To bind the book we have Tullus at the centre; he interacts with the real life people of the time and Kane balances fiction well with the facts. He is willing to bend the truth if it aids the story and any interested parties are ably informed of these at the end of the book in the historic notes.
The Eagle series is becoming a very interesting treatise on the ambiguity of war. Kane does not like to pick sides, for every atrocity acted out by the Germans, the Romans have at least one. As a reader , it sometimes makes for uncomfortable reading as you do not know who to root for, but it does mean the tension is always peaking. It is only the nature of history itself that prevents this second outing surpassing the first; massive defeats for the Romans only came about rarely, so writing two in two books is never likely to happen.
If you plan to read this book, you best check out [[Eagles at War by Ben Kane|Eagles at War]] first. There are loads of great historic fiction books available about Rome including [[Praetorian (Roman Legion II) by Simon Scarrow|the Marco/Cato series]] by Simon Scarrow. [[Ben Kane's Eagles of Rome Books in Chronological Order]]
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