May 1809. Napoleon's Grande Armée has taken Vienna and is preparing
to cross the Danube, but the Austrians are waiting for him in
Essling. The carnage can begin ... Louis-François Lejeune, young
colonel attached to the emperor's staff, meets his old friend Henri
Beyne in occupied Vienna. He also meets the beautiful Anna Krauss,
with whom he is madly in love with. Nearby, though, Napoleon is attempting to crush the Austrian army, and organising the crossing of
the Danube for his troops on a single pontoon bridge hurriedly
erected near Essling. Louis-François is forced to abandon his love
and return to the front - and the coming firestorm ...
1812. After the sort of lightning-fast attack he is known for,
Napoleon and his colossal Grande Armee have ridden deep into the
heart of Russia. But the Russians have no intention of letting him
have his way, and several bloody and inconclusive battles have
already taken place - no Austerlitz there. So, when the French
finally arrive in Moscow, they're exhausted, starving, weakened, and
fervently hoping they'll get a chance to rest ... and maybe even accept
the Czar's surrender after the fall of his capital ...
The terrible Russian winter has engulfed the retreat, and the Grande
Armée is no more. Mercilessly harassed by the fierce Cossacks, a few
thousand men only continue to trudge forward, weak, starving,
emaciated, leaving a trail of frozen dead behind. And as Russian
regular forces prepare to surround and trap them, the weather
suddenly turns warmer, making rivers impassable. To escape, they will
have to somehow cross a river whose name would soon become synonymous
with tragedy: the Berezina ...
The fierce Cossacks have long lived as a free people, but in the 17th
century, the king of Poland-Lithuania wants to end that freedom. A
young deserter from the hussars is caught in the nascent conflict.
The first volume of a great historical saga. 1634, Ukraine. Karlis, a
young Winged Hussar of Poland-Lithuania, sickened by the carnage of
war, deserts. To wash their honour, the men of his old unit hunt him mercilessly, while two people secretly observe the pursuit. They are
Cossacks, from a people of freedom-loving warriors ... and it is with
them that Karlis will eventually find refuge. But if he left his
regiment, it's also because of the last orders he was given, which he
refused to follow: the king of Poland-Lithuania wants the Cossacks
disarmed ...
Irak, Région de Kerbala. Une section du premier régiment de reconnaissance du corps des Marines est en embuscade dans un village abandonné afin d'intercepter un chef des insurgés. L'opération va amener les Marines à coopérer avec un agent de la CIA, bien déterminé à arrêter le djihadiste. Parmi les leathernecks, le Caporal Enrique « Rick » Chavez qui vient de passer cinq jours au pays. Mais loin d'avoir été agréable, la permission aura mis le soldat face à toutes les difficultés familiales et personnelles que la guerre met de côtés. Les nouvelles guerres ne touchent plus directement les civils comme autrefois, c'est juste un reportage au journal télévisé, qu'on regarde pendant le repas sur un grand écran plat, et parfois le corps du jeune voisin qu'on enterre avec les honneurs. Mais la guerre est partout, même dans les rues de Los Angeles...
Despite the heroic efforts of L Detachment, the unit's victories
haven't managed to stop the advance of the German war machine. Soon,
Rommel is at the gates of Egypt, and losses mount among David
Stirling and Paddy Mayne's men - some crueller than others. In the
end, they will have to reinvent themselves and give everything to
push back the Desert Fox and earn their name at last: The Special Air Service!
Lieutenant Kazinsky has finally proven his loyalty once and for all
to his small band of rebels. The ambush he set for their pursuers
with Sergeant Sabiane destroyed their vehicles and even injured their
leader, Morvan. But `the Puzzle' never gives up on a prey. Soon, the
mutineers must face the hardest choice of all. Continuing means
killing other Frenchmen. Stopping means abandoning their friends,
maybe even betraying them. In the end, do they even stand a chance of
succeeding?
Moscow is now in French hands, but a large part of the city has burned down, and it's been emptied of all food, fodder and warm clothes. Even as winter approaches, and against the advice of his generals, Napoleon insists on staying, convinced that the Czar will soon surrender to him. But both soldiers and civilians increasingly suffer from hunger and the cold, and the terrifying Cossacks constantly harry any troops sent out to forage for food ...
Betrayed by the beautiful Ansea Latal, the Scorpion has been captured by the Turks. But he cannot afford to tarry: Rochnan and his monks are close on his tail, Ansea is on her way to Cappadocia to find the true cross of Saint Peter, and, back in Rome, Trebaldi is preparing his reign of terror. As a prisoner or a fugitive, alone or in the reluctant company of people who have sworn his death, the Scorpion will have to reach Karabas before the agents of the Nine Families and discover the truth hidden deep inside the Holy Valley.
One by one, the Pope's warrior monks fall to the Scorpion's blade or desert their master. Feeling his enemy circling ever closer, Trebaldi grows desperate and hires Rome's best paid assassins to go after him-and whomever else stands in his way. As the women in his life choose their destinies, an old enemy reappears to plague the Scorpion... or perhaps to bring him the truth at last, hidden behind his mask.
