Author:Douglas Reeman
The gripping culmination of multi-million copy bestselling author Douglas Reeman's Blackwood saga, spanning 150 years in the history of a great seafaring family. Unputdownable and guaranteed to have you hooked, this is perfect for fans of Clive Cussler, Bernard Cornwell and Wilbur Smith.
'One of our foremost writers of naval fiction' -- Sunday Times
'Mr Reeman writes with great knowledge about the sea and those who sail on it' --The Times
'Another romping good yarn by my favourite author' -- ***** Reader review
'Hard to put down' -- ***** Reader review
'Another gripping read from the master of naval fiction' -- ***** Reader review
'Magnificent!' -- ***** Reader review
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1970: Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Blackwood appears to have been murdered in Cyprus. Disillusioned and grieving for his distinguished father, Lieutenant Ross Blackwood believes there is no future for him in the Corps. The Royal Marines have been reduced in strength, and their role in a modern world, after so splendid a tradition, diminished to policing and paperwork.
But Ross remains a Blackwood and a Royal Marine, and the loyalty and dedication of a Blackwood to the Corps sustain him from vicious guerilla warfare in Malaysia through the moral and political minefields of Northern Ireland, where one man's terrorist is another's patriot, to the South Atlantic, and a conflict as bloody as it is unpredictable.
And he learns, as every Blackwood has before him, that jungle or moor, insurrection or invasion, mere courage is not enough. Survival and victory balance on the knife edge of destiny...
Masterly storytelling.
—— The Times..a good story
—— The GuardianLustig survived Auschwitz. Every fibre of his latest book...resonates with the pain, questions and scars of the Holocaust
—— Daily TelegraphLustig writes about the Holocaust experience with a modest authority that is virtually unique... His genius lies in his ability to understate themes and situations which cry out for melodramatic treatment
—— Lawrence L Langer , Washington PostWholly unsentimental and clean of self-pity, Lustig returns in his novels and stories to the harrowing landscape of his youth, discovering within its brutal boundaries the grim but still achingly recognizable panoply of a last, vast, various neighbourhood of man
—— Johanna Kaplan , New York TimesA compelling account of how closely linked innocence and brutality can be
—— London Review of BooksClearly, Holland has a deep knowledge of life in the 1930s and 40s, both civil and military, because every page oozes with authenticity ... a heartwarming homage to courage, honour, friendship and love ... Highly recommended, and five stars out fo five
—— Ben Kane, author of Spartacus: RebellionThis is literature at its very best: a book with the power to reveal the unimagined, so that one's life is set in a changed context. I urge you to read it
—— Time OutSo powerful is this recreated past that you long to call Birdsong perfect
—— The TimesA powerful novel that is difficult to put down
—— Independent on SundayMy favourite novel of all time because it’s not just the most moving First World War story, it also has a wonderful romance
—— Kate Garraway , Daily ExpressIt broke my heart.
—— Matthew Lewis , BuzzfeedMagnificent. A classic that everyone should have read.
—— Sandra Howard , Daily ExpressA sweeping historical drama, it’s also erotic, poignant and tear-inducing. I read it and wept buckets. I don’t think anything else Faulks has written before or since surpasses the brilliance of this one.
—— Reading MattersThis is literature at its very best. A book with the power to reveal the unimagined, so that one’s life is set in a changed context. I urge you to read it.
—— Andrew Denham-Davis , DISCUSWhile marked by poppy wearing and memorial ceremonies, the First World War is also sustained through family history, handed down from one generation to the next. No book better articulates the impact of this narrative than Stephen Faulks’ Birdsong.
—— Lucy Middleton , Reader's DigestA truly amazing read
—— Gail Teasdale , 24housingI’d never read such descriptive literature, and couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about what I’d just read. His [Faulks] portrayal of terror on the battlefield is so powerful
—— Anna Redman , Good HousekeepingMy all-time favourite book
—— Kate Garraway , Good Housekeeping