Can you see this working as a book?

So it's a sort of Fantasy, in that it's set in a world of my own creation; except there's not really any magic. It's more a seventeenth-eighteenth century time period setting. Anyway, basically the idea is that this whole Empire has taken over the entire continent, and has taken teens from the noble houses it has conquered and taken them to be brainwashed into it's way of thinking, before returning them to run their country. These are the main characters. Their teacher is executed when he tries to teach them the Empire's way isn't the only way, and they run away and start up a whole revolution to take it down.
Any thoughts? Any revisions people might suggest; title names, plot changes, general thoughts on the thing - what do you reckon? I'd really like to hear other peoples' opinions on it.