Author:James Hawes
Brian Marley, a divorced Englishman, is alone in the vilest jungle on earth, about to die live on television. A contestant on Brit Pluck, Green Hell, Two Million, the ultimate reality TV show, Marley has managed to outlive his rivals and win enough money to change his life. Except that the TV crew has just been wiped out in a helicopter crash. With the crocodiles closing in, he has no option but to climb the vast cliff at his back. Inevitably, he falls...
...And awakes in a lost world that is remarkably like an Englishman's heaven. There's cricket and rugger, the Union Jack, plucky boys, pretty girls, a tough but fair headmaster - an entire miniature civilization preserved by the surviving passengers from Comet IV, which vanished in 1958.
Firmly convinced that they were the first casualties of World War III, they have kept an idyllic, pre-sixties England alive. When Brian contacts the outside world, the Headmaster is outraged to find an embattled New Labour MP unchallenged by a hapless Tory Party. With 50s conviction, he sets about restoring the values of the Eagle to England.
Amusing and intelligent throughout...The tone of the narrative is pitch-perfect
—— ObserverA comic novelist of considerable stature...An assured, clever, raffishly inventive work
—— GuardianDeliciously entertaining
—— Independent on SundayThe writing is so sharp and waspish that comparisons with Evelyn Waugh are not misplaced
—— Sunday TelegraphConsistently inventive and entertaining
—— Daily MailA novelist of prodigious talent
—— Spectator'Durham has reimagined this vanished world in stunningly precise detail, and his lucid explanations of the give-and-take of military decision-making help the reader through some dauntingly complicated material. Nor is this novel merely a pageant: the author vividly portrays both Hannibal's driven resolve and Scipio's ruthless efficiency, as well as the conflicted emotions that rule several powerfully realized secondary figures . . . One of the best of the current crop of historical novels, and a career-making march forward for Durham'
—— Kirkus Reviews'What I particularly liked about the book was Durham's even-handedness. He shows both empires were capable of cruelty, greed and criminal stupidity...An epic treat'
—— Western Daily Press'A grand recounting of the second Punic War...Durham's epic is truly a big, magnificent, sprawling story complete with a sizable cast of compelling characters, intricately drawn battle scenes and fluid, graceful prose'
—— Booklist (starred review)
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