Masters of the Sea – Ship of Rome - Tapa dura

‘Strong characters, excellent action, SHIP OF ROME builds to a suberb climax’
CONN IGGULDEN

‘Peopled with characters both fictional and historical, this debut novel - the first in the Masters Of The Sea series - gives a fascinating and evocative insight into the high politics and military life of the times’
Daily Mail

‘This is a seriously entertaining book for anyone who enjoys stirring descriptions of ancient warfare. You can almost taste the salt, see the blood and hear the shouts and screams...John Stack is to be welcomed into the ranks of first-rate historical writers’
Tuam Herald

‘Crank up the testosterone, this one’s a fighter!’
U Magazine Ireland

Against a backdrop of the clash of the Roman and Carthaginian empires, the battle for sovereignty takes place on the high seas.

Atticus, captain of one of the ships of Rome's small, coastal fleet, is from a Greek fishing family. Septimus, legionary commander, reluctantly ordered aboard ship, is from Rome, born into a traditionally army family. It could never be an easy alliance. But the arrival of a hostile fleet, larger, far more skilful and more powerful than any Atticus has encountered before, forces them to act together.

So Atticus, one of Rome's few experienced sailors, finds himself propelled into the middle of a political struggle that is completely foreign to him. Rome need to build a navy fast but the obstacles are many; political animosities, legions adamant that they will only use their traditional methods; Roman prejudice even from friends, that all those not born in Rome are inferior citizens.

The enemy are first class, experienced and determined to control the seas. Can Atticus, and the fledgling Roman navy, staffed with inexperienced sailors and unwilling legionaries, outwit and outfight his opponents?

SHIP OF ROME, full of magnificent sea-battles, packed with strong characters, torn between two powerful empires, is the first book in a new series, MASTERS OF THE SEA, by a brilliant new author.