The Ten Thousand
A Novel of Ancient Greece
After decades of war, mighty Athens has been ravaged — its navy destroyed, its city walls toppled, its army disbanded. The fierce military state of Sparta has triumphed, but passions and hate linger on. Thousands of battle-hardened veterans from both sides in the conflict remain scattered across the Greek islands, restless and dangerous — until the young Persian prince Cyrus issues a call to arms from his base in Asia Minor. The rogue nobleman is raising an enormous mercenary army to wrest control of all of Persia, the most powerful empire.
The young philosopher-warrior Xenophon, scion of a noble Athenian family and follower of Socrates, risks his father's wrath and embarks on the adventure with high hopes for glory. Joining his cousin Proxenus, the war-maddened Spartan general Clearchus, and a huge body of Cyrus' native troops, he and ten thousand Greek mercenaries depart on an astounding march of a thousand miles, across the searing desert. Their near-deadly journey culminated in a massive, bloody battle at the very threshold of Babylon — a battle that proves disastrous for them. Their leaders are betrayed and murdered, their supply lines cut, and their route home across the desert blocked by the furious Persian king, bent on revenge. The Fates call on Xenophon to lead the devastated Greek soldiers in their escape, though he has little experience in commanding men. As the army flees toward the snowy north, its situation appears desperate.
From Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW) — Ford...combines historical accuracy with eloquent storytelling to create an epic story that will capture the imagination of anyone interested in the history of ancient Greece. A worthy successor to Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire.., this is highly recommended.
Months later, ten thousand battered, half-starved soldiers stagger out of the frozen mountains of Armenia into a small Greek trading post on the Black Sea. Their true tale of survival, and of the heroic expedition Xenophon led through the heart of an enemy empire, astonished the incredulous natives and has been the stuff of legend ever since.
From Kirkus Reviews — Xenophon's Anabasis provides the model for this epic first novel of Greek mercenaries stranded in the heart of the Persian empire during the late fifth century b.c. ...The descriptive language throughout is heroic, at times echoing the Iliad. Ford brings an interesting, fictively personal outlook to one of the classics. Inspired and highly informed, The Ten Thousand may lead many readers back to the original.
Michael Curtis Ford combines his expertise on fifth-century B.C. Greek warfare
with explosive page-turning action to give us an epic novel of struggle and
survival. Not since Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire has any book so vividly
captured the glory, beauty, and savage bloodshed that was ancient Greece.
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Reviews for The Ten Thousand
From James Brady (Author of the bestselling The Marines of Autumn) — The Greek mercenaries of the time of Socrates lost a war to the Persians but gained immortality. Thrilling, eloquent, illuminated by scholarship comes this retelling of the epic running battle of the Ten Thousand from Babylon to the sea.
From Victor Hanson (Author of The Soul of Battle and Carnage and Culture) — There is no more gripping story of desperate courage than the march of the Ten Thousand. Yet few Americans know anything about their astonishing trek out of Asia some 2,400 years ago. Michael Curtis Ford's moving account of the fighting and dying of these heroic Greek mercenaries is not only historically sound, but very human in making Xenophon's tale come alive in a way that no ancient historian or classicist has yet accomplished.
From The Mentor (Australia) — Some pieces of fiction catch one's eye-this novel is not science fiction or fantasy, but fiction of history. Michael Curtis Ford has obviously done his background research, and this, together with his clear writing style, ensures that the reader is captivated from the beginning to the end. The past comes alive with this novel.
From The Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon) — While The Ten Thousand has swift pace, a solid story and realistic characters, it is the fact that the book drops you into the reality of the times — dirt, grit, blood, passion and all-that gives it its strength.It is a book that makes the reader feel the story has been lived, not merely read.
From The Historical Novel Society (United Kingdom) — Ford is at his best when he is describing or philosophizing. At times, as in his description of a trip to the Oracle at Delphi, this can be genuinely thought-provoking.
