With her renowned storytelling gifts in full force, Colleen McCullough delivers a breathtaking novel that proves once again that she is the top historical novelist of our time.

Grand in scope and vivid in detail, McCullough's gripping narrative thrusts readers headlong into the complex and fascinating world of Rome in the tumultuous last days of the Republic. At the height of his power, Gaius Julius Caesar becomes embroiled in a civil war in Egypt, where he finds himself enraptured by Cleopatra, the nation's golden-eyed queen. To do his duty as a Roman, however, he must forsake his love and return to the capital to rule.

Though Caesar's grip on power seems unshakable, the political landscape is treacherous -- the returning hero has no obvious successor, and his legacy seems to be the prize for any man with the courage and cunning to fell Rome's laurelled leader. Caesar's jealous enemies masquerade as friends and scheme to oust the autocrat from power and restore true republican government to Rome. But as the plot races to its dramatic conclusion, it becomes clear that with the stakes this high, no alliance is sacred and no motives are pure.

A sweeping epic of ancient Rome from the #1 bestselling author of "The Thorn Birds"
In this breathtaking follow-up to "The October Horse," Colleen McCullough turns her attention to the legendary romance of Antony and Cleopatra, and in this timeless tale of love, politics, and power, proves once again that she is the best historical novelist of our time.
Caesar is dead, and Rome is, again, divided. Lepidus has retreated to Africa, while Antony rules the opulent East, and Octavian claims the West, the heart of Rome, as his domain. Though this tense truce holds civil war at bay, Rome seems ripe for an emperor -- a true Julian heir to lay claim to Caesar's legacy. With the bearing of a hero, and the riches of the East at his disposal, Antony seems poised to take the prize. Like a true warrior-king, he is a seasoned general whose lust for power burns alongside a passion for women, feasts, and Chian wine. His rival, Octavian, seems a less convincing candidate: the slight, golden-haired boy is as controlled as Antony is indulgent and as cool-headed and clear-eyed as Antony is impulsive. Indeed, the two are well matched only in ambition.
And though politics and war are decidedly the provinces of men in ancient Rome, women are adept at using their wits and charms to gain influence outside their traditional sphere. Cleopatra, the ruthless, golden-eyed queen, welcomes Antony to her court and her bed but keeps her heart well guarded. A ruler first and a woman second, Cleopatra has but one desire: to place her child on his father, Julius Caesar's, vacant throne. Octavian, too, has a strong woman by his side: his exquisite wife, raven-haired Livia Drusilla, who learns to wield quiet power to help her husband in his quest for ascendancy. As the plot races toward its inevitable conclusion -- with battles on land and sea -- conspiracy and murder, love and politics become irrevocably entwined.
McCullough's knowledge of Roman history is detailed and extensive. Her masterful and meticulously researched narrative is filled with a cast of historical characters whose motives, passions, flaws, and insecurities are vividly imagined and expertly drawn. The grandeur of ancient Rome comes to life as a timeless human drama plays out against the dramatic backdrop of the Republic's final days.

One of the most beloved novels of all time, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough’s sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback, returns to enthrall a new generation.

The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family.

It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.

Colleen McCullough's sweeping saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback has enthralled readers the world over. This is the chronicle of three generations of Clearys, ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. Most of all, it is the story of only daughter Meggie and her lifelong relationship with the haunted priest Father Ralph de Bricassart--an intense joining of two hearts and souls that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.

A poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit, Colleen McCullough's acclaimed masterwork remains a monumental literary achievement--a landmark novel to be cherished and read again and again.

"New York Times" bestselling author Colleen McCullough re-creates an extraordinary epoch before the mighty Republic belonged to Julius Caesar--when Rome's noblewomen were his greatest conquest.

His victories were legend--in battle and bedchamber alike. Love was a political weapon he wielded cunningly and ruthlessly in his private war against enemies in the forum. Genius, general, patrician, Gaius Julius Caesar was history. His wives bought him influence. He sacrificed his beloved daughter on the altar of ambition. He burned for the cold-hearted mistress he could never dare trust. Caesar's women all knew--and feared--his power. He adored them, used them, destroyed them on his irresistible rise to prominence. And one of them would seal his fate.

With extraordinary narrative power, "New York Times" bestselling author Colleen McCullough sweeps the reader into a whirlpool of pageantry and passion, bringing to vivid life the most glorious epoch in human history.

