Author Nigel Collett has published his latest book.
Author Nigel Collett
The Swindon writer's The Dream of Magnus Maximus follows the family of the usurping Emperor Magnus Maximus and his British wife, Elen, in a tale of Britain’s emergence from Roman rule.
In AD 386, Britain stands on the brink of transformation. The familiar rhythms of life are crumbling as imperial control wanes.
Struggles for independence clash with the might of the empire, while old pagan beliefs confront the rising tide of Christianity — testing loyalties to kin and country alike. As the Roman world fades, a dangerous new age is born.
With it comes turmoil that threatens to engulf Britannia. Can Magnus Maximus claim his dream of empire? And if he does, will Elen’s Christian faith help shape the future — or will the cost be too great for them both? Nigel, a retired officer of Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas and the author of four historical biographies including The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer and Developing the Heart: E.M. Forster and India, has now turned his attention to the Arthurian legends for his first work of fiction.
He said: “I studied the period as an undergraduate and was struck by the fact that the British side of the post Roman era was relegated to legend and largely ignored, whilst the Anglo-Saxon and archaeological records predominated.
"I decided to even the balance by writing a fictional account, but one as closely tied to the extant historical record and the earliest legends as possible. I want to give the British, the Welsh, a voice that is largely missing.
"My inspiration was Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Sword at Sunset, but view the period in a much more optimistic light, that of the seizure by the British of the chance of independence from Rome and freedom from foreign conquest, and the resulting creation of a polity that survived for a century and a half.”
The Dream of Magnus Maximus, ISBN: 9781835743126, is priced at £10.99, and further information can be found at https://bookguild.co.uk/bookshop/historical/the-dream-of-magnus-maximus
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