Fire in the East is part one of the new Warrior of Rome series: an epic of empire, of heroes, of treachery, of courage, and most of all, a story of brutal bloody warfare. Dr Harry Sidebottom is a leading authority on ancient warfare - he applies his knowledge with a spectacular flair for sheer explosive action and knuckle-whitening drama. Fans of Bernard Cornwell will love Sidebottom's recreation of the ancient world.
Warrior of Rome I: Fire in the East is Harry Sidebottom's historical debut. The year is AD 255 - the Roman Imperium is stretched to breaking point, its authority and might challenged along every border. The greatest threat lies in Persia to the east, where the massing forces of the Sassanid Empire loom with fiery menace. There the isolated Roman citadel of Arete awaits inevitable invasion. One man is sent to marshal the defences and shore up crumbling walls. A man whose name itself means war: a man called Ballista. Alone, Ballista is called to muster the forces and the courage to stand first and to stand hard against the greatest enemy ever to confront the Imperium.
'Sidebottom's prose blazes with searing scholarship.' The Times
'The best sort of red-blooded historical fiction.' Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy
Author
About Harry Sidebottom
Harry Sidebottom was brought up in racing stables in Newmarket where his father was a trainer. Educated at various schools and universities, including Oxford, he took his Doctorate in Ancient History at Corpus Christi College. He has taught at various universities including Oxford, where he is now Fellow and Director of Studies in Ancient History at St Benets Hall, and Lecturer in Ancient History at Lincoln College.
He has travelled widely, especially around the Mediterranean, including trips travelling as a guest speaker on a Cunard liner and a memorable solo journey into Albania not long after the fall of the dictator Enver Hoxha.
All his life he has gone racing, and played and watched rugby and cricket. He was a founder member of Woodstock Rugby Football Club and has recently discovered the pleasures of real tennis.
