A near-fatal plane crash has made a serious dent in the career (and body) of Lieutenant Tristan von Ohr. He is one of the German fl ying aces who took part in the brilliant air campaign of Bloody April, 1917. German aviation has revolutionized 20th century warfare-thanks in part to Tristan's friend Anthony Fokker.
Transferred to the air service reserves, Tristan discovers that he is a poster boy in a glorious war that is doomed to failure. America's entry into the Great War means that a whole generation of German youth-including Tristan's buddies-is being slaughtered for no purpose. The Fatherland's chances of victory are now zero. Every day the public is being told lies about the war aims, lies about the sacrifices they must make, lies about the staggering human cost of the Second Reich's "march with destiny."
Ruthless old men in Berlin are leading the Fatherland down a bloody road to disaster. Inside Tristan's heart something says: No more lies. No more government-sponsored lies.
But what can he do?
He realizes that for a good Prussian boy to even question the war would be considered criminal disloyalty, and he would be punished.
But for a soldier like himself to go one step farther and desert the war means death by fi ring squad