The Alternate History WWII Continues…As Fedorov struggles to forge an alliance of understanding between Brigadier Kinlan and General O’Connor, Rommel prepares to launch an offensive to break the last line of resistance south of Sidi Barani. While the Afrika Korps is overstretched and dangerously low on fuel, it now threatens to break through and open the road to Alexandria-and Wavell has nothing left to throw at them until…German oasis patrols soon encounter an unexpected mechanized force massing on Rommel’s flank, and the fate of Egypt will now be decided at an insignificant desert outpost called Bir el Khamsa when the great grandsons of the Desert Rats join their ancestors on the field of honor.Meanwhile, Volsky, Tovey and Fairchild forge a grand alliance at sea to oppose a powerful Axis fleet. The hubris of Italian General Iachino brings his force into contact with these powerful new foes as the Franco/German fleet rushes to the scene of battle. And Sergei Kirov receives a visit from Vladimir Karpov as the wily ex-Captain of Kirov seeks to further enmesh himself in the decisive campaigns about to open on the eastern front. But Karpov’s grand vision of alliances he hopes to form will soon lead him to a most unexpected place, where he will again hold the fate of nations in the palm of his hand.Battle rages on land and sea in this opening volume of the Grand Alliance trilogy, book 13 in the amazing Kirov Series.