Forester does interesting work; he uses unhackneyed historical backgrounds; but somehow, to date, his novels haven't quite ""come off"". The market is definitely a masculine one -- and not that readily found escape reading outlet, but rather men who are concerned more with setting and characterization than plot. This follows suit. The theme is the old order which hates change and sticks to the rules it knows, in the figure of a military man who had achieved distinction in the Boer War, and who -- in the World War -- is forced into the use of new methods. A marriage of political significance further feathers his nest -- but he cannot face what he considers dishonor so joins his troops and receives the wound that disables him for life, and ties him to s wheel chair, his wife, his decorations and his rank.