Europe, 1938. The last summer before the storm.
In a quiet village of Alsace, twin brothers Charles and Georges grow up between the warmth of their family bakery and the fragile peace that followed the Great War.
Charles is thoughtful and artistic, dreaming of becoming a painter.
Georges is bold and ambitious, fascinated by machines and industry.
Their lives change when they meet Juliette, a brilliant student from Strasbourg whose independence and political convictions challenge them both.
But history is moving faster than their dreams.
Across Europe, tensions rise. Mobilization rumors spread. The old certainties of peace begin to crumble.
As love, ambition, and family loyalties pull them in different directions, the three young lives become entangled with the gathering forces that will soon plunge the continent into war.
Soil and Steel is the opening volume of the historical saga Swords into Plowshares, a powerful story of youth, love, and the fragile hopes of a generation standing on the edge of the Second World War.
