"A brilliant achievement...vivid, accurate, dramatic...the description of Waterloo is magnificent."-Daily Mail

"My favorite historical novelist."-Margaret Drabble

In Brussels in the Spring of 1815, the cream of British nobility and military await the arrival of the Duke of Wellington, who cobbles together a battle plan and a fighting force out of what he called "an infamous army."

Wellington ultimately defeated Napoleon in a two-day battle that killed or wounded 47,000 men.

Amongst preparations for war and a whirl of parties, dashing Staff Officer Colonel Charles Audley falls in love with the flamboyant young widow Barbara Childe. Their betrothal falls apart, until the day the armies march out and Barbara discovers where her heart lies. She can do nothing but help the wounded making their way back to Brussels and pray for the safety of the one man who can set her free from her wild impulses.