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gundog

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first registered 06.09.08

last online 216 days ago

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about me

Active, retired, spare-time writer, with 5 books 'published' through an on-line source. Sometime soldier, marketeer, civil servant, I currently spend more time than I would like doing something I was volunteered for, and more time than my wife would like in front of my computer, blogging, writing and generally amusing myself. Dog-lover (boxers), father and grandfather. All my books are now available in much revised form on Amazon.

favourite books

Lord of the Rings; My Family & Other Animals; Notes From a Small Island, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Physics of the Impossible;

The Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam

Oh, and so many others

my websites

http://caesarstribune.co.uk     https://www.amazon.com/author/caesarstribune

HarperCollins is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

my books

The Road to the Rubicon

John Timbers

The last volume of the Rutilius Journals, this one brings the Gallic Wars to their famous conclusion on the Rubicon as Marcus fades from view.


This is the last part of the story of Marcus Rutilius, the eponymous hero of the Rutilius Journals, a modern man’s perception of the life and times of Julius Caesar during the period of his wars in Gaul. It plots the headlong rush of the rightwing oligarchy in Rome towards their own destruction, brought on by their determination to crush the threat that Julius Caesar posed to the continuation of their corrupt rule over Rome and its conquered provinces. This is the story of the last two years of the war in Gaul (51 - 50 BC), in which Caesar was busy consolidating his hold on Gaul after his decisive victory over Vercingetorix, and how he was forced by the legions to punish those Gauls who continued the resistance after the fall of Alesia. We learn here of Caesar's growing frustration as the oligarchy attempts to remove him from command of his army and bring him back to face trial in Rome. Much of this story finds Marcus Rutilius removed from the bloodiest final battles and yet playing a pivotal rôle in Caesars plans to return to Rome legally to take up his second term as Consul.

 

A View to a Death

John Timbers

The fourth volume of the Rutilius Journals, based on Caesar's Gallic Wars – the bane of many a Latin student's life at GCE time.


The fourth in a five book series, The Rutilius Journals, which tells the story of Caesar's Gallic Wars, fought between 58 and 50 BC. The first person hero is Marcus Rutilius, alias Mike Oakwood, Caesar's Tribune, who now faces a new task – to get Pompey back on-side after the death of his young wife, Julia, Caesar’s beloved daughter. This new adventure takes Marcus out of his usual sphere of operations to the other side of the Mediterranean, following Crassus’s fortunes in his bid to drive the Parthians out of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and foil their advance into territory in Asia Minor that the Romans considered to be part of their burgeoning new empire. Returning to Caesar’s armies at the end of that tragic episode, Marcus is welcomed back onto Caesar’s staff with fresh assignments that take him first back to England, then through the worst year of fighting in Gaul, as Caesar puts down the great rebellion led by Vercingetorix, the famous warrior chieftain of all Gaul (still revered to this day by the French as a folk hero), with its climax at Alesia at the end of the campaign season of 52 BC.

 

Albion Ablaze

John Timbers

The third volume of The Rutilius Journals, covers Julius Caesar's two expeditions to Britain in BC 54 and 55. Fact and fiction in glorious mélange.


The third in a series of five novels that bring alive a very different interpretation of Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on his Gallic Wars, told through the eyes of Marcus Rutilius, originally a Military Tribune in the Tenth Legion. These are the ‘Rutilius journals’, written by Marcus’s 21st century alter ego, Mike Oakwood, in order to keep in touch with his real persona. This volume of the journals tells the story of the two years of Caesar’s campaigns in which he twice visited the almost unknown (to the Romans) island of Britannia, or Albion as it was often called. Much of this part of Marcus’s story relating to the two invasions in 55 and 54 BC is pure fiction, the interpretation of the author and in no way derived from Caesar’s commentaries. However, this story is just as plausible as the tale that Caesar’s legions pulled off landings two years running against the well-armed and hostile, woad-painted warriors that inhabited the hinterland of Kent at that time. Read the continuing adventures of Marcus Rutilius, once Caesar’s Tribune, now Caesar’s Chief of Intelligence, sent to Albion to bring the people of Cantium over to a Roman alliance.

