Eastern Empire

Harper and Eric are now faced with trust issues. Can they survive their enemies and find a path to love and forever? The third and final book in the Filthy Trilogy.

As old allies turn on each other, as an unassuming presence in yellow walks the lands of dreams, as an empire falls, a group of people is gathered to fight the threat that the rest of the world decided to ignore. Even as everything burns, and the chaos consumes the core, some are willing to act. Whether for their own self-interest, or just because it is the right thing to do, they are the only ones that can stand against the greatest threat their world has ever seen.

The Empire is not just a theatre. From music hall to vaudeville, from revue to grand musical spectacular, it holds a special place in the nation's heart. For its audience, for its actors and singers, for the stagehands, the front-of-house staff, for its backers and its debtors—and above all for its owners—it truly is a palace of dreams. And for young Jack Treadwell, struggling to adapt to civilian life after the horrors of the trenches, it's a lifeline. When he receives a letter out of the blue inviting him to work at The Empire, he leaps at the chance.

Bondi Junction in the late 1940s is a microcosm of changing Australia, and life is changing too fast for locals like salt-of-the-earth Pop Wilson, prickly Miss McNulty and feisty single mum Kath, all of whom resent the European ‘reffos’ who have moved in. The newcomers are struggling to rebuild their lives while the unhealed wounds of the past threaten to overwhelm them.

'A fascinating alternative history covering 2,500 years and a geographical span from Japan to California' NEW STATESMAN 'A revelation . . . The tale of each carpet as Armstrong tells it is untidy and tragic and comical all at once' TESSA HADLEY On the saddles of warlords, draping the walls of...

In 476 CE, the Western Roman Empire collapsed into ruins. Yet in the East, the empire didn't just survive—it thrived for another thousand years. This is the remarkable story of Byzantium, the civilization that preserved classical learning through the Dark Ages, created artistic masterpieces that still inspire awe, and built a Christian empire that shaped the modern world.

In the distant future, society has crumbled. Dark forces now rule the land, keeping all humans under their oppressive thumbs.

In the third century CE, as Roman leaders vied with each other for power and constantly fought civil wars, Rome’s famous roads fell into disrepair, the economy was crippled, the continent-wide trade system that had flourished in the previous years was replaced with a basic barter system, and there was a reduction in international trade. People became ever more fearful for their personal safety, and the imperial crisis saw an increasing trend toward sacrificing personal liberties and rights in return for guarantees of safety from wealthy landowners.

Inside, you will hear about the history of the Ottoman empire, including: origins until the Balkan conquests; institutions and society: millets, guilds, trade, religion, and mysticism; 15th-century imperial style, 16th-century Golden Age, cracks before World War I; the Eastern Question; and much more!