Dalton Trumbo

Spartacus, a fictionalization of a slave revolt in ancient Rome in 71 B.C., is well known today partly because of the 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. It was originally published in 1951 by the author himself, after being turned down by every mainstream publisher of the day because of Fast's blacklisting for his Communist Party sympathies. The story of Spartacus, born a slave, trained as a gladiator, who led a slave revolt that was eventually put down by Crassus, was immensely popular, has sold millions of copies, and has gone through nearly a hundred editions. The appearance of this title in the North Castle series brings back into print a book that many regard as a classic, and is enhanced with a new Introduction by the author.

This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered--not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives ... This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless and gruesome ... but so is war. --Publisher.

"Three times I've compiled those damned lists, and I'm running out of names. But he still wants more. More souls for his experiments. More lives to be wasted in the pursuit of this vain, useless, futile hunt!" First Magus Vordegh's maniacal obsession to destroy the heretic cult of Order was running out of control. As the atrocities grew and the gods remained indifferent to pleas for sanity, the convictions of even Chaos's most devoted servants were starting to disintegrate. Faith seemed meaningless; trust impossible. The world was going mad. Benetan Liss's faith was cruelly tested by the part he was forced to play in Vordegh's savage reprisals. But the choice was stark: obedience or death, there was no third way. Or so he believed, until one violent event brought him into direct conflict with the heretics -- and the unearthly source of their power. (Star Shadow #2)

Set in 1942, tells the story of the first B-25 crews, under the command of General Jimmy Doolittle, training for a bombing mission over Japan.