It is 1914, and the storm clouds of war are building on the horizon.

In Sydney, Josiah Steele is the new head of the family and grappling with his two very different sons - David, upstanding, decent and heir to the family enterprises; and Benjamin, wayward, restless and a magnet for trouble. To give Ben some responsibility, Josiah sends him on a trade mission straight into the territory of their soon-to-be enemy.

As war erupts across Europe, its repercussions are felt in the Pacific. Ben and David find themselves caught up in the first Australian action of World War I - the fight to take possession of German New Guinea.

But that is only the start. The brothers will see desperate action across Egypt, Palestine and the terrible killing fields of the Western Front, where the years of war, mud and bloody battlegrounds will forever change the Steele family ...

Praise for Peter Watt

'One of Australia's best historical fiction authors' Canberra Weekly

'An adventure reader's delight ... I was breathless as I read' Central Western Daily