In the sweltering summer of 1552, the Ottoman army marches toward Eger fortress with an army that dwarfs the Hungarian garrison. But the defenders have something the Turks cannot fathom: Bornemissza Gergely, a soldier whose inventive mind crafts seeded bombs and desperate stratagems, and a resolve forged in decades of conflict. This volume follows Gergely as he rallies retreating soldiers, recruits a cunning gypsy spy, and rides toward the fortress that has become the last bastion between Hungary and conquest. Meanwhile, in Sopron, Gergely's wife Éva discovers a hidden map in her husband's old vest, one that could determine the fate of Eger. When their young son Jancsi vanishes from church, stolen by unknown hands, Éva must navigate a web of old enemies and shadowy threats while the walls of Eger prepare for the onslaught. Captain Dobó István tears up the Turkish surrender demand. The siege begins. Gárdonyi's masterpiece pulses with the heartbeat of a small band of defenders facing impossible odds. This is historical fiction at its most visceral: a tale of courage, ingenuity, and the unbreakable human spirit against the tide of empire. For readers who savor tales of last stands and unlikely heroes.
