Richard Carver was captured only three nights after the battle of El Alamein, and he was fearful that the Germans would discover that he was Monty's stepson. He was transferred to the Italians and sent to a prison camp near Parma, from which he escaped nearly a year later. After months on the run, and extraordinary hardship and bravery, he managed to cross the swollen Sangro River and reach the British lines. 'Where the hell have you been?' were Monty's first words when they were reunited.

It is a gripping story, pieced together by Carver's son Tom, and includes fascinating comments on Monty's character. Monty was devoted to Richard Carver, who in temperament was his antithesis – reticent and modest, 'in the manner of a country doctor'. So reticent was he that, at first,