Against a backdrop of the middle years of the Great War, the characters in this book reach out to one another to find love and comfort during a time of trial and desolation. Thus the men and women of England survive, the battlefields of Flanders, Paschendaele, and Verdun. No matter how desperate the situation, they strive to rise above it.It is also a time when President Woodrow Wilson decides to lead an isolationist America into battle in the trenches of Europe. American-born Johnny Merritt leaves his English wife to return home, enlist in the 16th Division, and be among the first Americans to fight in the global conflict. Truly, this is a story whose dimensions take in the entire world.Paramount among the characters Colonel Quentin Rowland, for fifteen months commander of the Weald Light Infantry, who admires his men so much for the sacrifices they make on the battlefield that he can forgive his adjutant, Archie Campbell, for having fallen in love with his wife.There is Christopher Cate, the Squire, an expert in philosophy, Greek, and Latin. He falls in love with the American widow Isabel Kramer, but because his wife has deserted him to fight for the cause of Ireland in the Easter Rebellion, the Squire is torn between his marriage vows, his duties to his townspeople, and the love he feels for Mrs. Kramer.In his dashing RAF uniform, Guy Rowland does not look like a killer. But with 32 German planes to his credit, the handsome pilot cannot shake the sickness he endures each time he scores a victory. He falls in love with the devastatingly beautiful Marchioness of Jarrow, the former Florinda Gorse and daughter of Probyn (a cunning poacher who is locked in a blood feud with the Earl of Swanwick over hunting and fishing rights).