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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780312324506
ISBN number: 0312324502
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: November 28, 2006
Publishing house: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: November 28, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 20117
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin
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Product Description:
The most dangerous mission of their military careers awaits two heroes of the Roman army in Britain.
In the epic fourth novel of Simon Scarrow’s series, it’s ad 44 and Vespasian and the Roman Army’s Second Legion are forging ahead in their campaign to seize the southwest. Centurion Macro and newly appointed Centurion Cato are ordered by Vespasian to provide Verica, aged ruler of the Atrebates, with an army. They must train his tribal levies into a force that can protect him, enforce his rule, and take on the increasingly ambitious raids that the enemy is launching.
But open revolt is brewing. Despite the Atrebates’ official allegiance to Rome, many are wary of the legions and want to resist the Roman invaders, and Macro and Cato must very first win the loyalty of the disgruntled levies before tackling the enemy without. Can they succeed while surviving a deadly plot to destroy both them and their comrades serving with the eagles? In the midst of this highly volatile situation, Macro and Cato face the greatest test of their army careers. Theirs is a brazen tale of military adventure, political intrigue, and heroism, as only they stand between the destiny of Rome and bloody defeat. “A relatively new master of the genre.”---Booklist“Simon Scarrow’s stories of Roman military action . . . have gathered quite a fan club. Plenty of bloody thrills and spills. . . . Scarrow’s latest book will prove irresistible.”---Living History (UK)
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Rated by buyers 
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The series from which this book comes is a military version of the kinds of romances purchased by the pound by women romance fans. The writing is pedestrian, and the kinds of military details and references to Roman history are cliched and repeated in each book of the series for the sake of new readers. The unimaginative use of an older centurion sponsor of a younger, ambitious sidekick can be found in any "buddy" novel or moview. Unless you're really hooked on this kind of men's romance novel, give it a miss.
Rated by buyers 
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Simon Scarrow's The Eagle & The Wolves is an enjoyable light read, worth reading to the end but not worth rereading. It is what it is.
Scarrow's series of Roman military history has been well received, as more people develop an interest in the time period. It helps in the case of this book that Scarrow, a British teacher and writer, bases the action in Britain during the time of Caractacus' uprising, meaning English readers in particular may be more drawn to the topic. Besides the historical character of Caractacus, here spelled alternatively `Caratacus', who did in fact lead a guerrilla campaign against the Romans after the Claudian conquest of 43 AD, there is also Vespasian, who will go on to become Emperor himself (the final victor during the civil wars in the Year of the Four Emperors, 69 AD. The main protagonists are Cato and Macro, who are tasked with training a small allied local tribe, and have to wend their way through tribal politics, successions, murder, guerrilla attack, and the like.
Scarrow is best in describing camp and village life on the micro scale, topics not often brought up in books on the time. I liked the training regimen, learning to handle the weaponry, and teaching some typical legionary tactics. The author displays his depth of knowledge for his subject without writing condescendingly, and I thought this was the best of the work. Also nicely done is the sense of the action taking place in a very dangerous and uncertain part of the world, far from Rome, with inadequate communications and constant danger outside the walls. Less well done were the internal politics of the village, the conclusion of which seemed pretty predictable and not especially deep or complicated. The book is not strong on plotting. It's okay, it's just not Scarrow's strong suit. Finally, what to me was least interesting was the dialogue. Writing good dialogue can be very difficult; when one is replicating dialogue from almost 2000 years ago one has to decide just how modern or contemporary to write. Scarrow's choice has been to write as though his characters were speaking to one another in British English, especially slang, about 15 minutes ago. The story line is clear, he gets his point across, but for this reader anyhow it detracted from the period feel he is trying to get from the rest of his narrative. "Bloody" this, and "f-ing" that; no doubt the Roman legionaries had their phrases to describe precisely this kind of thought. But it just seems a little bumpy.
The book makes for enjoyable reading. When it was done I was ready to move on to something a little deeper.
Rated by buyers 
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Oh yeah, this one has the good's. It's like what Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) said about Queen's Hot Space album; they have the proper spacings of space between the pulse of the music. Scarrow's tale has the grist turning throughout counterbalanced by the ominous silence of future developments. Forgive another simile so soon but it's like the third album of a favorite band: the very first album is heavy, the second album incorporates a horn section and 20 backing vocalists as the artists want to 'explore', and then the artist return to their straightforward format of undiluted music on their third attempt. Scarrow strips it down to guitar, bass, and drums here. They instruments know when to thunder and when to restrain. Read this book for sure.
Rated by buyers -
Simon Scarrow has written a great novel based on history. At first, I was somewhat surprised with the rough language he used during conversations between Macro and Cato, both Centurions of the Second Legion of Vespasian. Mr. Scarrow's writing style is very similar to Bernard Cornwell's. The plot is quite straight forward. This novel is also very easy to read. I did not find heavy issues poured into either the plot or characters. If you are looking for a "heavy" historical reading, this is not the book.
Other than the Roman cultures being exploited by the author, Britain's cultures were also described in (gory) details. The Romans in this novel was depicted to be a highly advanced civilization, compared to Britain. Thus, a reader can vividly imagine all the livelihood of people in his novel.
A four-star read. Keep up the good work, Mr. Scarrow.
Rated by buyers -
Well researched view of Roman army life and conditions in very first century Britain. The characters are interesting and the plot moves quickly. I would recommend it to students of Roman history and to those who just like a good story.
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