Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet. "The Trumpet-Major" is one of Hardy's most underrated and unpredictable works. Anne Garland, who lives with her widowed mother in a mill, has three suitors: the squire's nephew Festus and the miller's two sons, Robert and John. As the Wessex village prepares for possible invasion by Napoleon's fleet, Anne finds her destiny increasingly tangled up with the events of history. For Robert is a sailor while John is a soldier, both with equal commitments to their country and their love for Anne.