal sieges of all time.

Book 3 in the Hannibal series.

In the First Punic War, the Roman legions defeated and humiliated Carthage, their only serious rival for power in the Mediterranean. Now a brilliant young Carthaginian general, called Hannibal, is out for revenge. Caught up in the maelstrom are two young boys, Hanno, the son of a distinguished soldier and confidant of Hannibal, and Quintus, son of a Roman equestrian and landowner. A disastrous adventure will see Hanno sold into slavery and bought by Quintus's father. Although an unexpected friendship springs up between the two boys - and with Quintus's sister, Aurelia - the fortunes of the two warring empires once again separates them. They find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict and an alliance forged through slavery will be played out to its stunning conclusion in battle.

Book 1 in the Hannibal series.

Hannibal's campaign to defeat Rome continues as he marches south to confront his enemy.
With him is a young soldier, Hanno. Like his general, Hanno burns to vanquish Rome. Never has the possibility seemed so likely.

But a stealthy game of cat and mouse is being played as Rome's generals seek to avoid confrontation.
Eventually the two armies meet under a fierce summer sun. The place is Cannae - the fields of blood.

The battle will go down in history as one of the bloodiest ever fought, a battle in which Hanno knows he must fight as never before - just to stay alive.

Book 2 in the Hannibal series.

Three men and one woman are bound in servitude to the Republic - an odyssey which begins in Rome, but ends at the very limits of the unknown world, where the forgotten legion fights against overwhelming odds.

Winter 218 BC. In Cisalpine Gaul, a Carthaginian patrol is moving stealthily through thick woodland.

It's led by Hanno, one of Hannibal's young officers, and his second-in-command Mutt.

Famished and cold, they are making for a town full of the grain that they desperately need.

But the local Gauls cannot be trusted; and although defeated, the Romans still have patrols in the area.

With peril on every side and a deadly ambush ahead, there is no certainty that either Hanno or Mutt will survive...

A novella in the Hannibal series.