Death Before Dishonour

Unburdened by literary aspirations, this sweeping family saga charts the fall of the British Empire through the exploits of three generations of the aristocratic de Clare family, encompassing love and hate, good and evil, nobility and dishonor. The story begins as WWI begins and the noblest of the younger generation of de Clares march off to battle. Among them is Fish, a good-hearted fellow afflicted with a stutter, who is in love with his spirited cousin, Violet. His battle heroics and the ground and air combat scenes, the focus of the first half of the novel, are vividly rendered. Fish's father, Major-General Gervase de Clare, is a chilling example of the corrupt and careless military leaders who drove their troops to death in pointless trench combat. The ""war to end all wars"" finally concludes, and the new enemy becomes the modern tax system, which financially devastates the decimated English upper class. In WWII, the de Clares again take their place on the battlefields, as well as among the politicians, military leaders and secret agents running the show. Those family members who don't perish in either of the conflicts must watch their backs in peacetime, since only one of their number can inherit the title, and Fish's sinister cousin Godfrey is bent on becoming the next earl. Sadistic since his days at boarding school, the elegant Godfrey plays Lucifer to Fish's Gabriel in the black-and-white moral universe Williams paints. Williams also takes liberal and dark license with historical figures, most notably King Edward, his lover Wallis Simpson and Lord Mountbatten. Though some readers may be put off by the British vernacular, Williams manages to avoid superfluous descriptive passages--a remarkable feat for a 500-plus-page tome--to produce a fast-paced, compelling narrative. (Nov.)