In this gripping prelude to the "Game, Set, Match" trilogy, spies aren't born--they're made. "Winter" tells the tale of a Berlin family divided. Two brothers, Peter and Paul Winter, came of age during the Great War; then as Hitler's power spreads through Germany threatening a new era of violence, the brothers are driven apart by differing morals and ambitions. Meticulously researched, this allegory of a nation at odds with itself paints a brilliant portrait of the German zeitgeist during those turbulent years, and provides a powerful depiction of the rise of the Third Reich.

Epic prelude to the classic spy trilogy, GAME, SET and MATCH, that follows the fortunes of a German dynasty during two world wars.

Epic prelude to the classic spy trilogy, GAME, SET and MATCH, that follows the fortunes of a German dynasty during two world wars.

This novel is the prequel to the Bernard Samson series. It draws a picture of life in Nazi Germany for an upper middle-class family, and of the muddle and madness that led to violence and depravity. As the century opens, Veronica Winter, American by birth, bears her German husband a second son. The boy, Paul, and his brother, Peter, are the central characters in a complex and tragic family drama.

'A monumental work ... brilliantly executed' Daily Telegraph 'The pace and tension leave one almost breathless. A frightening yet compelling novel' Sunday Telegraph Peter and Paul, the two sons of German businessman Harald Winter, are bonded together by a childhood trauma. But as they grow up the brothers also grow apart. When the shadow of the Third Reich falls they become divided by war and their differing ideals - only to meet again years later at the Nuremberg trials. An epic prelude to the Bernard Samson Game, Set and Match trilogy, Winter is a rich, tragic portrait of the fortunes of a family, and a nation, over half a century.

Peter and Pauli Winter are two very different brothers born into a time when the horrors of war engulf and extinguish the Germany that is. Yet for all their differences, the destinies of the two brothers are forever bound to the madness that lies ahead. From their sheltered childhood through their violent coming of age in the Great War . . . from the chaos of 1920 Berlin to the spreading power of Hitler . . . the brothers are wrenched apart by conflicting ideals and ambitions. Now mortal enemies, they are trapped in a holocaust that threatens to tear them -- and the world -- to pieces.