The tension has been simmering below the surface for years. It was only a matter of time before it would boil over.

In volume five of the Fire and Steel saga, the Eckhardt and the Westland families are staring straight into history's darkest days. Facing tectonic shifts like few generations have ever seen, they are caught up in a whirlwind that will permanently and profoundly alter their lives.

Mired in the depths of a global economic depression, the world takes little notice of a 1930 Parliamentary election in the floundering democracy of Germany. But overnight, Hitler and his Nazi Party catapult from the smallest to the second-largest political party in the country. And he's not content to stop there. From the compulsory indoctrination of Germany's youth to the persecution of Jews and the public book burnings, Hitler's policies will deeply affect the Eckhardt family—particularly Hans's oldest daughter, who must keep the real identity of her best friend a secret at all costs.

For Hans, Hitler's meteoric rise to power reveals a horrifying truth: Hitler has no intention of abiding by the rules of democracy he claims to espouse—his goal is total dictatorship, and it is now in his grasp. For the Westland family, the Great Depression brings hardships and sacrifices they never imagined. On opposite sides of the world, two families woven together by friendship are each caught in a maelstrom of events that will test their faith to the very core.