Tony Shaw was born in 1918. He saw service in Europe in the Second World War, rising rapidly to the rank of Major in the Royal Army Service Corps. He received an MBE for his war service. The end of the war saw him posted to the military government of Malaya where he was made Lieutenant Colonel shortly before joining the Malayan Civil Service. In the MCS Tony served as a District Commissioner in Terengganu, then in various posts in Singapore including Governor's Secretary and Clerk to the Council of Ministers. In the late 1950s Tony returned to the UK and in 1960 received an OBE for his services to World Refugee Year. He later went on to be the first Director of International Students House in Park Crescent London. He served there for over twenty years before retirement, when he finally took up his pen to write this highly readable memoir.