Max Krömer, a fourteen year old boy, relates the horrors of the Siege of Strasbourg in this work of historical fiction. The actual siege, during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, consisted of surrounding the city and then bombing and starving the inhabitants, until they surrendered. In this story, Max and his sister Sylvie, went to their grandmother's house in Strasbourg while their father traveled. It was quite unknown to them they would have to endure six weeks of "the dreadful noise of the war." They looked to God for answers. An important verse is John 14:18--I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you."