Fifteenth Century Europe. Tom Swan is not a professional soldier. He’s really a merchant and a scholar looking for remnants of Ancient Greece and Rome – temples, graves, pottery, fabulous animals, unicorn horns. But he also has a real talent for ending up in the midst of violence when he didn’t mean to. Having used his wits to escape execution, he begins a series of adventures that take him to street duels in Italy, meetings with remarkable men – from Leonardo Da Vinci to Vlad Dracula – and from the intrigues of the War of the Roses to the fall of Constantinople.

Another drama-drenched story in a truly epic historical series. Satyrus and Melitta, twin heirs to a rich kingdom on the Black Sea, were hounded into exile in FUNERAL GAMES after their mother was brutally murdered by one of their father’s former comrades, Heron.Heron now rules the land that is theirs by right, but the twins are older and battle-hardened in the wars of Alexander’s Successors. Once they have gathered their forces, nothing will stop them from exacting a terrible revenge…

A young Englishman, Tom Swan, finds himself in the midst of the Turkish siege of one of the riches islands in the Genoese Empire. Swan's biggest problem is that he hates the Genoese a good deal more than he hates the Turks. Despite which, he has to catch the spy, steal the ring, kill the traitor, and if possible rescue the princess. Or maybe just bed her.All duty, of course. So he can get home to the Cardinal, his boss, and his wife, the most beautiful woman in Italy. Suddenly he's a Knight, a man of action, a leader of men. And none of those are roles he asked for. From the Knights of Rhodes to the court of Mehmet II and Pope Pius II, Swan has to use his sword-and his wits-just to stay alive. And married.

1450s France. A young Englishman, Tom Swan, is kneeling in the dirt, waiting to be killed by the French who've taken him captive.He's not a professional soldier. He's really a merchant and a scholar looking for remnants of Ancient Greece and Rome - temples, graves, pottery, fabulous animals, unicorn horns. But he also has a real talent for ending up in the midst of violence when he didn't mean to. Having used his wits to escape execution, he begins a series of adventures that take him to street duels in Italy, meetings with remarkable men - from Leonardo Da Vinci to Vlad Dracula - and from the intrigues of the War of the Roses to the fall of Constantinople.

Twin monarchs Satyrus and Melitta have worked hard, seen much blood shed and many good friends die to secure their fertile kingdom on the Black Sea. But as the colossal conflict between Alexander the Great's former generals to inherit his empire rages from one end of the known world to the other, sitting on the sidelines is not an option. If their kingdom is to have a future, Satyrus and Melitta must join forces with one of the contenders, knowing that making the wrong choice could mean disaster.

And with Ptolemy, Antigonus-One-Eye and his son Demetrius 'the besieger', Lysimachus and Seleucus all massing their forces for one last battle, the stakes could not be higher. But with the wily Athenian schemer Stratokles, the courtesan-spy Phiale and Satyrus's lover, the power-hungry Briseis, daughter of the Tyrant of Syracuse, also determined to secure the spoils of victory for themselves, the twins find themselves caught in a deadly web of intrigue that could cost them everything.

The latest instalment of the Tom Swan adventures – the fast-paced serialised novel set in the turbulent Europe of the fifteenth century.

Pisa, May 1964. Sir William Gold - newly knighted on the battlefield outside the gates of Florence - can look forward to a lucrative career as a sword for hire in the endless warring between Italy's wealthy city states. But when a message comes from Father Pierre de Thomas, Grand Master of the Order of St John - better known as the Hospitallers - Sir William knows he has no choice but to leave his dreams of fame and fortune behind him.

Father Pierre is gathering men across Europe for a crusade, and as donat of the order, Sir William is pledged to serve him. But before setting out for the Holy Land, Sir William and his companions face deadly adversaries closer to home. In the labyrinthine politics of Italy, not only would some cities rather side with the saracen than their fellow Christians, but there are powerful princes of the church whose ambitions would be better served if the crusade failed - not to mention two of Sir William's bitterest enemies - the maniacal Bourc le Camus, now in the pay of the ruthless Cardinal Robert of Geneva, and the Count D'Herblay, husband of the woman who still holds Sir William's heart.

With assassins and conspirators on all sides, Sir William and his band of knights must overcome overwhelming odds - but if they survive, can the crusade be anything more than a suicide mission?