The Officer’s Code
Eric Foster, son of the prominent owner of a London law firm, resents his father’s determined efforts to make him a barrister, fails his studies and is sent to Germany to try again. He makes friends with another student who is from a prominent aristocratic ( junker) military family, falls in love with his sister, assumes his mother’s family name, gains dual citizenship, and enters the German Army to become an officer in an elite cavalry unit in order to be able to marry. The ensuing action follows his life and that of the various members of the family through the war and early postwar years.
The historical facts, both of the war and of the lifestyle of the Prussian elite, are quite accurate and provide an excellent view of WW I from a perspective seldom presented to American readers. The action flows beautifully, it is easy to establish an empathetic relationship with the characters and Alexander has provided a truly fascinating and completely believable story about individuals helplessly caught in the fluctuations of world politics . Highly recommended.
