Tillyard, a historian, creates a vivid diorama of Europe during the Peninsular war. Her large cast mixes factual and fictional characters, who interact in a complex and absorbing series of plotlines. Lord Wellington bestrides the continent in pursuit of Boney while his wife Kitty invests her spare housekeeping money with Nathan Rothschild who, in turn, is bankrolling the British government. Kitty befriends Harriet Raven whose new husband James has left her to join Wellington's campaign in Spain. The emotional heart of the novel focuses on the liberation of these three characters under cover of war, giving the book a very modern feel. The pressures on the government's finances also chime with our present situation, making it doubly resonant. Harriet is mesmerised by stunning leaps forward in science; her husband is seduced by the darker aspects of war. There are cameo appearances by Goya and William Herschel in a fine evocation of the early 19th century. Highly assured and almost educational with its broad sweep of history.