Rome the beautiful is dying, the symbol of civilization falling, the
empire burning. Hidden from massacres and looting, a strange meeting
is held by nine families who share the Roman Empire. To retain their
power, they decide to support a new
religion—Christianity—as well as its representative, the
pope. But who are these 9 mysterious families? Later, much later,
it's the Renaissance. Christianity prospers. A brigand called “the Scorpion” makes a living by unearthing relics in the
depths of the Roman catacombs, which he sells at high prices to
princes and bishops. Trebaldi, a powerful cardinal, takes an interest
in this Scorpion, who is either a creature of the devil... or a
witness to a cursed era who must disappear...This two-volume book
includes "The Pope's Secret".
Napoleon is furious. It appears the battle can no longer be won. The
French cavalry is so exhausted it can't even gallop when charging.
Ammunition is running out, while losses mount horrifically - both in
men and in irreplaceable officers ... But the Austrians have paid an
equally steep price, and a complete defeat may yet be avoided. Louis-
François, Paradis, Fayolle ... Who will survive the terrible bloodbath - the better to serve again in the next one?
1917. Nivelle - `the butcher' - commands the French Army, and the
attacks he keeps ordering are pointless slaughters. The soldiers
can't take it any more. Discontent is turning into rebellion, and a
petition is being circulated in secret. When it makes its way to the
men of Sergeant Sabiane, something snaps in them, and what begins as
a simple cry of defiance becomes a full-blown mutiny when a handful of them decide to take the petition to Paris ...
The Stone Cross: The Scorpion, whose mother Cardinal Trebaldi burnt
at the stake for loving a man of the cloth, discovers that his father
was the murdered Pope himself. When Trebaldi addresses a huge crowd
at the end of the mourning period, the Scorpion is there to tell the
truth about how the people's beloved Pope died.The Devil in the
Vatican: Trebaldi claims that the sacred cross of St Peter miraculously appeared in his castle. The Scorpion must find the real
cross if he is to prove Trebaldi's treachery.This two-volume book
includes "The Stone Cross"
The lights of Rome have dimmed. When the Scorpion and his friends get
back to the Holy See, it is a place of fear and death they find, a
city cowering under Trebaldi's boot. Their only chance to destroy the
Pope's power is to heed Rochnan's last words and look into the past
of the Scorpion's mother. Dodging warrior-monks and Inquisitors, they
begin to unravel a story that could yield some answers too horrible to contemplate...
The iron fist of Trebaldi's monks is still strangling Rome, but such
an army is expensive. To pay his men before their loyalty begins to
slip, the Pope must rely on the financial assistance of European
monarchs-and a large sum in gold is coming to Rome. But such a convoy
is tempting to many! Trebaldi, the Nine Families, thieves and
conspirators... And all figure they can use the Scorpion against each other to obtain what they want.
Jean-Baptiste Poulain comes to Auvergne in central France to investigate the deaths of two young women. Both were killed one year apart in the same barbaric, ritual way, their bodies left near the Black Virgin Chapel ... and the day approaches when another victim could turn up. Unfortunately, he's going to have to struggle against the locals' superstitions, the hostility of the authorities, and the hatred all seem to direct at the neighbouring gypsies.
The battle has been joined. On this first day, Massena desperately
holds onto Aspern, the French cavalry charges again and again, but
the Emperor cannot seem to break the Austrians. Louis-Francois, stuck
on the wrong side of the only available bridge, impatiently waits for
repairs to conclude. Not only are his official messages delayed, but
he's also dying to send news to Miss Krauss in Vienna. However, his friend Stendhal, who's remained with the beautiful Austrian lady,
makes some upsetting discoveries ...
Tess has gone with Vance to look for the Falcon Temple and its precious cargo, convinced that truth must prevail. Meanwhile, the Church persuades Sean to help them keep that truth hidden - at any cost. On the dark waters of the Mediterranean, in a storm so fierce it could be the very wrath of God, a merciless battle will take place for the future of the Christian faith...
Reilly has tracked down the fake Professor Sharafi to Turkey. But the
man is crafty, and not only does he manage to escape, he also
recaptures Tess along the way. A chase begins across the hills of
Cappadocia, with the FBI agent hunting down his enemy while Tess, in
order to survive, does her best to follow the trail of Knight Templar
Conrad and the mysterious treasure he was protecting - the one everyone thought was a threat to all of Christianity...
1941. Almost all of Europe is under the Nazi heel. Great Britain
still holds out, but the situation worsens with every passing day.
And in North Africa, gateway to the Middle East and its immense oil
reserves, Rommel now threatens Egypt, keystone of British defences.
In those desperate times, three men (David Stirling, Blair Mayne and
`Jock' Lewes), three unconventional officers, band together to create
a small, elite unit that will become a military legend: the SAS.
After the disaster that was their first mission, the SAS refused to
give up, and their second wave of raids proved a powerful validation
of the concept behind their unit. Unfortunately, they still have many
enemies at headquarters, and now they must capitalise on their
success. While they lack neither daring nor imagination, they will
have to contend with an enemy who knows how to adapt, and learn to live with the terrible human cost of the war ...
After being kidnapped by Vance and subsequently escaping, Tess is now officially part of the investigative team alongside Agent Reilly. But despite the constant danger of the lurking assassins who have already nearly killed her once, the young woman refuses to play a passive role. Her research will take her far from New York, under the protection of Sean Reilly - who is about to face a terrible crisis of faith.
