1917 and there is no end in sight to the war, yet the men and women fighting it know it cannot continue indefinitely. Civilisation itself will not survive any great prolongation of the butchery. The hope is that the Americans will bring victory when they arrive in sufficient number. The fear is that the collapse of Imperial Russia will massively empower Germany.
At sea, Simon Sturton becomes involved in the bold, but possibly pointless, attack on the submarine base at Zeebrugge. On land, Richard Baker is thankful to avoid the horrors of Haig’s final disaster at Passchendaele, returning to the trenches in time for the Spring Offensive of 1918.
Lloyd George’s government is finally bringing some efficiency to the conduct of the war and has built an adequate armaments industry, but is accompanying this with a vicious corruption reminiscent of the days of Billy Pitt. The families of the two are in place to profit from both aspects of the Home Front.