Is banishment a fate worse than death?
An unexpected one-way journey takes Bryan Hale to the city of Alexandria on the Nile Delta, and from there, headlong into a desert war that is approaching a pivotal crisis. Against his will, he is absorbed into the Desert Air Force, and an unlikely victory against the world's most ruthless army led by the world's most accomplished general is the only way Bryan can hope to get back to the island where he left his heart. The warmth and succour of an old flame in Cairo, and the friendship of Snowy, his new wingman in Firebird Squadron, go some way to alleviate the dusty deprivations of Landing Ground 97. American bombers and fighters are arriving in the desert, with whispered rumours of a gathering invasion fleet. Perhaps victory is a possibility after all...