1938: As Hitler sets his sights on the Sudetenland, not everyone in Britain is willing to appease him. Convinced that the Führer's land hunger is insatiable, the head of the SIS recruits Cal Jardine to help him prove that Czechoslovakia is threatened with invasion. But before heading undercover to Prague, Jardine must first extricate himself from France, where his attempts to smuggle guns to Spain have been held up by a group of fanatical fascists. In their struggle to overthrow the French government, they are prepared to kill for the sake of procuring weapons.
When Cal finally arrives in Czechoslovakia, working undercover for the SIS proves no less dangerous as jealousy and mutual suspicions within Secret Service ranks make it impossible for him to tell friend from foe.
David Donachie (1944–2023) was born in Edinburgh. He always had an abiding interest in military history, including ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the British navy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the clandestine services during the Second World War. He had more than fifty published novels to his credit, with over a million combined sales. David lived in Deal, the historic English seaport on the border of the English Channel and the North Sea.