In this, the author's 14th David Audley novel, Oliver St John Latimer - the Deputy-Director of the Research and Development Section of British Intelligence - is sent to deepest Georgia. Here he follows in the footsteps of General Sherman's troops to the Sion Crossing ruins, with fearful results.

Dr David Audley is in Rome without authorization and alarm bells start to ring in British Intelligence. The head of Italian security is also interested in his arrival, particularly as it has flushed from cover a rogue communist. The author won the CWA's Gold Dagger Award for "Other Paths to Glory".