Small Paperback, Good Condition, 2003, 600 pages, ISBN 1 86019 6454

Fanfare – Andrew MacAllan

A Sensual Land of Mystery - The tragic slaughter of 40,000 in the retreat from Kabul sees just two survivors: Scottish physician Douglas Kintyre and the orphaned baby he adopts, Benjamin Fanfare Bannerman. Ben spends his early life in India, where he learns the language and grows to love the people.

A desperate bugle call - Moving to Scotland, Ben meets Mary Jane Green, a young girl running away from her past. She has no future in England and knows the way ahead must lie in a foreign land. India has always been in Ben’s blood and he determines to return one day, to serve in the East India Company’s army, taking with him his mother’s only legacy - an extraordinary ruby ring.

A machine gun’s rapid fire - Fighting for his country, Ben develops the Fanfare - a weapon that makes his fortune and dramatically changes the face of the war. Again and again his path crosses with Mary Jane’s. Their lives are frequently at risk, but their courage and resourcefulness help them to survive until they are reunited on a dangerous journey to the heart of Afghanistan. Only there the extraordinary secret of the ruby ring is revealed…