Fortunes of War

War breaks out as newly-married Guy and Harriet Pringle set out on a journey across Europe and into the heart of the Balkans, to Romania, where an uneasy neutrality reigns.

The Romanian prime minister has been assassinated by the fascist Iron Guard, and Bucharest is rife with rumour and counter-rumour; Harriet is beginning to wonder when Guy will find time for her amongst his intellectual friends.

To Harriet's intense annoyance, Prince Yakimov has taken up permanent residence in the Pringle flat while they secretly shelter Sasha Drucker who is in hiding from the Iron Guard; France has fallen and Romania is forging an alliance with the Germans.

Unwittingly betrayed by Prince Yakimov, Guy's name has appeared on a Gestapo `death list'; the Pringle flat is ransacked and Bucharest is overrun by Germans; Harriet, alone, waits anxiously for Guy to join her in Athens.

As German troops advance into Greece and the Allied forces mobilise, Harriet's brief encounter with a young army officer comes to an end. As the English community prepare to leave Athens, Guy and Harriet flee at the last minute.

After fighting his first battle in the Western desert, Simon Boulderstone sets out in search of his brother, only to learn that he was killed in action; guy returns from Alexandria to take charge of the Institute in Cairo.