Troy c. 1700–1250 BC

Dr Nic Fields started his career as a biochemist before joining the Royal Marines. Having left the Navy, he went back to University and completed a BA and PhD in Ancient History at the University of Newcastle. He was Assistant Director at the British School of Archaeology, Athens, a lecturer in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, and is now a freelance author and researcher.Donato Spedaliere was born in 1967 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and moved to Tuscany at the age of 10, where he still lives. Having studied at the Instituto Nazionale di Belle Arti in Florence he served in the Italian Army as a paratrooper. He is the chief illustrator of Alina Illustrazioni, the company he founded in 1998 with his wife Sarah after many years experience as a professional illustrator.

• Chronology; Homer's heroes; the searchers; the archaeologists; the fortifications; siege; aftermath; the sites today.

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