When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural "upstart" Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth. Men of exceptional vision, courage, cunning, and ruthless ambition, separately they faced the insurmountable opposition of powerful, vindictive foes. Yet allied they could answer the treachery of rivals, lovers, enemy generals, and senatorial vipers with intricate and merciless machinations of their own--to achieve in the end a bloody and splendid foretold destiny . . . and win the most coveted honor the Republic could bestow.

'A true epic . . . It's easy to see why this stunning tale has been called the Australian Gone With the Wind' Daily Mail 'One of the biggest-selling, most widely read books in the history of fiction' Observer In the rugged Australian Outback, three generations of Clearys live through joy and sadness, bitter defeat and magnificent triumph - driven by their dreams, sustained by remarkable strength of character and torn by dark passions, violence and a scandalous family legacy of forbidden love. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, who can never possess the man she so desperately adores - Ralph de Bricassart. Ralph will rise from parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican ... but his passion for Meggie will follow him all the days of his life. A timeless epic romance - a battle between faith and the heart

With incomparable storytelling skill, "New York Times" bestselling author Colleen McCullough brings Rome alive in all her majesty--and illuminates the world of those favored by the gods at birth.

In a time of cataclysmic upheaval, a bold new generation of Romans vied for greatness amid the disintegrating remnants of their beloved Republic. They were the chosen...and the cursed--blessed with wealth and privilege yet burdened by the dictates of destiny in a savage struggle for power that would leave countless numbers crushed and destroyed. But there was one who would tower above them all--a brilliant and beautiful boy whose ambition was unparalleled, whose love was legend, and whose glory was Rome's: a boy they would one day call "Caesar."

The tale of the Trojan War brilliantly retold by the bestselling author of THE THORN BIRDS. The tragic and terrible drama of the war between Greeks and Trojans, the long siege of Troy, and the impact of one woman's beauty on the fate of two nations, is played out again in this dazzling novel based on Homer's ILIAD. Meet enchanting Helen, who we first encounter as a spoiled teenager and whose passion for the handsome, reckless Paris leads to the betrayal of her husband, King Menelaus, and the fall of the House of Troy. Powerful King Agamemnon with his terrifyingly ambitious wife Klytemnestra and his soothsaying mistress Kassandra. Odysseus, doomed to wander the Aegean for twenty long years; brave Achilles, who is haunted by the mad shade of his mother; the heroes Hektor and Ajax, and many more.

Let international bestselling author Colleen McCullough sweep you away with this enthralling, evocative and emotional saga of one woman's quest to come to terms with a new life. If you like Victoria Hislop, Lucinda Riley and Fiona Valpy, you'll love this! 'Fast-moving and immensely readable... Back to the open spaces, merciless climate and sheer pioneering stance of the magical THE THORN BIRDS, this book is a page turner from start to finish' -- Maeve Binchy 'A compelling, passionate and gritty saga that was well worth the wait' -- She 'A powerful saga' -- Mirror 'Absorbing' -- Sunday Telegraph 'I could put this book down. I was consumed with it' -- ***** Reader review 'This book is utterly compelling and quite simply, I loved it. I wanted to finish it, but, didn't want it to end. Beautifully written, descriptive passages. A truly Master author. Thank you' -- ***** Reader review 'One of the best reads I've had in years' -- ***** Reader review 'Thoroughly loved this book, I was hooked from the first page!' -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************************** Alexander Kinross is remembered in his native Scotland only as a shiftless boilermaker's apprentice. But when he writes from Australia to summon his bride, his relatives realize he is now a man to be reckoned with. Arriving in Sydney after a difficult voyage, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Drummond meets her husband-to-be and discovers that he frightens and repels her. Isolated in Alexander's great house, Elizabeth finds that marriage does not prompt her husband to enlighten her about his past life - nor his present one, in which his mistress, the sensuous, tough, outspoken Ruby Costevan, still plays a part... Will she be able to forge a happy new life in this new world?

