The wide-ranging story of one man’s war, from the frigid Alps to fiery North Africa to a harrowing escape from an Italian POW camp.

Tony Hough’s war started with ski training in the Alps in early 1940, in preparation for winter warfare in Finland. Nothing came of that—but later that year, now an officer with B Company, 9th Battalion, Rifle Brigade, he sailed for North Africa.

In March 1941, his under-gunned battalion suffered a catastrophic baptism of fire in Libya from 15,000 troops and 500 tanks of Rommel’s Afrika Korps. For the next eighteen months Hough and his battalion experienced brutal conflict against a formidable enemy. Selected for David Stirling’s elite 1 Special Air Service (SAS), he was captured in December 1942 while raiding behind enemy lines. Sent to an Italian POW camp, he suffered the deprivations of captivity. After the September 1943 Italian armistice, he escaped and, after an arduous three-month ordeal, he reached Allied lines thanks to the help of brave locals. He went on to fight in northwest Europe before becoming a mayor in occupied Germany. Beautifully and modestly written, Tony’s account of his many and varied experiences makes for a classic war memoir.