In 1934 Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell retired at the age of seventy from a distinguished career as Secretary of the Zoological Society of London. He moved to Malaga and spent his time writing his memoirs. Then came the fascist uprising of 1936. While most other British residents fled to Gibraltar, Sir Peter stayed put in order to protect his "house and servants". When the Italian forces supporting the rebellion took Malaga, Sir Peter was arrested together with Arthur Koestler, to whom he'd provided a safe haven. The arresting officer was Luis Bolin, Franco's chief propagandist, who had vowed that if he ever laid his hands on Koestler he would "shoot him like a dog". This is Sir Peter's memoir of that period, first published in 1938.