Norwegian call girls, dessert djins, pedophile teachers and Berlin roof jumpers are just a sample of the characters that inhabit the pages of this collection of stories some of which have recently appeared in publications including Reader's Digest, The Guardian and The Oldie along with others that appear for the first time. It is the dramatic and amusing memoir of an engineer, teacher, and failed astronaut recounted with quirky British humour. 'Roger Ley has had a fascinating life that also reflects British history of the last 65 years. Brought up partly in the Middle East as an RAF brat, there is an echo of the fading British Empire in Roger. Bizarrely he was also a child film actor Adding on his time as an engineer in Qaddafi's Libya and the UK's nuclear industry, Roger's life is well worth writing about and he has done so brilliantly with characteristic understatement. The important thing about Roger's hinterland as an engineer is that it is far from the experience of most creative writers - and therefore all the more interesting and unusual. Roger Ley is unique.' Quote from best selling author Edward Wilson. All royalties from sales of this book are donated to the Smile Train charity for children with cleft lips and palates.