George Shipway: Imperial Governor [2002]

Londinium's burning...This does for the Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus, what I, CLAUDIUS did for the stuttering Emperor whose armies invaded Britain in AD43: an obscure historic figure is suddenly centre-stage. And he has a terrific story to tell. Sent to Britain to conquer the gold mines in Wales, he faces the fury of the tribes united by Queen Boudicca in opposition to the corrupt officials entrenched in Nero's favour. Somehow, Paulinus must seize the gold and defeat the rebellion without earning the enmity of an increasingly unstable Emperor. Packed with fascinating detail of life in Roman Britain - and in the ranks of the Legions in particular - this is first-class historical fiction in the tradition of John Masters or Alfred Duggan. 'Engrossing, exciting and lit by a kind of imaginative realism which makes characters, supposed to have been dead two thousand years, vivid and alive...I am reminded of Alfred Duggan' - John Masters