Even a casual student of British history will tell you that Boudica's story does not end well for her or her people.

Even so, Alan Gold, in his novel Warrior Queen, tells a thrilling story of the 1st-century British woman who dared to confront Rome and all its power in an attempt to free occupied Britain and revenge herself and her daughters on the empire that wronged them.

Beginning in 43 AD, when she was just a headstrong teenager still learning the ways of her people, Warrior Queen follows Boudica's growth, the ruthless invasion by Roman legions, her marriage to an older man whom she came to love, and her eventual acceptance of a Roman way of life ... followed by her growing sense of outrage at her nation's occupation.

Through several years of marriage, Boudica is content to follow her husband's lead and live amicably with the occupiers, prospering through trade even as their debts to Rome grow. She is even happy, if still unsettled, in her circumstances. But after her husband's death, she loses everything to Roman greed, she is publicly whipped, her daughters are raped by Roman soldiers, and her rage ignites the nation.

The story follows several narratives. Primary among them, of course, is Boudica and her family -- her parents in early chapters, then her husband Prasutagus. But the story also takes us to Rome and the lives of Caesars Claudius and Nero, as well as the women and close advisers who influenced them. And also to the Roman settlements in Britain, where greedy overseers strive to reap financial gain and soldiers try to maintain their grip on a restless but divided country. The tribes of Britain, of which Boudica's Iceni is one of the most powerful, are more likely to fight each other than the Romans. It is in fact Boudica's humiliation at the hands of the Romans that unites the warring tribes against the invaders.

But the Roman governor of Britain, General Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, is a tested battle commander who has mastered Roman tactics and has already put down one rebellion and slaughtered the majority of Britain's druidic priests. Despite the overwhelming numbers on Boudica's side, her vast army is untrained and undisciplined. The people follow her, but they don't always listen to her. And, for all her intelligence and arrogant confidence, her knowledge of strategy is limited at best.

Of course, history tells us that her efforts ultimately failed, and Boudica's valiant fight for freedom ends in carnage. Gold gives her story life, and he tells it well. His research into British history is thorough and meticulous, and he gives readers a believable Britain and Rome.

One might hope for a different outcome, but then again, Boudica's fall led to an even greater British legend a few centuries later, after Rome's eventual decline.