A modern work of genius Spectator Winner of the Costa/Whitbread Book of the Year Award 1993 Forced into slavery as a child, Jonathan Carrick escapes to a new life but within him lies the need for revenge against George Stokes, the son of his former master. Mallory Carrick, confined to a wheelchair, seeks to find out the truth about her grandfathers history. Haunting, elegant and passionate, Theory of War is a novel about how the past lives on through following generations. It follows one womans journey to discover what her grandfather might have experienced and how his suffering still haunts his descendants.