Ireland 1925. Nine-year-old Philip Kinsella lives with his parents, eccentric uncles, terrifying grandmother and an alcoholic butler in the imposing castle of Lissanore. The Kinsellas are one of the oldest noble families in Ireland, descended from Gaelic kings and 'Wild Geese' Jacobite exiles who served in the Austrian army. An unexpected visitor arrives from Spain with her daughter Constanza. Philip, whose romantic imagination is governed by stories of derring-do, pledges himself to be her knight, a promise that will dominate his life.

Philip's youthful existence is enlivened by the powerful presence of another visitor, his cousin, Nicholas Kinsella, a dashing cavalry officer from the Austrian branch of the family who becomes a major influence in his life. The story moves from Lissanore to boarding school in England, where Philip acquires a group of lifelong friends and from which he emerges as an idealistic young man eager for adventure.

A Fateful Promise is the first part in a major literary undertaking, covering eighty dramatic years of European history. It is a vivid evocation of a distant world that Gerald Warner brings alive in all its brilliance and compelling detail.

Gripping, humorous and richly entertaining, this novel is a remarkable work of imagination. There is more to come. Book Two in the Kinsella Chronicles, The Cross of Burgundy, takes Philip to the Spanish Civil War, when savage conflict engulfs Constanza's homeland.