JEALOUSY. INTRIGUE. THEFT. MURDER. CARMINE DELMONICO IS BACK ON THE CASE.
HOLLOMAN, CONNECTICUT, 1969. A lethal toxin, extracted from the blowfish, is stolen from a laboratory at Chubb University. It kills within minutes and leaves no trace behind.
Captain Carmine Delmonico is therefore quick off the mark when the bodies start to mount up. A sudden death at a dinner party followed by another at a gala black-tie event seem at first to be linked only by the poison and the presence of Dr. Jim Hunter. A black man married to a white woman, Dr. Hunter has faced scandal and prejudice for most of his life, so what would cause him to risk it all now? Or is he being framed for murder--and if so, by whom? Carmine and his detectives must follow the trail through the university town's crowd of eccentrics, no matter how close to home it may lead.

Carmine Delmonico returns in another riveting page-turner by international bestselling author Colleen McCullough.

America in 1968 is in turmoil and the leafy Holloman suburb of Carew is being silently terrorized by a series of vicious and systematic rapes. When finally one victim finds the courage to speak out and go to the police, the rapist escalates to murder. For Captain Carmine Delmonico, it seems to be a case with no clues. And it comes as the Holloman Police Department is troubled: a lieutenant is out of his depth, a sergeant is out of control, and into this mix comes the beautiful, ruthlessly ambitious new trainee, Helen MacIntosh, daughter of the influential president of Chubb University.

As the killer makes his plans, Carmine and his team must use every resource at their disposal--including a highly motivated neighborhood watch, the Gentlemen Walkers.

Colleen McCullough, who crafts "fiction at its best" ("Time"), triumphs with a searing murder mystery packed with heartpounding twists inside the world of science.

All the victims were pretty girls.

When the remains of a young woman are found at a Connecticut neurological institute, Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico is called to investigate. It is only the first of a serial killer's grisly crimes, however, and Delmonico is plunged into his most perplexing and terrifying case.

All the victims looked alike.

A frightening pattern emerges as the violence escalates, and Delmonico senses the killer is among the institute's staff of scientists and doctors. Infiltrating their ranks, he gets closer to manager Desdemona Dupre, who can help him uncover the secrets, politics, and backstabbing ambitions harbored there.

All is not what it seems.

But this audacious killer's game has only just begun -- a game poised to unravel everything Delmonico believes, and pull the detective who's seen it all into a shocking face-off with a staggering revelation at its core.

The year is 1967, and the world teeters on the brink of nuclear holocaust as the Cold War goes relentlessly on. But the little city of Holloman, Connecticut, home to prestigious Chubb University and armaments giant Cornucopia, has its own crisis: twelve murders have taken place in one day.
As chief of detectives Captain Carmine Delmonico investigates, he finds himself drawn into a gruesome web of secrets and lies. And as if twelve murders were not enough, Carmine must match wits with the mysterious Ulysses, a spy giving Cornucopia's armaments secrets to the Russians. Are the murders and espionage different cases, or are they somehow linked?
When FBI special agent Ted Kelly makes himself part of the investigation, it appears the stakes are far higher than anyone had imagined. As the death toll mounts, Carmine and his team discover that the answers are not what they seem--but then, are they ever?

Colleen McCullough's third magnificent novel in her outstanding series on ancient Rome, which began with The First Man in Rome, and The Grass Crown, approaches its shattering climax as Julius Caesar's star begins to shine more brightly. Fortune's Favourites witnesses the power, mastery and cunning of two enigmatic rulers of Rome - Sulla, returning from exile, and the 22-year-old Pompey, who designates himself Magnus 'the Great'. And in the background is the young soldier, Caesar, who begins to show the expert qualities that will one day culminate in him becoming an unparalleled leader of ancient Rome. And at the heart of this sumptuous tale is the unforgettable story of Spartacus and his doomed slave revolt - the true story, as no modern reader has ever before encountered it…

Rome's leaders are frightened: the brilliant, ruthless Gaius Julius Caesar must be crushed before he can overthrow the government and become dictator. This magnificent novel opens in Gaul, scene of Caesar's glorious victory over a fierce people. His conquest is in the name of Rome, but when the Senate refuse to give Caesar his due he marches upon his own country, an army prepared to die for him at his back. As Colleen McCullough's evocative, compelling portrayal draws us ever further into the powerful, dangerous and passionate world of ancient Rome, one figure emerges supreme: the extraordinary, tragic genius Caesar, a man who changed his world.

