A. Berridge

1640, and the pall of war hangs over France . . . The young Chevalier de Roland has scarcely set foot in the city before he crosses swords with a cruel nobleman to defend a young womans honour. Too late he learns he has stumbled on a conspiracy with in the Kings own household to seize power by secret alliance with Spain. Accused of treason and forced to flee into hiding, André must fight on alone, staking both his life and his honour in the battle to save France. Blood and Steel is an epic swas hbuckling pageturner that sweeps from the political intrigues of Cardinal Richelieu to the great battlefields of the Thirty Years War.

A man without honour is no man at all ...France, 1636. The Thirty Years War rages across Europe, and a bloody and brutal campaign begins as Spanish armies flood into Picardy. In their way lies the border village of Dax-en-roi. The Chevalier de Roland rallies a valiant defence, but his household guard are slaughtered, his estate burned and his life forfeit. Only one survivor escapes the invaders' butchery: the Chevalier's son, and lone heir to the Roland name. But Andre de Roland is little more than a boy. What can someone so young do against so many? Yet Andre is determined to save his people from the savagery of their invaders. He will uphold the honour of the Roland name - to the death! "Honour and the Sword" is a sweeping and epic novel of love and heroism, betrayal and courage in the fine tradition of Alexandre Dumas.