In 1977 the last King of Laos, Savang Vatthana, disappeared for ever, with no official explanation as to what had happened to him. Years later it was said that he probably died in a prison camp up north. But 'what if' he had been helped to escape and remained free, in the country he once ruled and still loved? This story blends fact with fiction to give an exciting insight into his adventure, always one step ahead of his Communist pursuers. Despite them close at his heels, he helps the CIA to free an American MIA flyer just moved from Hanoi to a secret POW camp deep in Laos.

This story is about the two years I spent in Laos as a British Doctor, working at an old French colonial hospital in Luang Prabang. Set in 1967 and 68 the war was still raging, with the Communists determined to win seven years later. It describes the challenging job, the Lao people, and how my wife, children and I lived in this foreign country. Changes took place in my Christian faith and marriage, and a young Hmong girl stole my heart. It has humour, pathos, success and failure, and gives a glimpse of life in an under-developed country at war. The book is about people, suffering, danger, love, life and death. The recorded memories refuse to dim and die, and are all true