Two boys separated from their mothers at an early age are raised by surrogates. Both are unusual women who led their young wards on paths far different than that of other youths. These experiences at different times and in widely separated places in the world have a lasting impact. Both later become intelligence operatives. This novel tracks events in the lives of Bonneville Herrsh and Geoffrey Blake from the deserts of the Middle East during World War I; to Europe where unchecked aggression leads to World War II; to D-Day in 1944; and to the early years of the Cold War. A Swiss spymaster and an heiress he recruited as an agent are involved in this wide-ranging account. As are American, British and Swiss intelligence operatives.