From an award-winning author, a historical novel inspired by the life of a Croatian mercenary in seventeenth-century England. In the chaotic days of the early 1600s, Carlo Fantom, a Central European who spoke thirteen languages, would gladly accept payment to fight, no matter the country or the cause—battling and brutalizing his victims whether he was on the side of the king or his enemies in the English Civil War, for the Christians against the Turks or the Turks against the Christians. Written in the form of a memoir, this imaginative biographical novel weaves the historical facts that are known about Captain Fantom with a dramatic and action-filled portrayal of his adventures and misadventures, both alone and with his band of warriors, chosen for their military prowess and moral depravity. “Reginald Hill’s stories must certainly be among the best now being written.” —The Times Literary Supplement

Based on the life of Captain Carlo Fantom.

The award-winning author of Captain Fantom returns with the origin story of the notorious seventeenth-century mercenary. Carlo Fantom spoke thirteen languages—a skill that proved useful as he traveled widely to sell his brutal services to any party who would pay him. This novel, written in the form of his personal memoirs, takes readers on a journey to his younger days—from the Croatian farm where he was born and raised to Venice, where he sails to collect a ransom for hostages—and offers both an intriguing look at how his character was formed and an action-packed account of his earliest adventures. “Reginald Hill’s stories must certainly be among the best now being written.” —The Times Literary Supplement

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RUTH SCURR John Aubrey was a modest man, a self-styled antiquarian and the man who invented modern biography. His ‘lives’ of the prominent figures of his generation and the Elizabethan era, including Shakespeare, Milton and Sir Walter Raleigh, have been plundered by historians for centuries for their frankness and fascinating detail. Collected here are all of Aubrey’s biographical writings, a series of unforgettable portraits of the characters of his day, still more alive and kicking than in any conventional work of history.