Picture of Defeat

He must save the past, for the peoples' future... It is 1943, and Naples has been looted by the Allies and Axis powers alike, its priceless art treasures coveted by some of the most corrupt criminal minds in Europe. The country swarmed with bands of partisans, who included communists, genuine patriots, escaped POWs and ex-soldiers of the Italian army. Alongside them, but operating solely for gain, were gangs of bandits. Sergeant Tom Pugh was in Field Security, because he had spent three years in Italy before the war. He was now entrusted with a delicate and difficult task to save the paintings of Italian master, Detto Banti. Not quite what Pugh thought the war was about but dangerous enough for anyone An authentic and gripping WWII espionage thriller,

The novel is set during the Allied advance through Italy and the political fragmentation of Naples and its surrounding countryside. Its concern with paintings and looting places cultural property alongside espionage, partisan warfare and black-market crime.