The Devil's Pact - Tapa blanda

July 1943. With North Africa secured, the Allies launch an invasion of Sicily, and the 2nd Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Rangers are in the van of the assault on the Italian beaches. Now B Company Commander, Tanner's promotion has brought him fresh problems. Not only has his new Battalion Commander decided to make his life as difficult as possible, but he and his men soon find themselves battling against some of the toughest troops in the Wehrmacht. In the bitter fighting that follows, Tanner witnesses a new kind of warfare where the end will justify the means. Erstwhile outlaws, the Sicilian mafia are supposedly on the side of the Allies but their real purpose is feathering their own nests. And it is not just the Mafia who are playing dirty. It soon becomes clear that in the quest to force Italy out of the war, compromises and brutal choices need to be made - choices where the lines between right and wrong have become horribly blurred. Forced to question the cause for which he has fought so long, Tanner and his trusted sidekick, Sykes, find themselves embroiled in a fight that has become deeply personal, where they have to use all their resolve, skill and experience if they are to have any chance of survival.

James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. A member of the British Commission for Military History and the Guild of Battlefield Guides, he also regularly contributes reviews and articles in national newspapers and magazines and appears on national radio. His many publications include Fortress Malta, Together We Stand and Italy's Sorrow. His most recent books, The Battle of Britain and Dam Busters, have been Sunday Times bestsellers. He is also the author of an acclaimed fictional WW2 series featuring Jack Tanner. His interviews with veterans of the Second World War are available at the Imperial War Museum and are also rchived on www.secondworldwarforum.com. He lives near Salisbury with his wife, son and daughter.