"Vienna--June 1804. At the glittering debut of Beethoven's Third Symphony, a Spanish diplomat meets with Captain Thomas Grey, agent of His Majesty's Secret Service. In exchange for a gigantic bribe, the Spaniard discloses Spain's darkest secret: the actual terms of the Treaty of San Ildefonso with France. Spain's neutrality in Napoleon's war on Britain is only a ruse to keep the British navy from attacking the great treasure-armada now gathering in...

The eleventh novel in the legendary Poldark saga Cornwall, 1815: Demelza sees a horseman riding down the valley and senses disruption to the domestic contentment she has fought so hard to achieve. For Ross has little option but to accept the summons - and travel to Paris with his family, as an "observer" of the French armed forces. Parisian life begins well with an exhilarating round of balls and parties. But the return of Napoleon brings separation,...