In Moscow, highly classified military documents have been leaked. If they make it into the wrong hands, the consequences could be cataclysmic. Barley Blair, a bewildered, drink-marinated English publisher, becomes the unlikely recipient of the smuggled documents. Blair is hardly to the taste of the spymasters, yet he has to be used. John le Carr catches history in the act and gives us a magnificent thriller, a love story, an ethical puzzle, and a chilling portrayal of the Cold War. As the Iron Curtain begins to rust and crumble, Blair is left to sound a battle cry that may fall on deaf ears.