'The fact is that you are surplus and they need an extra body.' In the uneasy aftermath of war, a group of ordinary British soldiers and their families, on an island off Java face the legacy of hatred and corruption left by the Japanese occupation. With sudden and violent death ever present, they seize their moments of happiness and try above all else to stay alive until the opportunity for release arrives. Selfishness, sex, greed, fear and revenge, all play their part; so too do the finer insti