Myles Hildyard served as an officer during World War II. He saw action in Palestine, Crete, North Africa, Italy, the D-Day landings and finally Berlin in 1945. He fought and was captured at the battle of Crete, and then embarked on a dramatic escape from a German POW camp, across the Mediterranean to Turkey. During this time he wrote extensively of his experiences, mainly in letters home to his parents and his brother. The letters are wonderful historical documents, showing the spirit in which the war was fought- how, despite tragedy, despair and bloodshed, these were days of great comradeship- 'They were the best of times and the worst of times.' As a document of World War II, this book is invaluable; as a portrait of a young man in a hostile and rapidly changing world it is witty, profound and utterly captivating.
