BEN KANE
I’d always been fascinated by military fiction, from Rosemary Sutcliffe’s iconic Eagle of the Ninth to Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series and Wilbur Smith’s African sagas. Coming from a very scientific household, the craft of writing is not something I ever considered as a child. I loved animals, and my father was a veterinarian, so I thought I’d do likewise. After more than a decade in the workplace, a succession of life events – three years travelling, work in Northumberland near Hadrian’s Wall and disaffection with veterinary medicine prompted me to start writing. Although I thought of several time periods to write about, the Roman Republic/Empire was what came naturally to me.
What started as a hobby quickly became an obsession. I wasn’t happy unless I wrote every day, and for several years, I lived, breathed and dreamed about the Romans, all the while working full time as a vet. In 2006, I was fortunate enough to be signed by Charlie Viney, and the real work began! In 2007, after a lot of sweat and tears, The Forgotten Legion went on the market and was snapped up by Preface, a division of Random House, after a bidding war with 5 other publishing houses. It was published in 2008, and was the 8th highest selling debut hardback fiction work of the year. Since then, the sequel, The Silver Eagle, has been released to critical and commercial success. The last part of the trilogy, The Road to Rome, published in 2010 and was a Sunday Times number 4 bestseller.
Currently, I am working on Soldier of Carthage, the first book of a new trilogy set at the time of the Second Punic War, when Rome fought Carthage, and the amazing general Hannibal Barca. It will bepublished in 2011.
For more information visit www.benkane.net
LATEST BOOK: SPARTACUS: THE GLADIATOR
The first of two epic novels which tell the story of one of the most charismatic heroes history has ever known - Spartacus, the gladiator slave who took on and nearly defeated the might of Rome, during the years 73-71 BC.
As winter approaches in 74 BC, few travellers are abroad. But one man is making the long and weary last stage of his way home. Large parts of his homeland, Thrace, a land north of Greece, has fallen under the hated power of Rome. This Thracian has fought in the Roman legions for nearly a decade. Skilled, hardened in battle, a sophisticated fighter. Spartacus.
But home is no longer the safe haven of his imagination. A new king sits on the throne. Treacherous and cunning, he has seized the crown by murder and he will hold on to it by violence. When a Roman slave trader comes to the village in search of men who will fight as gladiators,Spartacus is betrayed and sold. His odyssey has begun.
The legend that is Spartacus has come down to us through the centuries - the story of a man who took on the might of Rome and nearly brought her down. Now Ben Kane, the brilliant author of The Forgotten Legion and Hannibal:Enemy of Rome, brings to glorious life the first part of the Spartacus story.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Spartacus: The Gladiator, Preface/Random House, 2012, The Forgotten Legion, Preface/Random House, 2008, St Martin's Press (US), Ediciones B (Spain), Edizione Piemme (Italy), Anubis (Greece), Exmo (Russia), Bullet Books (Poland); Atheneum, Holland. The Silver Eagle, Preface/Random House, 2009, St Martin's Press (US), The Road to Rome, Preface/Random House, 2010, St Martin's Press (US), Ediciones B (Spain).
