Summer 1941. The tiny island of Malta, held by the British, has become the most bombed place on earth. It is a crucial supply point for the Allies. The Germans and Italians want to destroy it. For the fighter pilots of the RAF defeat seems almost certain. They are outnumbered in the air, short of food and drink and weakened by tropical disease. Two flight commanders, Englishman Kit Curtis and American Ossie Wolf, make an unlikely alliance. Curtis is idealistic while Wolf, by contrast, is ruthless, a gifted ace thriving in the chaos of imminent invasion. But as each man is tested to the limit, they come to share a common purpose and fresh understanding. The experiences of these pilots and their comrades are vividly conveyed in a novel of compelling pace and power. By turns brutal, funny, tragic and heroic, this is a spell-binding tour-de-force, a brilliant sequel to the bestselling Blue Man Falling.