Nero

Nero, Book 1

By: Conn Iggulden

Narrated by: Lydia Leonard

Brought to you by Penguin.

TYRANTS AREN'T BORN. THEY'RE RAISED.

Travel to the heart of a Roman dynasty drenched in danger and intrigue in master storyteller Conn Iggulden's bold and brilliant return to Rome as he tells the story of NERO – last of the the Julio-Claudian emperors . . .

ANCIENT ROME, AD 37

It begins with a man’s hand curled around another’s throat.

Emperor Tiberius first dispatches a traitor.

Then his whole family.

Next all his friends. It is as if he never existed.

THIS IS ROMAN JUSTICE.

Into this fevered forum, a child is born.

His mother is Agrippina, granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. But their imperial blood is no protection. The closer you are to the heart of the empire, the closer you are to power, intrigue, and danger.

She faces soldiers, senators, rivals, silver-tongued pretenders, each vying for position. One mistake risks exile, incarceration, execution. Or, worst of all, the loss of her infant son.

For Agrippina knows that opportunity waits, even in your darkest moments. Her son is everything. She can make this boy, shape him into Rome itself – the one all must kneel before.

BUT FIRST, THEY MUST SURVIVE . . .

This then is the story of Nero's birth and raising under the watchful and scheming eye of his mother Agrippina – a woman every man crossed at his peril.

'A master storyteller' Daily Express
'Epic and in a class of his own' Daily Mirror

©2024 Conn Iggulden (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Rome's scheems at its best

Great book by inggledon, As usual, great way to learn about history. i am looking forward to book 2!

A strong continuation of the “Imperatorverse”

A classic Conn Iggulden sweeping epic that plunges you straight into the Roman world of intrigue and violence. If you’ve read his other works you will feel right at home. Characters are generally well balanced and you feel you understand their motivations. Only small comment would be the character Caligula who you don’t feel you get to know quite as well as any of the others. Thus his motivations and those of his adversaries become slightly bland. But no so much that you feel the story runs along without you. The narrator does an excellent job at making Caligula especially unpleasant . Please keep a family tree of the Julio-Claudia’s dynasty near by so you don’t have to pause or rewind too often. The names are very similar and references to kinship gets a bit difficult to understand sometimes.

Can’t wait for the follow-up in a universe that could be rightfully dubbed “Imperatorverse” :)