A compelling examination of how secrets can tear one family apart and reverberate down the generations. Helen has always known her grandfather was a famous author, but her parents had severed connections with him whilst she was still young. After embarking on a whirlwind affair she decides to visit her reclusive grandfather and sets in motion a change that will have devastating consequences and reveal long hidden mysteries. A look at not just the treachery of family secrets but of how truth can be buried within a text and how society imposes limits on love.

Mpho Mamela, a young accountant at a coal mine in the Middelburg coalfields of South Africa is killed one night when he gets caught in the rollers of a conveyor belt. He is mangled beyond recognition. There will be an official State enquiry into his death, by the Inspectorate of Mining.

Stephen Wakefield, the in-house lawyer and a director of the company, begins preparing for the enquiry, but he struggles to understand what happened - Mamela should not have been anywhere near the place he was killed. Bit by bit, Stephen’s investigation uncovers a story far removed from a simple workplace accident.

A web of deception and massive fraud is unveiled; fraud perpetrated by a person who publicly insists on high standards of morality and honesty. It becomes clear to Stephen that Mamela had tried to blackmail the guilty party to help his lover, who is in prison for attempting to steal a trifling amount from the mining company. When the killer learns that his actions are about to be exposed, Stephen realises that his own life is now in danger...

UPDATED WITH TWO NEW CHAPTERS 'One of the most provocative and startling books ever written by a British commander ... an update of the two great thinkers on war and peace, Clausewitz and Sun Tsu, for our time ... it is for anyone interested in the well-being of our world' Robert Fox, Evening Standard Why do we try to use military force to solve our political problems? And why, when our forces win the military battles does this still fail to solve those problems? It is because the force lacks utility. From Iraq to the Balkans, and from Afghanistan to Chechneya, over the past fifteen years there has been a steady stream of military interventions that have not delivered on their promise for peace, or even political resolution. The Utility of Force explains this anomaly at the heart of our current international system. 'Britain's outstanding soldier of modern times ... a book that will assure his reputation as a serious and original thinker among soldiers and strategists' Sir John Keegan, Daily Telegraph 'It is hard to overstate the devastating nature of this book as an indictment of almost everything the West has done in recent years, and is doing today' Sir Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph