Armed with a tape recorder, Michigan journalist Homer E. Dowdy flew to the Congo only hours after receiving a telephone tip that rescue of missionary hostages was about to be attempted. He talked with survivors, recorded vital impressions and conversations, reconstructed suspenseful scenes of the long nightmare of Simba rule. Besides penetrating into the heart of the jungle he also tracked down witnesses throughout Europe, the British Isles, and the United States. The more he learned about the heroism of the Congo martyrs, the more determined he became to tell the world the full and factual story.