Edmund Ironside – författare

The Field Marshal was a born commander and, besides being a gifted linguist, was mobilised as a Subaltern for the Boer War to act as a secret agent and to streamline the peace process. With an appetite for battle, in WW1 he became the Allied C-in-C of the Expeditionary Force in North Russia and, being ranked as a knighted Major General at the age of 39, he then modernised the Staff training to deal with armoured and aerial warfare. His Generalship was tested out in the Raj and, in 1939, on the day war was declared, the British Army leadership as CIGS was placed in his hands, so that he was able to defend Calais and free-up the BEF escape route to Dunkirk. Back in business as C-in-C Home Forces he was given his baton. Ironside surely had one of the most varied and long military careers of any military leader in the 20th century.

Earth Empire has developed incredible technology, and it has taken humans half way across the galaxy. Entire sentient species have been conquered, their worlds and inhabitants exploited brutally. Human technology and social structure has been used efficiently, but not wisely. A sense of malaise has gripped nearly all of the people, and they yearn for something better. Lost in a fog of bizarre state imposed controls, supported by endless propaganda, they don''t know how to escape their meaningless existence. They don''t even know what they want. At the outermost base called Faraway, a small group of humans learn of some ancient writings, although incomplete, suggesting there is more to life. Immersing themselves in the new way, they start discovering thoughts like respect, compassion, community, beauty, purpose, and especially love. It''s a tenuous beginning, and there are those who will suppress the adherents of the new way. A struggle begins between the two opposing ways. The struggle spreads across the galaxy, and even beyond - from Faraway.