Peter Robinson Leaver was born in 1946 and was educated at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn, Lancashire. He subsequently attained a BSc in Earth and Environmental Sciences with the Open University whilst enjoying a career in the Ministry of Defence working with all three-armed services. He fell in love with Gibraltar during a bird-surveying expedition with the RAF, observing migrating birds of prey as they crossed over from Africa. He returned on several occasions to research material for Siege XV and began writing as a hobby. Now retired from his ‘proper job’, Peter works part-time for a national wine company, enjoying the fruits of his labours. He is unmarried and lives in the Wiltshire countryside but remains a passionate Blackburn Rovers fan.
The sovereignty of a small but crucial piece of land is at stake. Besieged and fought over fourteen times throughout its history, Jebel-Tarik, or Tarik’s Hill – named after an eighth-century Muslim invader – came to be known as the Rock of Gibraltar. This strategically located fortress control...