Mightier than the Sword opens with an IRA bomb exploding during the MV Buckingham's maiden voyage across the Atlantic - but how many passengers lose their lives?

Harry Cliffton, now preseident of English PEN, launces a campaign for the release of a fellow author, Anatoly Babakov, but in doing so puts his own life in danger. His wife Emma, dealing with the repercussions of the attack, crosses swords with Lady Virginia Fenwick, who will stop at nothing to cause Emma's downfall.

Sir Giles Barrington is now a Minister of the Crown, and looks set for even higher office, until an official trip to Berlin does not end as a diplomatic success. In London, Harry and Emma's son Sebastian is quickly making a name for himself at Farthing's Bank. But the despicable Adrian Sloane will do whatever it takes to remove his rival.