Book description
Three to a Loaf is the First World War story of Rory Ferrall,
a young Canadian officer of Anglo-German descent who, after being
wounded and disfigured at Ypres, comes to the attention of British
military intelligence. Ferrall's German background is valuable to the
war's planners. Hundreds of German-Americans had returned to the
Fatherland to fight for the Kaiser at the outbreak of war in August
1914 and the British captured one. Cleverly trained to impersonate the
captured German-American officer, Ferrall is smuggled into wartime
Germany to infiltrate the German General Staff and discover their
top-secret plan to break the stalemate on the Western Front.
A page-turning novel of war and espionage, Three to a Loaf
is also a portrait of societies and individuals pushed to the breaking
point, and in some cases, beyond. Michael Goodspeed artfully blends
the tension of a thriller with period detail, the detached commentary
of a nitty-gritty travelogue, and psychological understanding of a
harried man facing soul-destroying ethical decisions.
"A great read. didn't put it down until 1 a. m. .a
full-bodied, compelling espionage thriller. Goodspeed has captured the
horror of life in the mud and blood-filled trenches of World War I as
only an experienced soldier with a great eye can. On top of that, he's
got down pat the cultural differences in the manners, mindsets and
methods of the Britons and Germans among whom his Canadian hero finds
himself."
Joe Schlesinger, award-winning
CBC journalist and foreign correspondent
MICHAEL GOODSPEED has degrees in literature, business administration
and strategic studies. Currently an infantry officer in the Canadian
Forces, he has lived and worked in many parts of the world. He and his
wife reside in eastern Ontario.
