Michael J. Cooper’s latest historical fiction novel, Wages of Empire, draws readers into the perilous journey of sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair and his father into WW1. On this path, their lives will intersect with such historical figures as TE Lawrence, Gertrude Bell, the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, the Arab nationalist Faisal ibn Hussein, the proto-Nazi and advisor to the German kaiser Guido von List, and Kaiser Wilhelm II himself.
Set in the summer of 1914 we find Evan living in the American southwest where his father moved the family from England for his Oxford sabbatical. Evan struggles to cope with his mother’s death in childbirth and yearns to escape his father’s controlling grip. As war breaks out in Europe, Evan decides to leave home and join the fight, without telling his father.
By the time Clive realizes Evan is missing, the war is in full swing. Clive returns to England to search for Evan and reactivates his commission at the War Office in London. There, Clive uses every means available to find Evan. Meanwhile, Evan has made his way across the Atlantic and into France with the hope of joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), but instead he is arrested by the Paris police as a possible German collaborator. He escapes, but by mistake, crosses into occupied Belgium where he barely survives a German artillery barrage with poison gas. Joining the Flemish resistance, he is badly wounded after helping to flood the lowlands, a deciding factor in stopping the German army. After recovering in a BEF hospital in France, Evan begins a romance with a beautiful young nurse just before he is discharged to return to England by hospital ship.
Cooper masterfully weaves a compelling narrative that includes fictional and historical characters with high stakes in the conflict. Wages of Empire takes us from Whitehall in London to the Western Front in Flanders, where we glimpse a world of imperial power where massive casualties result from outdated military tactics in the face of new wartime technologies. Cooper also provides an intimate look into the German Kaiser’s machinations in the conflict and his intentions for the Holy Land.
The Kaiser, who anticipates victory in the war, has sent his agents to facilitate his rule in Jerusalem as Holy Roman Emperor with dominion over Arabia’s rich oil reserves and control of the Suez Canal. And from his throne on the Temple Mount, he plans to extend a vision of German-Nordic racial supremacy throughout the world. Woven into this challenge, we glimpse a covert fellowship of Guardians of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. This mysterious and clandestine community is aware of the Kaiser’s intentions and dedicated to stopping him.
With gripping tension, Cooper keeps readers on the edge of their seats as the stakes are raised with each turn of events. Will Evan and Clive be reunited? Will they survive the war? These questions and more are left echoing in the reader’s mind long after the story’s conclusion.
Michael J. Cooper’s Wages of Empire is a must-read blockbuster for history buffs of all ages. The novel’s masterful storytelling will leave readers wanting more. Available for pre-order now.
Irish-born Gillian McAllister knew she was meant for bigger things than a quiet life among her large extended family. Leaving home at seventeen against her protective father’s wishes, Gillian is looking for adventure – and that’s exactly what she finds. She was a nanny for a maharaja, a caretaker for WWII internees, and a nurse on the Isle of Man before finally becoming a wife, mother, and grandmother in London, Canada, where she spent the majority of her eighty-nine years.
