A taut and gripping thriller: King Edward VIII is on the throne and keen to broker peace at any cost -- WWII could turn out very differently. Autumn 1939. In a parallel world where Edward VIII never abdicated and the Second World War might have taken a very different course. As the storm clouds gather over Europe and German troops are amassing, a clandestine ''King''s Party'' of fascist peace campaigners is stealthily undermining the war-effort. Back from Ceylon to work in the offices of Duration, the newly-founded literary magazine, Cynthia Kirkpatrick finds herself at the centre of a web of intrigue. London shivers with uncertainty. Country house parties are full of conspiring Tory MPs while a clerk from the American Embassy is busy pilfering Presidential telegrams. Everyone is under suspicion as MI5 are widening their net; and journalist Beverley Nichols is engaged on the most important commission of his life -- a secret King''s Speech to shock the nation. And as Hitler''s encroaches further into Europe, Cynthia soon discovers that taking sides can be a very dangerous business.