The fourth novel in a brilliant Napoleonic series from acclaimed
historian Adrian Goldsworthy.
The year is 1809, and the recruiting sergeants are hard at work, as the
British army gathers strength for the next phase of the campaign against
Bonaparte on the Spanish Peninsula. Captain Billy Pringle of the 106th
Foot, however, has a somewhat more urgent reason to leave the country:
having become embroiled in an ill-advised duel with a lieutenant in the
14th Light Dragoons, a posting to Spain would avoid any awkwardness for
the regiment.
Along with his friend Lieutenant Williams - whose sister Kitty was the
cause of the duel - and the doughty veteran Sergeant Dobson, Pringle
takes on the task of training Spanish troops to stand alongside their
British allies. But what seems at first like easy duty soon turns into a
desperate fight for survival as they find themselves besieged in the
strategic fortress of Cuidad Rodrigo.
For Bonaparte, taking the fortress will be the first step towards
pushing the British back to the sea, and the task is entrusted to one of
his most daring and successful generals, Marshal Ney. And Ney in his
turn has found the perfect officer to lead the assault, a man not only
desperate for advancement but also thirsting for revenge - a man whom
Williams knows only too well.
