This is the story of a British icon: Boudicca - humiliated widow of Prasutagus - who led British tribes into rage-fuelled war with the Roman Empire.

Boudicca is a legendary figure today, as the mother determined to avenge her ravaged children and the warrior who rose up to protect her land from the assault of a rampaging enemy. Many identify with her as an icon of womanly strength; she has even been described as a Margaret Thatcher without the handbag. Yet what of the true woman behind the legend? Did she really draw together a disparate tribal nation against a ruthless Roman occupier? And if so, how? In Boudicca: The Warrior Queen, MJ Trow strips away modern and ancient myths to reveal the flesh-and-blood woman who terrified Rome.

In the summer of AD 60 Boudicca united several British tribes and led them in revenge attacks on the Roman towns of Colchester, London and St Albans, burning and destroying with a ferocity that has left a permanent scar on the archaeological landscape. Many people died in the flames of Roman settlements and, had the Iceni and their allies not been defeated, the entire course of British history would have been altered.

This book takes us on a journey through the Roman archives, the archaeological record and Celtic mythology to a new understanding of Boudicca - the warrior queen who took on the might of the greatest power of the ancient world and very nearly won. it is required reading for all with an interest in British and/or ancient history.

MJ Trow is a historian, biographer and crime novelist. His books include the well-known Lestrade and Maxwell series as well as non-fiction such as Who Killed Kit Marlowe? and Vlad the Impaler.

His son, Taliesin Trow, who provided the archaeological focus for Boudicca: The Warrior Queen, is a graduate in history and archaeology whose other works include Sir Martin Frobisher: Seaman, Soldier, Explorer.