In this captivating novel, a proper English lady and her young, dashing son get caught up in a spy network in World War I. It remains for her grandson to entangle the web of their activities on Putney Bridge.

In an aging mansion on the north side of London’s Putney Bridge, an old woman confesses a secret to her grandson, just returned home from the battlefields of World War II. Charlotte Stetchworth has always appeared to be a proper Englishwoman, though with a lively background as a suffragette and European traveler. Now, her grandson Freddy learns a sinister secret, that Charlotte and her son Rolly—Freddy’s father—were involved in a complex web of spying for the Germans starting in World War I.

In this captivating novel by historian and Army veteran Colonel David Fitz-Enz, we follow Rolly throughout the European theater of World War I. Rags, as he is known to friends and colleagues, is assigned to the staff of Major General Avery Hilliard Hopewell, an inspector general for the British Army whose work takes him from the battlefields of France to Alexandria and Gallipoli and beyond. Rags’ travels lead him to army hospitals, a mysterious father figure, a beautiful nurse wracked with grief, and Churchill’s War Rooms.

Along the way, he and Charlotte learn the art of spycraft and use any means necessary to keep their secret. But while Freddy is told his family’s covert history, he begins to suspect that Charlotte has just scratched the surface. Beginning his own investigation, Freddy learns that there is much more to discover about the spy on Putney Bridge.

Preface and Acknowledgments

Note to the Reader

Cast of Characters

Timeline

Maps

PART I: CODE (1945)

Chapter OneLondon, Just Prior to Christmas, 1945

Chapter TwoRegensburg, Germany, and Yorkshire, 1898

Chapter ThreeLondon, 1898–1910

Chapter FourCharterhouse and Putney, 1910–1914

Chapter FivePutney, 1914–1915

Chapter SixPutney, Lakenheath, and Horse Guards, February–March 1915

Chapter SevenPutney Bridge, April–May 1915

PART II: PLAINTEXT (1915–1918)

Chapter EightLondon, May 1915

Chapter NineLambeth Bridge, 1915

Chapter TenHorse Guards, 1915

Chapter ElevenThe White Swan and Woolwich, 1915

Chapter TwelveMediterranean, Late June 1915

Chapter ThirteenGallipoli, Mid-July 1915

Chapter FourteenGallipoli, July–August 1915

Chapter FifteenGallipoli, August 1915

Chapter SixteenAlexandria and Rome, August 1915

Chapter SeventeenRome, August 1915

Chapter EighteenRome, August 1915, and London, September 1915

Chapter NineteenLondon, September 1915

Chapter TwentyHorse Guards, September 1915

Chapter Twenty-OneHorse Guards, September 1915

Chapter Twenty-TwoHorse Guards, September 1915

Chapter Twenty-ThreeLondon, Early October 1915

Chapter Twenty-FourLondon and Calais, Early October 1915

Chapter Twenty-FiveLoos, Early October 1915

Chapter Twenty-SixChateau Chenonceau, October 1915

Chapter Twenty-SevenThe Channel and London, October 1915

Chapter Twenty-EightFrance, March–August 1916

Chapter Twenty-NineLondon, September 1916

Chapter Thirty London, October 1916

Chapter Thirty-OneEurope, 1918–1920

Chapter Thirty-TwoLondon, 1921

PART III: TRANSMISSION (1936–1944)

Chapter Thirty-ThreeLondon and Newmarket, 1936

Chapter Thirty-FourFort Belvedere and Germany, 1936

Chapter Thirty-FiveThe Eagle’s Nest and Sweden, 1936

Chapter Thirty-SixEurope, 1937–1940

Chapter Thirty-SevenLondon, 1940–1941

Chapter Thirty-EightLondon, 1942–1943

Chapter Thirty-NineLondon, 1944

PART IV: KEY (1945)

Chapter FortyLondon, Just After Christmas, 1945

Chapter Forty-OnePutney Bridge

Afterword

About the Author