 

Master of Gaul

John Timbers

The second in a five volume historical fiction series based on Caesar's Gallic Wars, It follows on from Caesar's Tribune.


Master of Gaul is the second in a series of five novels that bring alive a new and very different interpretation of Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on his Gallic Wars. The story is told through the eyes of Marcus Rutilius Robura, originally a Military Tribune in the Tenth Legion, commanding a cavalry troop made up from the sons of Rome’s nobility. These are the ‘Rutilius journals’, written by Marcus’s 21st century alter ego, Mike Oakwood, (read Caesar’s Tribune for the full story of this strange transition) in order to keep in touch with his real persona. This section of his journals covers the period 57-56 BC, when Caesar became virtually the Master of Gaul. Follow Marcus/Mike’s progress in Caesar’s footsteps as he fights his way across Gaul. Live through his emotional struggles to satisfy the curiosity of his (Marcus’s) twin sister; see how his relationship with the beautiful Sylvia – the young Greek girl who understands his link to the future – develops; watch as his close relationship with Quintus, now his brother-in-law, reaches a crisis point; look out for that glimpse of what lies in Caesar’s future across the seas of northern Gaul.

 

Caesar's Tribune

John Timbers

Julius Caesar, Dictator of Rome. Follow his rise to power through the eyes of a Tribune in his legions – a distinctly unique officer.


Julius Caesar was an aesthete and polymath as well as being a highly popular general. History knows him as the Dictator who brought down the Roman Republic and was assassinated for his pains but there is much, much more to him than historical prejudice ever passes on. Caesar's Tribune himself is not your run-of-the-mill Roman officer. He is a modern young Englishman, thrown back in time into the physical mould of one of Rome's rising young officers, like Caesar the holder of the Roman VC equivalent, at the time of the great man’s bid for power as Consul, the principal magistracy of the Republic. This is the first in a series of five books, based on Caesar’s own Commentaries on the Gallic Wars that followed his consulship and charted his rise to overwhelming power as an all-conquering general. Our hero plays a hitherto unsuspected part in Caesar’s success, revealing very plausible explanations of how and why he managed to outwit the Gauls, the Germans and the Brits in his eight-year campaign. The ‘time warp’ is a device, not a principal theme of these books. Caesar’s Tribune must live by his wits, not by reliance on modern ‘magic’.

 

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latest

c. ross wrote 122 days ago

1-23 is a pivotal day... Hi John, I'm wondering if you might be....

Software wrote 168 days ago

Hello John, Hope you are well. Maybe you would like to try out my....

Nathan Maki wrote 175 days ago

Hi there! I'm not sure if I had told you already, but my book "A....

jrevino wrote 195 days ago

Hello, my name is James Revino. I am the author of ‘Hollow.’ I was wo....

Di Manzara wrote 206 days ago

Hello, how are you today? :) As we're almost at the end of the mon....

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my comments

latest

I wrote 216 days ago

Thank you for a very constructive comment. I'm afraid 'the ladies' is a generational thing – in my case it's far from patronising. I mean it in an adoring way. I've always held women in awe and still tend to put the one's I love on a pedastal – wise women, in my experience, are the ones who allo... view book

I wrote 233 days ago

A well-made point, KR, but a bit late now for me. I wrote the original – CT – in 1993, ane the second in 1994. Then there was a long gap until I retired at 66 and completed the series over the next four years 'in my own time'. I have since polished them considerably and posted them on Amazon Kindl... view book

I wrote 233 days ago

I think you have the point of this site all wrong. Wannabes post a taste of their first efforts with a view to getting helpful criticism. Anyone hoping for an instant way through to the editor's desk is in for a disappointment. As it happens, all five books have now been heavily revised and are... view book

I wrote 237 days ago

Please accept this reply for all five books – not too many people read the samples of all five before commenting. Thank you. Sadly, the free pass to the top of the slush pile doesn't seem to work. The main thing is that I enjoyed doing what I did. If readers gained another take on what Caesar was ... view book

I wrote 239 days ago

Some people can't take their history in heavy doses, which is why I turned to this genre, having seen the terrible inaccuracy of the 'Rome' TV series. Others like to believe the historians of old, who repeat the propaganda of the victors rather than examine what really happened. (The Tudor version... view book

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