Dr John Henry Clay

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Born in Birmingham in 1980, John Henry Clay spent much of his childhood visiting historic sites and scrambling over ancient ruins. From an early age he was seized by the twin passions of writing and the past, and so eventually decided to combine them in the realm of historical fiction.

He is a keen hiker, having walked the length of both Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke, and was a professional archaeologist before taking up a post teaching early medieval history at Durham University.

Click here to read an interview with John Henry Clay from the Historical Novel Society.

 

Latest publication AT THE RUIN OF THE WORLD - Hodder & Stoughton - May 2015

A.D. 448. The Roman Empire is crumbling.

The Emperor is weak. Countless Romans live under the rule of barbarian kings. Politicians scheme and ambitious generals vie for power.

Then from the depths of Germany arises an even darker threat: Attila, King of the Huns, gathering his hordes and determined to crush Rome once and for all.

In a time of danger and deception, where every smile conceals betrayal and every sleeve a dagger, three young people hold onto the dream that Rome can be made great once more. But as their fates collide, they find themselves forced to survive in a world more deadly than any of them could ever have imagined.

What can they possibly do to save the Empire, or themselves, from destruction?

 

Praise for AT THE RUIN OF THE WORLD

'THE LION AND THE LAMB was one of my very favourite novels of last year and John Henry Clay has done it again with AT THE RUIN OF THE WORLD (incidentally, what a great title). Firmly routed in history, this is a compelling and addictive account of the demise of Rome's western empire, focusing in particular on one family that was influential in both the fields of battle and politics.' For Winter Nights

Fiction

Publication DetailsNotes
2013

HODDER & STOUGHTON

Condemned to a hovel, beaten by a merciless commander, crushed by the weather and forced to survive on starvation rations: no one looking at Paul would ever guess that he is heir to one of Roman Britain's wealthiest families. But Paul had his reasons for joining the army and fleeing the family he loves.

But when rumours of a barbarian uprising from beyond the Wall begin to circulate, Paul realises that his family is in grave danger.

With only the former slave-girl Eachna for company, Paul deserts the army, for which the penalty is death, and undertakes a hazardous journey across Britain where danger lurks round every corner.

Epic in scope, rich with historical detail, THE LION AND THE LAMB is a novel of Roman Britain on the cusp of the Dark Ages, when all that stands between her citizens and oblivion is one family.