On the Western Front in World War One, the savage battle of
Paschendaele has begun. Morale is low as the senseless
fight to gain a few yards rages on. The soldiers clash amid
the stench of death and the despair of seeing their fellow
comrades die due to the incompetence of a senior officer's
orders. It's the combination of arrogance and the inability
to heed advice that causes the men to rebel and kill their
superior officer. Having ministered and aided the soldiers,
Chaplin Joseph Reavley becomes their advocate as they are
court-martialed. His sister, Judith, an ambulance driver,
attempts to help but only makes the situation more
critical.
While Judith and Joseph struggle on the front lines, their
younger brother, Matthew, works in the Intelligence Unit
trying to isolate the Peacemaker. The Peacemaker and his
organization conspire to sabotage and eliminate men working
for lasting peace. He wants a world dominated by strong
leaders, such as Lenin, who will ensure a utopian life with
equality and no wars. Matthew can't trust anyone, even his
superiors, as he races to stop the latest plot from the
Peacemaker.
This fourth installment in Anne Perry's brilliant
WWI series raises questions about honor, values and
humanity. She poses the question: How much can we ask of
soldiers as they become disillusioned with their leaders
and what they perceive as hopelessness in the trenches? AT
SOME DISPUTED BARRICADE is a thoroughly thought-provoking
novel about war.
July 1917: Joseph Reavley, a chaplain, and his sister
Judith, an ambulance driver, are bone-weary as they
approach the fourth year of the conflict; the peace of the
English countryside seems a world away.
On the Western
Front, the Battle of Passchendaele has begun, and among the
many fatalities from Joseph's regiment is the trusted
commanding officer, who is replaced by a young major whose
pompous incompetence virtually guarantees that many good
soldiers will die needlessly. But soon he, too, is dead -
killed by his own men.
Although Joseph would like to turn a
blind eye, he knows that he must not. Judith, however,
anguished at the prospect of courts-martial and executions
for the twelve men arrested for the crime, has no such
inhibitions and, risking her own life, helps all but one of
the prisoners to escape.
Back in England, Joseph and Judith's brother, Matthew,
continues his desperate pursuit to unmask the sinister
figure known as the Peacemaker - an obsessed genius who has
committed murder and treason in an attempt to stop Britain
from winning the war. As Matthew trails the Peacemaker,
Joseph tracks his escaped comrades through Switzerland and
into enemy territory. His search will lead to a reckoning
pitting courage and honor against the blind machinery of
military justice.
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