The Temple

Sir Sidney Smith #3

by Tom Grundner

It’s 1798 and Sir Sidney Smith is languishing in “The Temple,” France’s maximum security prison. For the past two years he had been running the Agence de Paris—Britain’s primary spy ring in France—from his cell. But the authorities are starting to close in. It’s time for Sir Sidney to leave; but, to do so, he must stage one of the most spectacular prison breaks in history.Arriving back in England, Sir Sidney is welcomed as a national hero; but he is far from comfortable in that role. It is with relief, therefore, that he receives a set of orders sending him to Portsmouth for further duty. What he didn’t know was that his new duty would involve working with a ner-do-well itinerant musician, by the name of William Parish—who happens to be a genius at breaking codes. Napoleon is massing ships, troops, and supplies at Toulon and a number of other ports. He is clearly planning an invasion; but an invasion of who, where and when, no one knows. The key is a captured message that Parish and Smith must break, but it’s encoded in a way that has never been seen before.From a dreary prison in Paris, to the opulent palaces of Constantinople, to the horror of the Battle of the Nile—The Temple will take you on a wild ride through 18th Century nautical history.The Sir Sidney Smith Series is based on the life of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith (1764-1840)

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dr. Tom Grundner (1945-2011) received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University; a masters degree in Human Learning from the Institute for Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland; a second masters in Education from the University of Southern California; and a doctorate in Educational Philosophy and psychology, also from USC.
The majority of his working life was spent as a college professor until in 1991 he left to run a nonprofit organization. After that he became a full time custom golf clubmaker which led him to write a series of golf equipment books with noted golf club designer, Tom Wishon. As a result of the success of these books he was able to become one the original investors in Fireship Press where he served as the “Senior Editor”.