Rebels and Traitors

Lindsey Davis has written over twenty historical novels, beginning with The Course of Honour. Her bestselling mystery series features laid-back First Century detective Marcus Didius Falco and his partner Helena Justina, plus friends, relations, pets and bitter enemy the Chief Spy. After an English degree at Oxford University, Lindsey joined the Civil Service but became a professional author in 1989. Her books are translated into many languages and have been dramatized on BBC Radio 4. Her many prizes include the Premio Colosseo, awarded by the mayor of Rome 'for enhancing the image of Rome', the Sherlock award for Falco as Best Comic Detective and the Crimewriters' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. She was born in Birmingham but now lives in Greenwich, London. Her most recent books are Master and God followed by The Ides of April.

"Every now and then along comes an historical novel with such scope and ambition that it takes your breath away...So it is appropriate that Lindsey Davis's monumental English Civil War epic, Rebels and Traitors, is billed as the equivalent of Margaret Mitchell's American blockbuster Gone With The Wind ... Rebels and Traitors is as much an informative history lesson as a gripping historical novel and Davis spares us none of the terrible realities of this disastrous war - the slaughter of innocents, the break-up of families, the shattered dreams and the desperate struggle to survive. A magnificent evocation of time and place" Lancashire Evening Post "Davies is a prolific and popular writer, with a wide following for her thrillers set in the classical world. This is something different, large-scale and very ambitious. The word "epic" is overused, but this book deserves it. Davies never forgets that this is not the "English" civil war, but a conflict fought in Wales, Ireland and Scotland as well ... Her research has been assiduous and detailed, her commitment to the subject is impressive, and the background detail is often eye-opening." -- Hilary Mantel Observer