Montebello: The Marshal Jean Lannes Saga Book Two
The Republic made him. The Empire will hollow him.
France, 1803. Jean Lannes has survived revolutions, risen from the ranks, and bled for the dream of a nation reborn. But when the fragile Peace of Amiens shatters and Europe plunges back into war, he returns to command with one question burning in his heart—what remains of the cause he once served?
At Boulogne, he watches Napoleon gather the Grande Armee beneath banners that look more imperial than republican. In the snows of Austria, he wins glory at Austerlitz—only to see arrogance and cruelty take root where brotherhood once stood. Through the fires of Jena and the frozen carnage of Friedland, he rises to become the Duke of Montebello... even as each victory drives another splinter between him and the ideals he swore to defend.
Then comes Spain.
Then comes Zaragoza.
In that city of plague, prayer, and ruin, Lannes faces a siege so savage it strips war of every illusion. Civilians starve. Soldiers break. Friendships die beneath falling stone. And as smoke coils through shattered churches, he is forced to confront the truth he has outrun for years: the Empire he helped forge has devoured the Revolution that forged him.
From the windswept camps of the north to the burning altars of Aragon, Montebello is a sweeping tale of courage, loyalty, and the slow, brutal death of hope. It is the story of a soldier who rose with Napoleon—and a man who begins to understand how that rise will end.
Perfect for readers of Bernard Cornwell, Hilary Mantel, and Conn Iggulden, Montebello is the unflinching second novel in The Marshal Jean Lannes Saga—a journey from triumph to disillusion, from honour to ashes, in the age of empire.