Caesar's Women is the story of Gaius Julius Caesar's relentless rise to prominence, beginning with his return to Rome in 68 B. C. He comes prepared to dominate a new battlefield - the Roman Forum. But his victories are not limited to the Forum: he also conquers Rome's noblewomen. To Caesar, love is just another weapon in his political arsenal, and he is willing to sacrifice any woman on the altar of his ambition if it will advance his ultimate goal. In the pantheon of bestselling authors, Colleen McCullough has no equal. From the heights of The Thorn Birds to the finely rendered Tim, no one has created more excitement.

The first three novels in her acclaimed Masters of Rome series have all led up to this book. Here is the dramatic story of Julius Caesar and the Republic of Rome: a world that loved him, resented him, fought to destroy him - but never managed to ignore him.

It was one of the greatest human experiments ever undertaken: to populate an unknown land with the criminal, the unloved and the unwanted of English society. Amid conditions of brutality that paralleled those of slavery, 'The First Fleet' was sent to a place no European but the legendary Captain Cook had ever seen. Left to live or die on the hostile Australian continent, these convicts - and their equally isolated guards - occupy the centre of Colleen McCullough's compelling new epic. Richard Morgan - convicted felon and educated, intelligent, resourceful man - finds the will to survive, experience the joys of love, and finally make an indelible mark upon the new frontier.

A thoroughly researched historical saga rich in romance, adventure and unforgettable characters, Morgan's Run has the makings of a modern classic.

The captivating new novel from the international bestselling author of 'The Thorn Birds'. Innocence is no protection... In Holloman, Connecticut, someone is preying on the innocent. At a prestigious research centre fondly known by its staff as the 'Hug', parts of a mutilated body are found. Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico of the Holloman Police learns that a string of horrifying murders - each with the same modus operandi as the one at the Hug - have been commited throughout the state. When another body is found, the medical staff become prime suspects. With the powers that be in turmoil and every member of staff hiding something, Delmonico must delve into the lives of each and every Hug employee. This is the case of his career and he is determined to solve it. But how, when he is hunting a monster who leaves no clues and is always two steps ahead?

The bestselling author of THE THORN BIRDS returns with a novel of laughter, passion and more than a little magic ... 1960, Sydney's Kings Cross. Harriet Purcell leaves her conventional, respectable home and respectable, passionless boyfriend and moves into a rooming house owned by Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz. There, Harriet finds a life she relishes - excitement, adventure and passion. Mrs. Delvecchio Schwartz makes a living from telling fortunes, and is mother to 4-year-old Flo. Beautiful little Flo is mute, and Harriet comes to love her as if Flo were her own - and must protect her at all costs when tragedy strikes... Angel is Colleen McCullough at her vintage best, drawing on her own experiences of living in the Cross in the 1960s and writing of a world that has long gone. Most of all, it is a tale of a woman's love for a child, and what she is prepared to endure to ensure her survival.

Let international bestselling author Colleen McCullough transport you back in time to Rome to 48 BC: scene of one of the greatest political battles and one of the most passionate love affairs of all time. This is an evocative and enthralling historical novel that will have you gripped. Fans of Conn Iggulden, Madeleine Miller and Simon Scarrow will not be disappointed. 'An enormous rich mountain of a book, which will appeal to people who like their history in great succulent dollops' -- Sunday Times 'Incomparable... Engrossing... Breathtakingly detailed... McCullough has triumphed again' -- Chicago Tribune 'Intrigue, political manoeuvring, grandstanding, gossip, sex, both affectionate and calculated, and wholesale slaughter... McCullough works to charge history with the current of personality.' -- Booklist 'A really engrossing read' -- ***** Reader review 'A masterpiece' -- ***** Reader review 'In a peerless class of its own' -- ***** Reader review 'Entertaining and engrossing' -- ***** Reader review ***************************************************** Rome, 48 BC: Julius Caesar is in the prime of his life and at the height of his powers. But behind the myth lies a man beset with contradictions - happily married, he is also the lover of the enigmatic Egyptian queen, Cleopatra; a great general, he wishes to bring to an end Rome's endless wars; conscious of his own power and contemptuous of lesser men, he is determined not to be worshipped as a living god or crowned emperor. But Caesar is a man whose very greatness attracts envy and jealousy to a dangerous degree, and as the political intrigues which surround him reach their climax, his destruction becomes inevitable... The October Horse is the sixth book in the Masters of Rome series.