PMJ lands ‘epic’ new trilogy on Nero by Iggulden 

Penguin Michael Joseph (PMJ) has acquired an “epic” new trilogy on Nero by Conn Iggulden.  

Louise Moore, managing director, and Jillian Taylor, publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Victoria Hobbs at AM Heath. The first book, Nero, will be published in hardback on 23rd May 2024. 

Set within the corridors of power and politics in the world’s greatest city, the first book in the series begins with the extraordinary rise of Agrippina, mother of Nero. Great-granddaughter of the first emperor of Rome, sister to its cruellest and wife to its most unlikely, Nero follows Agrippina’s fierce fight to survive the notorious reigns of Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius as she seeks to secure absolute power for her young son.

PMJ and FMcM Associates promise a “major” marketing and publicity campaign, beginning with a launch at Hay Castle, as part of their Winter Festival. To celebrate the series launch, Hay will be hosting a very special proof party, during which Iggulden will give the first exclusive reading from the new book. 

Iggulden has written bestselling series on Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan and the Wars of the Roses, as well as two stand-alone novels: Dunstan (PMJ) set in the red-blooded world of 10th-century England, and The Falcon of Sparta (Pegasus) in which he returned to the Ancient World. He has sold 4.01 million books sold for £31.8m, with his bestseller The Dangerous Book For Boys (HarperCollins) on 717,569 copies sold since publication in 2006.

Taylor said: “Nero is jaw-droppingly good. A full-blooded, authentic portrait of an extraordinary mother and son and the very definition of the word page-turning, Nero reads like an epic chess match with stakes as terrifying as they are compelling. The research underpinning Conn’s novel is so meticulous, his understanding of this time so exquisite, that the reader feels absorbed in Agrippina’s world.

“Yet the real triumph of Nero is how successfully it channels our boundless fascination with ancient Rome: the world which Agrippina and Nero must navigate is eerily like our own – vibrant, corrupt and imperfect – and yet profoundly strange. Here, then, is a trilogy to stand alongside the works of Robert Harris and Mary Renault – a grand, visionary portrayal of the men and women of the glittering ancient world.”

Iggulden said: “I wrote in Rome even before I knew a publisher would take me on, and it’s been a golden thread in my writing since then. To know Nero, you have to know his mother. Exiled to poverty, ruthless and alone, Agrippina dragged herself up – and raised her only son to rule. Like Richard III, Nero’s story was written by his enemies. It needs to be retold.”