R. F. Delderfield, a respected author, playwright, screenwriter, and newspaperman, was born in Greenwich, England in 1912 and became a full-time author after a stint as a small-town reporter and an RAF hitch in World War II. According to The New York Times Book Review, Delderfield wrote "with vigor, unceasing narrative drive, and a high degree of craftsmanship," and he described himself as "a compulsive teller of tales, a real chronic case." Delderfield died in 1972.

"A tough and convincing story. . . . [Delderfield] marches his tattered troopers through hardship and hellfire, across a wild and ravaged landscape, sparing us any fairytales about the joys of battle en route." -- The New York Times Book Review