The choices of men determine the fate of nations . . .
Historian Stuart Gratton believes that the turning point of World War II lies in the mysterious relationship between one JL Sawyer and Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess. But the more Gratton finds out about their encounters, the greater the mystery becomes.
Jack and Joe Sawyer rowed for Great Britain in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Rudolph Hess presented them with their bronze medal. They were united in everything, except their view of the coming war. Half-German by birth, they realize it threatens to tear them apart.
On returning to England, Jack joins the RAF. His war is savage, spreading firestorms across Germany. Joe, by contrast, declares himself a pacifist and joins the Red Cross. He works in the hell of London's Blitz. Both are summoned to help negotiate peace: the response of each determines the fate of the war. As their stories play out, possibilities, parallels and confusion surround them, with each brother finding himself an ordinary man party to momentous events.
Christopher Priest's brilliantly conceived new novel constantly challenges the way we see history, reminding us that even the greatest world conflict is the result of individual choices and subject to damaged recollections. It is a marvellous portrait of war and its uncertainties, for those who pursue it and those who suffer by it.
