Dogs may be man's best friend, but every friendship is different. Prepare to meet Nicholas, a gregarious Airedale whose arrival in a moneyed Long Island home unleashes complete and total chaos throughout the neighbourhood. Verdun Belle, the lady of the title, is a silky-eared spaniel whose loyalty - and litter of puppies - rallies an entire American regiment fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. Then there's Egon, a large - very large - German Shepherd, accustomed to summering on the Cote d'Azur, and to managing the diaries and daily activities of his human charges, whether they want him to or not.