Showing results by author "Jack Whyte" in All Categories

We know the legends: Arthur brought justice to a land that had known only cruelty and force; his father, Uther, carved a kingdom out of the chaos of the fallen Roman Empire; the sword Excalibur, drawn from stone by England's greatest king. But legends do not tell the whole tale. Legends do not tell of the despairing Roman soldiers, abandoned by their empire, faced with the choice of fleeing back to Rome, or struggling to create a last stronghold against the barbarian onslaughts from the north and east.

With Uther, Jack Whyte, author of the richly praised Camulod Chronicles, has given us a portrait of Uther Pendragon, Merlyn's shadow - his boyhood companion and closest friend. And the man who would sire the King of the Britons. From the trials of boyhood to the new cloak of adult responsibility, we see Uther with fresh eyes. He will travel the length of the land, have adventures, and, through fate or tragedy, fall in love with the one woman he must not have.

Merlyn Britannicus, leader of the Colony known as Camulod, is faced with the task of educating his younger charge, Arthur, future King of the Britons. Fearing for the life of his nephew when an assassination attempt goes awry, Merlyn takes Arthur and his boyhood companions Gwin Ghilleadh, and Bedwyr on a journey that will take then to the ruins of a long-abandoned Roman fort - far from Camulod and the only place where Merlyn feels they will be safe.

The Eagles’ Brood continues the saga of the Colony known as Camulod, and the tale of the descendants of those brave Romans who forged a new way of life for the Celt and Roman peoples when the Roman legions departed Britain. Most know the new leader of the Colony as Merlyn; all call him Commander. Cauis Merlyn Britannicus is responsible for their safety, and all look to him for guidance, leadership, justice, and salvation. It is a harsh life but a good community, and Merlyn is dedicated to spreading the influence of Roman culture beyond the Colony’s borders.

Merlyn Britannicus and Uther Pendragon - the Silver Bear and the Red Dragon - are the leaders of the Colony, lifeblood to the community from which will come the fabled Camulod. But soon their tranquillity is in ruins, Uther lies dead from treachery, and all that is left of the dream is the orphaned babe Arthur. Heir to the Colony of Camulod, born with Roman heritage as well as the blood of the Hibernians and the Celts, Arthur is the living incarnation of the sacred dream of his ancestors....

In the pre-dawn hours of August 24th, 1305, in London's Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace - hero of all the Scots and deadly enemy of King Edward of England - sits awaiting the dawn, when he is to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. This brutal sundering of his body is the revenge of the English. Wallace is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last confession, a priest who knows Wallace like a brother. Wallace's confession - the tale that follows - is all the more remarkable because it comes from real life.

Jack Whyte has written a lyrical epic, retelling the myths behind the boy who would become the Man Who Would Be King - Arthur Pendragon. He has shown us, as Diana Gabaldon said, "the bone beneath the flesh of legend". In his last book in this series, we witnessed the young king pull the sword from the stone and begin his journey to greatness. Now we reach the tale itself - how the most shining court in history was made.

The year 1284 is a period of seeming peace in Scotland. It is also a time when the future of the country is being forged in the form of a young boy, 10-year-old Robert Bruce. In the decade that follows, King Alexander dies without an heir, and Scotland falls into chaos. The potential for civil war brings a growing threat of invasion from England as Edward I, young Bruce's hero and feudal patron, develops an obsession with adding Scotland, like Wales, to England's Crown by conquest.

Throughout the widely praised Camulod Chronicles, When Arthur miraculously withdraws the Sword of Kingship from the stone in which it is set, he proves himself the true and deserving king - sworn to defend the Christian faith against invaders, and to preserve Britain as a powerful, united force.

Everyone knows the story-how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, how Camelot came to be, and about the power struggles that ultimately destroyed Arthur's dreams. But what of the time before Arthur and the forces that created him?

Beginning with The Skystone, the first in his riveting Camulod Chronicles, Jack Whyte has embarked on an ambitious and remarkable re-telling of the Arthurian cycle, giving us a fresh and compelling take on a story that has been beloved for centuries. The Eagle brings us at last to the heart of the tale, the creation of fabled Camelot and the love story that enshrined its glory. Whyte takes us into the minds and lives of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, three astonishing but fallible people who were bound together by honor, loyalty, and love.

Some men strive for greatness. And some men find themselves thrust into the role of their nation's saviors. Such are the two heroes who reshaped and reconfigured the entire destiny of the kingdom of Scotland. Wallace the Braveheart would become the only legendary, heroic, commoner in medieval British history. The other, Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, would perfect the techniques of guerrilla warfare developed by Wallace and use them to create his own place in history as the greatest king of Scots.

France, 1095. Le pape appelle à une reconquête des lieux saints, annonçant la première croisade. Quelques années plus tard, Hugh de Payns erre dans Jérusalem mise à feu et à sang. Envoyé par une confrérie dont il n'a plus de nouvelles afin de découvrir le trésor caché de la ville du Christ, ce chevalier traumatisé par la guerre fonde un nouvel ordre de moines. Ils prendront le nom de Templiers.

En 1187, la bataille de Hattin voit la victoire éclatante de l'armée menée par Saladin contre les croisés. Échappant de justesse à la mort, le Templier Alexander Sinclair prend la décision de dissimuler son appartenance à l'ordre et se retrouve prisonnier.

Vivant parmi ses ennemis, le jeune chevalier ne tarde pas à se lier d'amitié avec eux. Deux ans plus tard, de l'autre côté de la Méditerranée, son cousin, André St. Clair, s'apprête à suivre Richard Cœur de Lion lors de la troisième croisade.

Le roi Philippe IV fait arrêter tous les Templiers de France et saisit leurs biens avec l'aide du pape. Averti de ce complot, William St. Clair réussit de justesse à s'échapper. Fuyant le pays en compagnie de quelques centaines de frères d'armes, il emporte le trésor de l'ordre. Face à cette traîtrise de la couronne, le chevalier décide qu'il est temps d'abandonner le passé : il libère ses hommes de leurs vœux d'obéissance à la papauté et les mène une dernière fois au combat lors de la bataille de Bannockburn.

A.D. 1305, an hour before dawn, London's Smithfield prison: In a dank cell, the outlaw William Wallace waits to be executed at first light. He is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last confession - the confession of a life even more exciting, violent and astonishing than the legend that survived. From internationally best-selling author Jack Whyte comes a story of brutal battles and high adventure, of heroism and redemption - the story of William Wallace as the world has never heard it before.