Read more
‘At the age of fourteen I had already decided on my future; I would become a ruler, free to give my wishes the force of law. My ambition was not inordinate; I did not want a wide kingdom, only an absolute one.’ Cerdic Elesing, King of Wessex and ancestor of all subsequent British monarchs, narrates in this fictional biography how he murdered, cheated, looted and lied his way to the great position he ultimately held – and in the process served with the great Roman leader Ambrosius and the Saxon warlord Aella, and was the foe Arthur defeated at Mount Badon, in a thoroughly entertaining and convincing new take on the last days of the Roman Empire in Britain. ‘Few novelists can touch Alfred Duggan when it comes to re-creating remote corners of historical time and place’ Guardian
About the author
Historian, archaeologist and novelist Alfred Duggan wrote historical fiction and non-fiction about a wide range of subjects, in places and times as diverse as Julius Caesar’s Rome and the Medieval Europe of Thomas Becket.
Although he was born in Argentina, Duggan grew up in England, and was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. After Oxford, he travelled extensively through Greece and Turkey, visiting almost all the sites later mentioned in his books. In 1935 helped excavate Constantine’s palace in Istanbul.
Duggan came to writing fiction quite late in his life: his first novel about the First Crusade, Knight in Armour, was published in 1950, after which he published at least a book every year until his death in 1964. His fictional works were bestselling page-turners, but thoroughly grounded in meticulous research informed by Duggan’s experience as an archaeologist and historian.
Duggan has been favourably compared to Bernard Cornwell as well as being praised in his own right as 'an extremely gifted writer who can move into an unknown period and give it life and immediacy.' (New York Times).
Summary
‘At the age of fourteen I had already decided on my future; I would become a ruler, free to give my wishes the force of law. My ambition was not inordinate; I did not want a wide kingdom, only an absolute one.’
Cerdic Elesing, King of Wessex and ancestor of all subsequent British monarchs, narrates in this fictional biography how he murdered, cheated, looted and lied his way to the great position he ultimately held – and in the process served with the great Roman leader Ambrosius and the Saxon warlord Aella, and was the foe Arthur defeated at Mount Badon, in a thoroughly entertaining and convincing new take on the last days of the Roman Empire in Britain.
‘Few novelists can touch Alfred Duggan when it comes to re-creating remote corners of historical time and place’ Guardian
