Neil Oliver

Neil Oliver’s brilliance as a historian has prompted him to make a superb choice for his debut historical novel.

In May 1453, the vast armies of the Sultan Mehmed II massed below the land walls of Constantinople, and in the epic siege that followed, the last bastion of the fading Roman Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks.

It was a moment of high historical drama. Neil brings his hero, John Grant, across Europe from the Borders of Scotland to take part in an epoch-making shift of power.

His life and fate become entangled with a Byzantine prince and a mysterious woman who has spent half of her life in hiding.

Join for the tale of a young Borderer who survived on the borders of history as Neil Oliver talks to Alistair Moffat about this wonderfully conceived, sweeping adventure.

Event followed by a book signing.