Other editions of book Wheels of War

England, 1822What if you are nobody?Wouldn't life be easy, then? You'd have no wants, no ambitions, no desires, no friends, no family, no one to love.If you had nothing to lose, you wouldn't have to worry about war, danger, death - anything at all.Will is a servant in a big house, and all he has to do is obey orders. But when war comes, Will finds himself having to make decisions and look after the others.But then the war comes closer still...

Will works at the big house, and nothing there ever changes very much. But then one day George announces that he's going away to be a soldier in the war that's springing up around them. Will is jealous, but knows he is too young - and too simple - to join him. The glory of war is not for thelikes of him. Then soldiers come and take the rest of the men from the house to join the fighting, too. Will is left behind, with the womenfolk, those too old to fight - and the frail, insane Master, of course. Now everything is different, and Will and his friends start to realize that although theyhave not gone to join the war, they may not be able to stop the war coming to join them. It's time to head for safety-but in a country ravaged by war, where will really be safe? Who will look after them all now the menfolk have all gone away? And how do they know who they can really trust?

England 1822. At first the war seems very far away. The King's men are so splendid in their scarlet coats, and they are fighting so bravely against the rebels that it seems impossible that Will could ever leave his place in the big house with the Master and the womenfolk to have anything to do with the fighting. Will is too young, and too simple, and the war is too valiant and glorious for the likes of him. But wars do not always keep their distance, and there is more than one way of being brave...