"1954: The Winter Soldier is the Soviet Union's greatest weapon. Assigned the most dangerous covert missions from the USSR's secret military branch, and guided by a handler who knows him better than he knows himself, he has only one purpose: to obey orders. But he wasn't always the Winter Soldier . . . 1941: As World War II begins, sixteen-year-old Bucky Barnes is determined to enlist in the US army--if only the local commander will stop getting in his way. When Bucky is offered enrollment in a training program with the British Special Operations Executive--the UK's secret service--he leaps at the chance to become a hero. But Bucky has hardly touched down in London when he finds himself running from a mysterious assassin and accompanied by an English chess champion fond of red lipstick and double crosses. She's in possession of a secret every side is desperate to get their hands on. If only they knew what it was . . . Decades later, the Winter Soldier struggles to solve the same mystery Bucky is just beginning to uncover. As their missions intersect across time, their lives collide too--in a way that neither of them would have expected, and that will change the course of their respective wars."--Publisher marketing.