Born in New Zealand in 1911, John Mulgan went to Britain in 1933 and studied at Oxford. He was working at Oxford University Press at the outbreak of World War II and joined the British Army . After serving in North Africa, he parachuted into Greece and took on a major role working with the partisans (Greek Resistance) against the Italians and then the Germans.

After posting the manuscript of the book to his wife in New Zealand in March 1945, Mulgan committed suicide in his Cairo hotel room for reasons unknown. 'Report on Experience' was published posthumously in 1947, although with several modifications to tone down his opinions, and protect the identities of the officer's being criticized. In this new edition the original text is restored, all the changes being footnoted and the 1947 modified text included for comparison.

This book is certainly not an easy read, but an important and interesting social commentary on life in pre-war England, Mulgan's criticisms of his military commanders during World War II, as well as life on the battlefield during wartime.

On page 193 he comments 'any home will be all right in the meantime where there is liberty and enough security to be with the people that you care about' and that all people require 'is any home that is not entirely dirt and squalor, and enought food so that they do not always have to be remembering that they are hungry, and enough time to realize that they are happy at last, and enough security to know that there will be work next week as well as this'. I'm sure this rings true for all of us. ( )