As World War II broke out in the Pacific, the Brown family was caught in Japan. With letters, journal extracts, and notes from his parents as well as his own recollections, Hamish Brown brings the era to life. Now a tireless Scottish photographer and mountain climber, Brown looks back on his first and perhaps most dramatic exploit, chronicling not only life in the dying days of the British Empire, but also the terrible reality of the invasion of Singapore into which they escaped.