Don Hollway Bücher

In the tumultuous years leading up to 1066, the struggle for the English crown unfolds as Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans engage in a fierce contest marked by loyalty, treason, and military might. This rich narrative captures the life-and-death battles that shaped history, akin to the epic tales of Game of Thrones and The Last Kingdom. The story begins with Viking Cnut the Great, who unites three nations into his North Sea Empire while his Saxon wife Aelfgifu schemes for the English throne. Her rival, Emma of Normandy, widow of Saxon king Aethelred, seeks to claim Cnut's realm through marriage. Their sons become pawns in their mothers' ambitions, striving to carve out their own paths. Meanwhile, Godwin of Wessex manipulates the power dynamics to position himself as the kingmaker, with his son Harold ultimately rising to the throne of England. However, Harold's brother Tostig betrays the Anglo-Saxons, aligning with the last great Viking, Harald Hardrada, leading to their fateful encounter at the battle of Stamford Bridge. Meanwhile, William, the Bastard, eyes the English crown from across the water, determined to secure his Norman dukedom. This epic retelling immerses readers in a world of intrigue and conflict that forever altered the fate of the island kingdom.

A dramatic retelling of the final years of the Western Roman Empire and the downfall of Rome from the perspective of the Roman general Stilicho and Alaric, king of the Visigoths. It took little more than a single generation for the centuries-old Roman Empire to fall. In those critical decades, while Christians and pagans, legions and barbarians, generals and politicians squabbled over dwindling scraps of power, two men – former comrades on the battlefield – rose to prominence on opposite sides of the great game of empire. Roman general Flavius Stilicho, the man behind the Roman throne, dedicated himself to restoring imperial glory, only to find himself struggling for his life against political foes. Alaric, King of the Goths, desired to be a friend of Rome, was betrayed by it, and given no choice but to become its enemy. Battling each other to a standstill, these two warriors ultimately overcame their differences in order to save the empire from enemies on all sides. And when one of them fell, the other took such vengeance as had never been seen in history. Don Hollway, author of The Last Viking, combines ancient chroniclers' accounts of Stilicho and Alaric into an unforgettable history of betrayal, politics, intrigue and war for the heart and soul of the Roman Empire.

Now available in paperback, this is a rich and compelling account of the life of King Harald Hardrada of Norway, one of the greatest Viking warriors to have ever lived.