From Newt Gingrich (former Speaker of the US House of Representatives) — This novel is a sound first novel, openly based on Xenophon's work, and a good introduction to the challenges faced by Xenophon both in the failing Greece in which Athens had been defeated by the Peloponnesian Wars and the economy and society were both battered and in the long ordeal of first service and then a march of extraordinary endurance. For anyone interested in thinking about the ancient world, the degree to which cultures have clashed, and the process of survival this is a thought-provoking book.
Gods and Legions
A Novel of the Roman Empire
The year 354 A.D.:
Julian, a young scholar in Athens, is the last survivor of a bloody political
purge that killed his entire family. Unexpectedly summoned to the court of
the Emperor Constantius, he fears the worst-only to find himself bearing the
ring of Caesar of the Western Empire.
Tested by bloody battle and the scepticism of the
Roman legions, Julian proves to be a military genius, crushing the German
tribes that have threatened Rome for generations. Soon after, defying his
own emperor against overwhelming odds, he risks civil war and ultimately seizes
the Empire for himself, becoming the most powerful man in the world while
still only thirty.
From The Statesman-Journal (Salem, OR) — A rich, lushly presented journey into a world that seems so real by the end of the first chapter that the reader can smell and feel the dust and stench of the military campaigns it covers. Ford deserves to be in the company of Robert Graves and Mary Renault. A powerful, moving, exciting and altogether fascinating novel, [in which] the frenzy of ancient battlefields leaps off the pages with an almost palpable power. Ford's books are accessible and moving. They are, in the final analysis, intensely human.
Now the dark side of his ambition emerges. Julian
discards the Christianity of his boyhood and sets his sights on the greatest
conquest of all-the Persian Empire. In Persia, however, his gods and his sanity
desert him, and in one swift stroke, the course of history is altered forever.
Ranging from the forbidding forests of ancient
Gaul to the sweltering sands of Persia, Gods & Legions is a breathtaking
historical re-creation of one of the most dangerous periods — and enduring
mysteries — of all time.
From Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW) — In this powerful and passionate second novel..., Ford's descriptions of warfare in the fourth century C.E. are dramatically gruesome, [but] the moments of humor and personal valor make this a truly compelling story — one not just of gods and legions but of men. Highly recommended.
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Reviews for Gods and Legions
From Kirkus Reviews — Rousingly old-fashioned tale... Stirring and adventurous tragedy of the first rank, written with all the gusto of a master pulp stylist.
From Booklist — Ford has crafted another magnificent piece of historical fiction. This fictional chronicle details the swift rise and fall of one of history's most unlikely leaders.
From The Morning Star Telegram (Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX) — Ford has an entertaining writing style, and mixes fact and fiction well. Gods and Legions could be a surprise bestseller.
The Last King
Rome's Greatest Enemy
To the Romans, the greatest enemy the Republic ever faced was not the Goths or
Huns, nor even Hannibal, but rather a ferocious and brilliant king on the
distant Black Sea: Mithridates Eupator VI of Pontus, known to history as Mithridates
the Great.
At age eleven, Mithridates inherited a small mountain
kingdom of wild tribesmen, which his wicked mother governed in his place.
Sweeping to power at age twenty-one, he proved to be a military genius and
quickly consolidated various fiefdoms under his command. Since Rome also had
expansionist designs in this region, bloody conflict was inevitable.
From Publishers Weekly — In chronicling the feats of Mithridates Eupator VI, last King of Pontus...Ford captures the Roman first century B.C. from a novel perspective. [The] book demonstrates the author's ability to imagine the Roman world from its periphery and shows the same mastery of military history as his first novel, The Ten Thousand.
Over forty years, Rome sent its greatest generals to contain Mithridates and gained tenuous control over his empire only after suffering a series of devastating defeats at the hands of this cunning and ruthless king. Each time Rome declared victory, Mithridates considered it merely a strategic retreat, and soon came roaring back with a more powerful army than before.
