Charles Ransome is covering the start of war in 1942 Burma for Life magazine. He meets a fascinating young nurse and they fall in love, only to be separated during the bombing of Rangoon.
An American general must lead a large motley group of evacuees through wild jungle trails, over steep hills and across rivers until they reach the safety of the Indian camp at Imphal, almost two hundred miles away. When Charles learns that Maran Lu is among the refugees, he attempts to follow the uncharted trail, but is captured by a band of Japanese soldiers. He makes a daring escape to continue his struggle towards the Indian border.
His journey is fraught with new peril when he is attacked by a panther and is badly wounded. Help comes in the form of hill tribe natives, but he is driven to continue onwards, determined to find the woman he can't forget.
On reaching the Imphal camp and finding Maran Lu, she tenderly nurses him back to health, but he is devastated when she mysteriously refuses to join him as he returns to work in the States. Charles joins the Allied forces that return to retake Burma, but must go through hell again to discover if he will get his heart's true desire.