'The Initials' is an adventure-romance novel written by Jemima Montgomery Tautphoeus. The story begins as a young English traveler was staying at the Golden Stag hotel in Munich, considered the best hotel in the city at the time. He was staying in one of the most comfortable rooms but was dissatisfied and found it difficult to write about his travels as all of his observations were already described in guidebooks. He felt that traveling through a country without getting to know the people and their habits was pointless. The Erskines, who he hoped to get to know, were not in Munich at the time and the city was deserted. He was tired of just looking at pictures and statues and decided to try and get to know the Germans.