The Mark of the Horse Lord

First published in 1965, this novel follows Phaedrus, a Greek-born gladiator in Roman Britain, who is freed after a fight and then persuaded to impersonate Midir, the missing king of the Dalriadain, a northern horse people. Wearing the king's mark, he must win the tribe, take a royal wife, and lead a war against the Caledones and against Roman interference. The plot turns on whether a slave's training can become a king's duty. The book is a historical adventure of identity and tribal kingship, not a biography of a documented ruler.

Bound in blue buckam, printed and blocked in black, white and gold with a wrap around design by the artist. Blue slipcase. Blue-green endpapers. One map.