The End of the Beginning

The North African desert, 1942. Recovering from his injuries, Lieutenant Douglas Tulloch returns to the Lothian Rifles just as the tide of war shifts. With Rommel’s forces pressing deep into Allied territory, the British are pushed to their limits and the Lothians find themselves outgunned and struggling to hold the line.

As the men prepare for a defining battle at El Alamein, personal encounters with the enemy force Tulloch to question not only his adversaries, but also the cost of his duty. The principal historical frame is Second Battle of El Alamein. The military action is linked to the operational history of the Second World War, but the central concern is how repeated defeat, recovery and command responsibility alter a regiment and its officers.