THE LEOPARDS OF NORMANDY: DEVIL
BY
DAVID CHURCHILL
What They Say:
The Leopards of Normandy trilogy tells
the story of William the Conqueror
in all its wild, intoxicating,
unfailingly dramatic glory.
‘A
brutal depiction of raw power and earthy sex … cleverly adds layers of blood
and flesh to our rather skeletal knowledge of the people whose invasion of
England … changed our island for ever’ - Rory Clements
The fate of England
hangs in the balance of a fight between brothers
The
noble families of Europe are tearing themselves apart in their lust for power
and wealth.
Emma,
Queen of England, is in agony over the succession to her husband Canute’s
throne ... while her brother, the Duke
of Normandy’s sons battle in the wake of his death.
Robert,
the younger son, has been cheated of Normandy’s mightiest castle and sets out
to take it by force. He emerges from a bloody siege victorious and in love with
a beautiful - and pregnant - peasant girl.
Robert’s
child will be mocked as William the bastard. But we have another name for
him...
... Conqueror.
The first instalment in the Leopards
of Normandy trilogy paints a world seething with rivalry and intrigue, where
assassins are never short of work.
Five Inspiring
Historical Locations
Berlin:
I’ve written
two books as David Thomas – Blood Relative and Ostland - that are set, at least
in part in wartime Berlin and postwar East Berlin. I don’t know whether its my
lifelong fascination with World War II, or my teenage infatuation with that
celebrated Berlin resident David Bowie, the city fascinates me. Its really the
nexus of 20th century European history and whereas London, say, is
filled with monuments to British victories, Berlin is a city filled with
powerful, even beautiful memorials to events and phenomena no one wants to
remember, but that cannot be forgotten: book-burnings, the Stasi, the Reichstag
fire and, of course, the Holocaust.
The Roman Walls of Chichester:
I have an
office in Chichester, West Sussex. It’s a delightful place, filled with lovely
old buildings, including, of course, a glorious 12th century
cathedral, whose spire can be seen for miles around. Best of all are the walls
that encircle the city. I often go for a walk around them and that doesn’t just
give me some much-needed exercise, but it really makes me feel the presence of
history as a real, living thing.
Rome:
Because … oh,
come on, does anyone need to be told?
Kyoto:
I’ve only
visited Kyoto, the ancient imperial capital of Japan once, but I still have a
very powerful memory of the way that perfectly preserved historical buildings
and gardens stood cheek by jowl with all the noisy, manic energy of modern
Japan: here an old temple, there a pachinko parlour. I’ve had an idea for a
historical novel sent in early 18th century Japan waiting on my
creative runway for ages. One of these days I’ll get it written!
Istanbul …
This is on my
to-do list of places to visit. It’s arguably an even more historically rich and
culturally diverse city than Rome: home to two great religions and two mighty
empires, with layer-upon-layer of history from the Roman sewers on up. It’s
actually mentioned in passing in Devil. But I can’t help feeling that there’s more
to come.
Praise for the author
‘Audacious,
authentic, full of tension and tradecraft ... I loved it’ - Lee Child on Tom
Cain’s The Accident Man
‘The
most audacious and timely thriller for years’ - Daily Mirror on The
Accident Man
‘With
subtlety and intelligence, Thomas joins the historical dots to produce a novel
with plenty to say - eloquently - about the brutalising effects of the
Holocaust’ - Guardian on Ostland by David Thomas
‘This
nightmare-inducing new novel stretches crime fiction to its limits ... a
compelling read’ - Mail on Sunday on Ostland
About The Author:
David
Churchill is
the pseudonym of award-winning journalist and acclaimed novelist David Thomas,
who also writes as Tom Cain. He has investigated financial scandals on
Wall St, studio intrigues in Hollywood and corrupt sports stars in Britain and
he has lived in Moscow, Washington D.C. and Havana. David has edited four
magazines, published seventeen books and been translated into twenty languages.
The Leopards of Normandy reflects his lifelong
passion for history.
Published
in hardback and eBook on 26th February 2015 priced £14.99
Introduction to the Leopards of Normandy
Trilogy by the author
This series will be the result of a
personal passion that began with an episode of Simon Schama’s A History of
Britain in which he vividly described the bloated body of William the
Conqueror, lying at the priory of St Gervais in Rouen, deserted by his family
and allies, stripped of anything valuable. This image of the mighty Conqueror
brought low struck me very powerfully. I realised that while I had known his
name since I was a child, I knew virtually nothing about his life, beyond the
Battle of Hastings and the Domesday Book.
Throughout his boyhood and early
teens, William, Duke of Normandy was the centre of a deadly power struggle
between barons ambitious for control of the duchy. Several of his guardians
were killed in calculated, cold-blooded assassinations: one died before William’s own, terrified
eyes.
The young man who emerged from this traumatic
upbringing to seize control of his duchy and then invade England was tough,
self-reliant, prickly and untrusting. As a military leader he was courageous, a
great warrior in his own right and a decisive commander. But his ruthless will
to win could also lead him into acts of brutality shocking even by the
standards of his harsh age. Yet he displayed great loyalty to the few people he
really trusted, and both the story of how he fought to win and then marry his
wife, and the strength of their relationship over the following thirty-five
years proved that he was capable of loving someone deeply, too.
William’s world was as fascinating as
his life. He was the heir to a dukedom given by a terrified French king to a
rampant Viking raider. His forefathers had to struggle to hold their land and
expand its boundaries. William was known as ‘The Bastard’ because of his
illegitimacy, but he was by no means alone in that: most of the dukes of
Normandy were born to concubines who were either the spoils of war, or simply
seized by powerful men who took what they wanted without question.
A web of blood and marital ties linked
the royal and noble houses of Normandy, France, England and Denmark. So this is
just as much a story about families and relationships as it is about kings and
battles. And the women in William’s life were far, far more than helpless
damsels in distress.
William the Conqueror was one of the
key figures of western history. His world was filled with powerful, complex men
and women.
Find
David online at www.david-churchill.co.uk
Amazing
5 star reviews already on Amazon:
“Bold,
brash and brutal ... I LOVE it!!!”
“How
long until Book 2?”
“Start
of an all-conquering trilogy”
“I
enjoyed it immensely”
“Well
written, fascinating and very readable”
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