Eagle and the Cockerel
Europe. Great Britain has long-since left the Union, but tensions between European countries remain and the international balance of power is firmly weighted towards China and the US. Seizing the opportunity for an unexpected comeback, disgraced former Paris mayor Vincent d’Amont makes an outrageous proposal: France and Germany should unite to create a new superpower: Charlemagny.
The question will be put to the people in an historic vote on ROME, the ubiquitous social network of Europe. But, outraged by the progress of events and fearing a new order based on chaos and conflict, political vlogger Miss Cliché engages in a fierce battle against Vincent and his cronies. A bumpy journey filled with post-truth news and scorching betrayal lies ahead.
Can Miss Cliché discover who is running the all-powerful ROME and reveal the real forces behind Charlemagny? And can she keep her own feelings under control before Charlemagny becomes a reality?
Alan Rhode is a former journalist from Italy, now living in the UK. Born in Genoa, a chilled-out town on the north-west coast of Italy, Alan spent many years in the more hectic Milan before moving to London, where he wrote his first novel.
Inspired by a relatively unknown historical fact – that in 1950 the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer publicly proposed the idea that France and Germany should merge into a single country – Alan wrote The Eagle and the Cockerel, a fast-paced political intrigue that brings the reader on a breathtaking journey through Paris, Berlin, Milan and the UK, culminating in an unprecedented referendum on the unification of the two countries that is hosted by a tyrannical social media platform.
Witty and insightful, the book delves into the ambitions, inner conflicts and fears of its characters. With Brexit still in the media spotlight, the war in Ukraine and the growing influence of populism, The Eagle and the Cockerel has stirred the curiosity of the public and media alike, establishing Alan as an exciting new voice in political literature.
Alan is currently working on his (secret) second novel.