Sunset To the residents and defence forces of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, th war in Europe remains remote. Even the massive build-up of Japanese forces on the Chinese border cannot dent their carefree optimism.Yet one man suspects the truth. Lieutenant-Commander Esmond Brooke, captain of HMS Serpent and a veteran of the cruel Atlantic, sees all too clearly the folly and incometence of Hong Kong's colonial administration. To Brooke, attack by Japan seemsinevitable.But, in war, there will always be some who attempt the impossible, even in the face of death. This is the story of one ship and her company who refuse to accept the anguish of defeat and surrender to a merciless enemy...The Glory BoysThey are called The Glory Boys, by those who regard their exploits with envy or contempt.Bob Kearton is one of them. Already a veteran and survivor of the close action in the English Channel and North Sea, in January of 1943 he is ordered to the Mediterranean and beleagured Malta, a mere sixty miles from occupied Sicily. Unexpectedly promoted to lieutenant-commander, he is given charge of a newly formed and as yet incomplete flotilla of motor torpedo boats. The tide of defeat is thought to be turning, the enemy no longer advancing along the North African coast with Egypt and India as final objectives, and Kearton's is a new war of stealth, subterfuge, and daring, in which the Glory Boys are only too expendable.Knife EdgeJanuary 1970, and the final chapter in the Blackwood history appears to have closed with the murder in Cyprus of Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Blackwood, and the subsequent sale of the ancestral home. Disillusioned and grieving for his distinguished father, Lieutenant Ross Blackwood believes there is no future for him in the Corps. The Royal Marines have been reduced in strength, and their role in a modern world, after so splendid a tradition, diminished to policing and paperwork.But Ross remains a Blackwood and a Royal Marine, and the loyalty and dedication of a Blackwood to the Corps sustain him from vicious guerilla warfare in Malaysia through the moral and political minefields of Northern Ireland, where one man's terrorist is another's patriot, to the South Atlantic, and a conflict as bloody as it is unpredictable.And he learns, as every Blackwood has before him, that jungle or moor, insurrection or invasion, mere courage is not enough. Survival and victory balance on the knife edge of destiny.The White GunsThere will be days when you wonder at and question some of the risks you had to take, the sacrifices you were forced to offer in the face of death.'Kiel Harbour, 1945 - the war in Europe is at an end. But for Lieutenant Vere Marriott and the men of MGB 801, moored amid a nightmare of devastation, it is an uneasy, unsettled peace.New assignments ashore and afloat mean fresh tensions and conflicting emotions. For some, glory now takes second place to profit. For others, revenge at last sems within their grasp.No one is shooting at Marriott now. But dangers come thick and fast - from confrontation with the Russians to his feelings for Fraulein Geghim. There is more to victory than survival ...Badge of GloryIt was an age of Empire, an age of contrast, and an age of dramatic change - and one which would determine the destinies of nations as well as of men. Captain Philip Blackwood of the Royal Marines rejoins his ship, HMS Audacious, in the August of 1850, anxious to get back into action. Per Mare - Per Terram is the Marines' motto.In the torturous heat of Africa, where they are sent to stamp out the remaining strongholds of slavery, and later, in the bitter war of the Crimea, Philip Blackwood and his men learn to obey it without question. The first novel in an enthralling and colourful saga, spanning 150 years in the history of a great seafaring family and the tradition in which they served, Badge of Glory is a stunning new departure for one of Britain's master storytellers.Douglas Reeman 5 Books Collection Title In This Set: Sunset The Glory Boys Knife Edge The White Guns Badge of Glory
