Late 1943 and Thomas Stark has been at war or training hard since '37. He has had too few breaks, each followed by another demanding posting, fighting against unnecessary odds, due to the lack of modern planes and trained men in the right places.Now, with the battle turning in the Allied favour in Papua, he is posted out again, to take over a Wing flying outdated Hurricanes in ground attack in the Naga Hills and the north of Burma.India is changing, rapidly, due in great part to the war. The Indian Army, Navy and Air Force have been equipped with modern weaponry and are taking a leading role in the war against Japan. The sahibs remain in a state of denial, bolstered by London, but it is now clear that India must become independent within a few years.For many of the sahibs, winning the war is less important than defending their privileged way of life.Increasingly tired, Thomas has to fight a war while watching his back.Burma was the last defensive campaign, facing a victorious Japanese Army that had a chance of winning again, and in process of taking the whole of India. The Allied armies had run from Singapore to the Indian borders in a series of disgraceful defeats; now they had to win.