An angry, bitter, vivid and honest account of a conscientious objector's experience during World War II. It was written in white heat shortly after the war and first published by private subscription in 1953. Of the 800 "defaulters", Ian Hamilton was one of a small minority who refused any co-operation with the authorities and faced full penal discipline, including periods in solitary confinement and in prison, Besides being his personal story and an account of defaulters' camps it gives a horrifying picture of prison conditions in the 1940s. 21st century readers are unlikely to know the background to Hamilton's story and an introduction by journalist Tony Reid fills in the essential details and makes it clear the interest of the story is not just historical.