Spanning Whitehall to a sergeants' mess in India, commuter Sevenoaks to Hitler's Berlin, pre-war Paris to working class Bristol, this partial autobiography of C. H. Sisson will surprise enthusiasts of his poetry and essays both by its candour and its reticence. The story profiles Sisson as a student, soldier, civil servant, critic and translator. This work casts new light on the literary history of the 1930s and 1960s, when Sisson was part of the X group.