Book X of The Australians. In South Africa, the bloody battle rages between the British and the Zulus.Jon Fisher leaves South Africa with Harry Ryan to return to Australia. There he learns of the problems faced by his family, of the conflicts between the wealthy squatters and the so-called selectors. As the bitterness between the two grows, three ships take their place at the centre of this saga: The Cutty Sark, The Java and the Thermopylae. The descendants of the early settlers face further turmoil as the possibility of war between Germany and Britain becomes increasingly imminent.