This is a book of nine short stories and novellas. The title novella, The Education of Santiago O'Grady, tells the story of a young man who learns about life and the philatelic business working at his country's posts and telegraphs. In The Major, an ex-military officer meets a former subordinate. A British Army corporal barters bullets for gold in A Few Won't Do Any Harm, and in Very Professional, bank robbers use an unusual method to escape the police. A chaplain clashes with the colonel's wife in The Chaplain, and Wrecked tells the story of two boys shipwrecked during a scuba outing. The Zone is a personal account of life in the Panama Canal Zone 1959/62. The Hand tells how a young man records the history of an indigenous people, and Across a Crowded Room tells of strangers meeting at an embassy reception.