David Piper studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge from 1937-1940. He was then sent to join the Indian Army, trained at Bangalore as an officer, and went to fight the Japanese in Malaya. From February 1942 -- September 1945 he was in Japanese prison camps and the writings in this book reflect his thoughts on the experience at different stages in his life. The last section comes from a diary he kept during the last year of imprisonment at Shirakawa camp in Taiwan.