Hereward 05 - The Immortals (39 page)

Things do not happen in isolation. One of the themes of these books is how what has gone continues to influence what is. But we also know that what happens in one place can ripple out across the globe. I wanted to show the big picture, geopolitics if you will: the world of the eleventh century, and what was happening elsewhere while England was simmering in defeat, and the links that bind it all together.

Hereward: Wolves of New Rome
was a transition novel. I weighed the idea of starting the fourth Hereward book with all the spear-brothers already in Constantinople. But then I would have missed the opportunity to show the rough journey that many of the English rebels suffered, and those ties that connected old home to new.

But now, with this book, we have returned to the backdrop of real historical events. The campaign of the Norman adventurer Roussel de Bailleul, the rival emperor, the growing plots against Emperor Michael – all of this happened. And there are even greater battles, betrayals and machinations just over the horizon, all of it as gripping – and as important to the history of the world, and to England – as the struggle against William the Bastard (we just don’t get taught much of it in our school history lessons).

Those who know their history of the Byzantine empire will understand that Anna Dalassene is a towering figure. We meet her for the first time in this book, because, as she rightly points out herein, she was in exile when Hereward and his men first arrived in Constantinople, and her sons were keeping a necessarily low political profile. But as you can guess from the end of this book, her story, and that of her son Alexios Comnenos, will continue.

And what of the new King William? What of England? There are stories aplenty to be told there. Should we examine what is happening in the old country under this strange new rule? Only time will tell.

James Wilde

Born in the East Midlands,
James Wilde
read economic history at university and worked as a journalist before becoming a full-time writer. His debut novel,
Hereward
, was the first in a bestselling series that recounts the life of this near-forgotten hero. Despite travelling the world in search of adventure, James remains a Man of Mercia: he lives and writes in a house in the heart of a forest that his family has owned for several generations. To find out more, visit
www.manofmercia.co.uk

HEREWARD

HEREWARD: THE DEVIL’S ARMY

HEREWARD: END OF DAYS

HEREWARD: WOLVES OF NEW ROME

For more information on James Wilde and his books, see his website at
www.manofmercia.co.uk

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
www.transworldbooks.co.uk

Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at
global.penguinrandomhouse.com

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Emerald Eye Limited 2015

James Wilde has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781448167357
ISBN 9780593071854

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2