From Valerio Massimio Manfredi, author of the Alexander Trilogy and Spartan — "Ford's love for the ancient world emanates from every page: in his magical settings and spectacular re-creation of monuments and landscapes, in his bold portraits of the protagonists, and in his intriguing and swiftly moving plot."
Bursting with heroic battle scenes and eloquent
storytelling, Michael Curtis Ford has crafted a riveting novel of the ancient
world and resurrected one of history's greatest warriors.
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Reviews for The Last King
From Booklist — Ford has crafted a fascinating fictional biography of King Mithradates the Great of Pontus. Eloquently narrated...this rousing saga also provides an illuminating glimpse into the often vast divide that separated Eastern and Western warfare, culture, and philosophy during antiquity.
From Kirkus — Continuing his fictional stroll through classical history, Ford provides a swashbuckling account of the exploits of Mithradates the Great, King of Pontus and scourge of ancient Rome...Solid fun: a good, old-fashioned adventure tale with plenty of action and no narrative frills.
The Sword of Attila
A Novel of the Last Years of Rome
In an epic campaign that historians have called the most crucial in history,
two great warriors match strength and tactics in a colossal struggle for the
fate of the known world.
Ultimate authority in the fragile Western Empire
rests on the shoulders of one man. Adhering to the ancient code of honor on
which Rome was founded, he wages a single-minded struggle against barbarian
invasions and internal decadence to prevent a catastrophic reign of terror.
Respected and feared by friends and enemies alike, he is Count Flavius Aetius,
Supreme General of the Legions — better known to history as the Last of the
Romans.
From Rebecca's Reads — Michael Curtis Ford strips away the civilities of modern life. When you pull yourself out of the last page, you know you've been told one of our Story's huge moments, by a master storyteller, whose stunning sweep and involvement is matched only by his expertise at breathing new life into our heroic and gory past.
Facing him is a foe who has led his Asian hordes on a rampage of conquest and terror, from the barren steppes of the north to the very sands of Persia, ruthlessly destroying vast swaths of civilization. Now he and his army of fierce horsemen have penetrated deep into Europe and are poised to strike at the heart of the empire, the city of Rome itself. The entire world shudders at mention of this man's name — Attila the Hun. Horrified victims call him the Scourge of God.
From Salem Statesman Journal — An exhilarating journey into madness and destiny...This is first-class writing...impeccably researched, a surge of bloody excitement.
On a sweltering June day in A.D. 451, the fates of these two titans of antiquity collide in a conflict of such massive carnage and heroism as to dwarf nearly every other single battle in history. Though little known today, this monumental contest on a remote plain in Gaul determined the fate of Europe — and the very course of civilization. In The Sword of Attila, Michael Curtis Ford once again demonstrates his mastery as a chronicler of battle, honor, and ancient worlds.
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Reviews for The Sword of Attila
From Kirkus Reviews — A massively long, brutal spectacle, supremely well-executed...again, Ford offers solidly researched and lustily violent military historical fiction.
From Reviewers-choice.com — ...written with a rich layer of connotation...The result is rousing, in-depth adventure and psychological drama.
The Fall of Rome
A Novel of a World Lost
467 A.D.: The Roman Empire, riddled with corruption and staggered by centuries of barbarian onslaughts, now faces its greatest challenge: not only to its wealth and prestige, but to its very existence.
In the riveting The Sword of Attila, Michael Curtis Ford thrilled readers with his recounting of a cataclysmic clash of ancient civilizations. Now, in The Fall of Rome, he takes on the bloody twilight of empire, as the legacy of Attila, once thought destroyed on the battlefield, emerges again to defy the power of the Western World.
Pulsing with intrigue, saturated with historical detail, The Fall of Rome brings readers to new places — pressed into the trenches as catapult bolts fly overhead, lurking within the palace where betrayal is plotted, imprisoned in a tower stronghold where an emperor turns mad. Once again, Ford applies his formidable skills as a chronicler of ancient times, in a masterfully plotted, epic novel that will leave readers begging for more.