both sides, but the americans had won.

back in berlin, the papers continued to tell of german victories, but the lines on the maps got no nearer to paris, and walter came to the bitter conclusion that the spring offensive had failed. the americans had arrived too soon.

he was released from hospital to convalesce in his old room at his parents' house.

on august 8 an allied attack at amiens used almost five hundred of the new "tanks." these ironclad vehicles were plagued with problems but could be unstoppable, and the british gained eight miles in a single day.

it was only eight miles, but walter suspected the tide had turned, and he could tell by his father's face that the old man felt the same. no one in berlin now spoke of winning the war.

one night at the end of september, otto came home looking as if someone had died. there was nothing left of his natural ebullience. walter even wondered if he was going to cry.

"the kaiser has returned to berlin," he said.

walter knew that kaiser wilhelm had been at army headquarters in the belgian hill resort called spa. "why has he come back?"

otto's voice dropped to a near-whisper, as if he could not bear to say what he had to say in a normal voice. "ludendorff wants an armistice."