After the final defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the great naval battle of Lepanto, it seems that Europe is safe. But one day Nicholas Ingoldsby is summoned to London for an audience with the Queen herself. He is to go on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople, the heart of the old enemy - and then onward, to a little known but rising power called Muscovy. Here the Russian Czar has just proposed marriage to Elizabeth herself. Such a bold offer should be no surprise, for this is no normal leader: Ivan IV Vasil'evich is known to his people as Ivan the Terrible.

But this rising new Christian power in the North has also caught the attention of the Ottomans; and their allies, the wild Tatar horsemen of the Asiatic steppes, Russia's ancient enemy. And soon Nicholas and his fellow travellers, Smith, Stanley and the faithful Hodge, are caught up in their most dangerous adventure yet, trapped in a doomed Muscovy ruled by a deranged but cunning Czar Ivan, and with a vast army of Tatar tribesmen riding down upon them, vowed to burn the city to the ground and extinguish Russia forever ...

1565: a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean stands gatekeeper between East and West. It is about to become the scene for one of the most powerful stories of bravery, battle and bloodlust: the siege of Malta.

From Publishers WeeklyThe pseudonymous Napier continues his excellent portrayal of Attila's turbulent life in this second installment to his trilogy (after Attila). The colorful story is told by a Roman scribe, Priscus of Panium, and begins in 441 A.D. as Attila returns to claim the Hun throne after 30 years in exile. Attila, bitter and full of hatred for Rome (and pretty much everybody else), is determined to destroy the Roman and Chinese empires, and the book is rife with Attila's bloody machinations as he murders his rivals, slaughters enemy armies, and uses guile and deception to amass allies. Napier also smartly tells of events on the Roman side as conspiracies and rivalries split the Roman empire, and Aëtius, an out-of-favor Roman general, is tasked with saving Rome from the Hun invaders. The hitch: Aëtius and Attila are old friends from their exile days. Alliances, betrayal, assassination, gory battles, torture, and cruelty mark this blood-soaked historical, and Napier describes it all vividly and with sword-pounding impact. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Alliances, betrayal, assassination, gory battles, torture and cruelty mark this blood-soaked historical, and Napier describes it all vividly and with sword-pounding impact." -- Publishers Weekly "If you think you don't like historical fiction, you haven't read William Napier." --_The Times _(UK)"A rattling good yarn...Napier tells a great story...I couldn't put it down." --_Big Issue _(UK)"A gripping novel." --_Daily Mail_ (UK)

Review'The conclusion of the blood-soaked and rip-roaring historical trilogy' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'The final novel in the brilliant Attila trilogy and is packed full of action, battles, politics and great characters. Gripping from first to last.' HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER Product DescriptionThe infamous leader of the Huns stills thirsts for blood and supremacy as he crosses the Danube and prepares to attack the Western Empire and face once more his boyhood friend-turned-foe: Aetius the Roman. For Attila is set on a plan that will take him right through the entire Italian peninsular and up to the gates of Rome. He must weigh up whether he should attack this, the greatest of cities, or whether the gamble is too high, even for the most battle-hardened of warlords. In this tumultuous conclusion to the life of the warrior, we see the biggest choices of his blood-soaked career played out, and travel with him right into the silken tent where Attila must ultimately face his destiny.

Review"If you think you don't like historical fiction, you haven't read William Napier." --_The Times _(UK)"William Napier has a genius for making the blood-dimmed chaos of ancient history into the very stuff of thrilling narrative." --Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and Persian FireProduct DescriptionThe dawn of the 5th century AD, and the Roman Empire totters on the edge of the abyss. Already divided into two, the Imperium is looking dangerously vulnerable to her European rivals. The huge barbarian tribes of the Vandals and Visigoths sense that their time is upon them. But, unbeknownst to all these great players, a new power is rising in the East. A strange nation of primitive horse-warriors has been striking terror on border peoples for fifty years. But few realise what is about to happen. For these so called 'Huns' now have a new leader. And his name is Attila - 'the Scourge of God.' Thus begins a saga of warfare, lust and power which brought the whole of the Christian world to its knees - and ended in blood on the fields of France. It is a story of two men: Attila the Hun and Aetius the Roman. One who wanted to destroy the world, and one who fought one final battle to save it...