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Author

Conn Iggulden

1971

22 fiction

Conn Iggulden writes large-scale historical fiction centred on conquest, ambition, political violence and the making of empires.

Conn Iggulden was born in London in 1971 and grew up with a strong interest in history, storytelling and adventure. He studied English at the University of London and worked as a teacher for several years before leaving education to write full time. His classroom experience helped shape a direct, fast-moving narrative style designed to make large historical subjects accessible without reducing their scale or complexity. Iggulden has said that he is particularly drawn to periods in which individual ambition and military power can alter the direction of entire societies, and this interest is evident throughout his fiction. Alongside his historical novels, he co-wrote The Dangerous Book for Boys with his brother Hal Iggulden, a bestselling collection of traditional skills, games, stories and practical knowledge. He has also written children’s fiction and contemporary thrillers, but historical fiction has remained at the centre of his career and established him as one of the most widely read British novelists working in the genre.

Iggulden’s first novel, The Gates of Rome, appeared in 2003 and began the Emperor series, following Julius Caesar from youth through the political and military struggles that transformed the late Roman Republic. He then wrote the Conqueror series about Genghis Khan, his sons and the expansion of the Mongol Empire across Asia and Europe, before turning to fifteenth-century England in his Wars of the Roses sequence, which depicts the rivalry between the houses of Lancaster and York and the collapse of royal authority into dynastic war. The Athenian novels move to the ancient Greek world and the Persian invasions, while The Falcon of Sparta reimagines Xenophon and the expedition of the Ten Thousand. Other works include Dunstan, set in Anglo-Saxon England, and later novels exploring further episodes of ancient and medieval warfare. Iggulden frequently compresses chronology, combines characters or rearranges events in order to maintain narrative momentum, but his novels are effective at introducing readers to the personalities, rivalries, battlefield systems and political pressures behind major historical transformations. Leadership, loyalty, succession, friendship, military discipline and the creation or collapse of empires recur throughout his work, making him particularly suited to readers who enjoy campaign-driven historical fiction centred on famous rulers and periods of rapid territorial and political change.

Periods and events

Assassination of Julius Caesar44 BCE Battle of Bosworth Field1485 CE Battle of Philippi42 BCE Battle of Tewkesbury1471 CE Battle of Towton1461 CE Boudican Revolt60–61 CE Caesar’s Civil War49–45 BCE Classical Greece480–323 BCE Imperial China221 BCE–1912 CE Julio-Claudian Dynasty27 BCE–68 CE Lancastrian England1399–1461 CE Mongol Invasions1206–1368 CE Roman Republic509–27 BCE Siege of Alesia52 BCE Third Servile War73–71 BCE Wars of the Roses1455–1487 CE Yorkist England1461–1485 CE

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Conn Iggulden (6 series)

Emperor in Order

by Conn Iggulden 5 books 4.6(20,285)

The Emperor series is a highly fictionalised retelling of Julius Caesar’s life and the violent end of the Roman Republic. It follows Caesar from youth through war, political ascent and conquest, then continues beyond his assassination into the struggle between Octavian, Antony and Caesar’s killers.

Conqueror in Order

by Conn Iggulden 5 books 4.6(18,409)

The Conqueror series traces the rise of Temujin as Genghis Khan and the expansion of the Mongol Empire under his descendants. Across five novels it follows tribal unification, campaigns in China and Central Asia, the invasion of eastern Europe and the succession struggles that eventually bring Kublai Khan…

Athenian in Order

by Conn Iggulden 2 books 4.5(12,318)

The Athenian series follows the struggle of Athens and its allies against the Persian Empire, moving from Marathon and the political battles of the intervening decade to Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea. Xanthippus and Themistocles provide the principal viewpoints as military survival, democratic rivalry and competing Greek interests shape…

Wars of the Roses in Order

by Conn Iggulden 4 books 4.4(29,278)

The Wars of the Roses series follows the dynastic struggle from the weakness of Henry VI’s government through the rise of York, Edward IV’s victories and exiles, and the final contest between Richard III and Henry Tudor. The novels combine court politics with the major military turning points…

The Nero Trilogy in Order

by Conn Iggulden 3 books 4.4(9,216)

The Nero Trilogy recounts the rise and fall of Nero through the ambitions of his mother Agrippina and the lethal politics of the Julio-Claudian court. It begins with Nero’s childhood, follows his elevation over Britannicus and ends with revolt, imperial collapse and his death.

The Golden Age in Order

by Conn Iggulden 2 books 4.4(8,110)

The Golden Age series follows Pericles from the generation after the Persian invasions into the period of Athenian naval empire and intensifying rivalry with Sparta. Political competition, military command and the costs of Athenian power shape both novels.

Historical fiction

Standalone historical fiction by Conn Iggulden (1 book)

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