Product Description

It is 1943, and Captain Mike Blackwood, Royal Marine Commando, is a survivor. Young, toughened and tried in the hellish crucible of Burma, he labours, sometimes faltering, beneath the weight of tradition, the glorious heritage of his family, and the burden of his own self-doubt. For Blackwood, the horizon is not the lip of the trench seen by men of the Corps in the previous war, but the ramp of a landing craft smashing down into the sea, and the fire of the enemy on a Sicilian beach. Here, tradition is not enough, and Mike Blackwood must find within himself qualities of leadership which will inspire those Royal Marines who are once again the first to land, and among the first to die. This is the fourth novel in the Blackwood saga, spanning 150 years in the history of a great seafaring family and the tradition in which they served.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134736 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
" 'One of our foremost writers of naval fiction' Sunday Times"

From the Publisher
The bestselling novel from the master storyteller of the sea.

About the Author
Douglas Reeman did convoy duty in the navy in the Atlantic, the Arctic, and the North Sea. He has written over thirty novels under his own name and more than twenty bestselling historical novels featuring Richard Bolitho under the pseudonym Alexander Kent.

Customer Reviews

War on sea and land in the meditaranian during 1943.
Douglas Reeman works his magic again. This time following the wartime career of Mike Blackwood, the latest in a long line of Royal Marines. Newly gazzeted Captain Mike Blackwood, Royal Marine Commando, is being sent on a number of special missions in the meditaranian sea. This book doesn't have quite as much action as the other books I have read in this set. The book loses none of its shine though, as a very deep love interest more than makes up for the loss. The love interest is very well incorporated into the tale,as Reeman links everything together with his usual seemlessness, to make this instalment of the Blackwood family saga pull you in deeper than Badge of glory or The fist to land(the only others I have read as yet). Its references to the forefathers of the Blackwood family from the other books is a welcome touch especialy if you have read some of them already. I have only given this book three stars as I am a lover of action and this book has a tiny bit less than the others I have read, but I still wouldn't have missed it! Enjoy.

A truly great book
This follows the same pattern as a lot of his previous WW2 books, still proving that this formula works, and works well. This book is longer than his average, although this makes it all the more interesting. A worthy read.

Easy read but a bit superficial
I'm not a lover of military fiction but wanted to give this a go and have to say I was disappointed. It's an easy prose style but unlike, say, the Sharpe series, I found the action rather dull. There's little that is memorable about it, although it's not a bad book, just a bit boring.