The Arena is rooted in the City of London, where a rundown firm of merchant bankers, Bonavias, is half-heartedly trying to stave off a merger with an upstart firm, known as the Bakerloo. But it is not only money that's at stake: personal pride, spite, and national policy are involved. Bonavias have a hold on Radarmic: and Radarmic is top secret. Behind the decency of Walter Hillyard and the tycoonery of Sabin Scott yawns a cesspool of intrigue and violence.