The Burney brothers of Hay are of historic importance. Christopher parachuted into France in 1942, was captured, tortured by the Gestapo, spent 18 months in solitary confinement, and then 15 months at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. His books, "Solitary Confinement" and "Dungeon Democracy", became classics or wartime writing, now forgotten. This book rediscovers them and tells the story of a heroic life blighted by post-traumatic stress disorder.
Roger was a scholar and pacifist turned sailor who drowned in 1942 in the mysterious sinking of the Free French vessel Surcouf. It was the war's worst submarine disaster but what caused it? At last this book offers an answer. Roger's friend, Benjamin Britten, dedicated the War Requiem to him.
