The Trap

Dan Billany's The Trap, first published in 1950, still stands – in the opinion of M.R.D. Foot – as 'one of the most powerful English novels to come out of the [Second World War].' It echoes the wartime experiences of its author, who is believed to have died in 1943 while on the run from an Italian POW camp, but not before entrusting the manuscripts of The Trap to safekeeping.

The book's narrator, army lieutenant Michael Carr, tells of his early years in Cornwall, of the girl he met and loved there, and of the hard times her family endured between the wars. These troubles and joys give way to the tragedy of war, and the book's narrative becomes one of comradeship, suspense and fighting in the North African desert.

'The Trap is an outstanding novel by a writer of natural genius… written with great force and honesty… profoundly impressive.' Times Literary Supplement