Book one in 'The Forty-Eighters' series.

The United States of America, 1882. Eighty-three-year-old Bernhard Zimmer, knows his daughter doesn't like to be touched, but he hugs Mollie anyway. His aching bones sense this is his last goodnight. From the musty steamer trunk at the foot of his bed, he unearths a manuscript written in 1848 and dedicates it to Mollie. She refused to listen to his stories, and now he can only hope curiosity will tempt her to read The False French Alarm. Bernhard understands that memories are living things—they breathe and grow, influencing us long after the trauma has passed. Yet he believes tragedy can birth triumph, if we let it. 

The Grand Duchy of Baden, 1848. Periods of economic and social unrest are often characterized by the spread of wild rumors, and Baden is no exception. When the French overthrow their monarchy, Badeners recall the atrocities committed by the armies of the First French Republic. Alarm bells ring from town to town, igniting panic. Journalists stoke the fire, spreading rumors of a French invasion, and Frank Huck, Bernhard's nemesis, is no exception. Despite Huck's call for unity, Bernhard has one purpose—to protect his family. Bernhard, once widowed and twice wed, must overcome his fear of loss before his wife is arrested for treason.