Set in the years 1914-1918 this is the third book in the Blackwood saga. For three generations members of the Blackwood family served the Royal Marines with distinction. With the outbreak of World War I at last comes Jonathan Blackwoods turn to carry the family name into battle. But as the young marines embark for the Dardanelles & a new kind of warfare it dawns on them that the days of scarlet coats & an unchanging tradition of honour & glory have gone forever. First in Gallipoli & two years later at Flanders comes their horrifying initiation into a wholescale slaughter for which no training could ever have prepared them. Caught up in the savagery of a conflict beyond any officers control Blackwoods future rests on the horizon
- the dark lip of the trench which was the last fateful sight for so many.