It is 1943, & Captain Mike Blackwood, Royal Marine Commando, is a survivor. Young, toughened & tried in the hellish crucible of Burma, he labours, sometimes faltering, beneath the weight of tradition, the glorious heritage of his family, & the burden of his own self-doubt.
For Blackwood, the horizon is not the lip of the trench seen by men of the Corps in the previous war, but the ramp of a landing craft smashing down into the sea, & the fire of the enemy on a Sicilian beach. Here, tradition is not enough, & Mike Blackwood must find within himself qualities of leadership which will inspire those Royal Marines who are once again the first to l&, & among the first to die.
This is the fourth novel in the Blackwood saga, spanning 150 years in the history of a great seafaring family & the tradition in which they served.