Book
The Eagles Have Flown
First published 1954
Roman government and the legions have withdrawn from Britain, leaving roads, towns and forts without the authority that once maintained them. Festus loses his family and home as raiders and migrating war-bands exploit the collapse. His survival brings him into the service of Artos the Bear, a hard military leader attempting to hold territory together.
The novel imagines the historical conditions from which the Arthurian tradition may have grown. Artos is not a courtly king but a commander whose temporary alliances depend on fear, loyalty and military success. Through Festus, Treece shows a generation forced to decide which parts of Roman Britain can be defended and what new kind of society might replace it.
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