Donald and his family flee the enemy occupation of Jersey, to a Victorian cottage on Streatham High Road. It is the height of the blitz in London and he is not yet three years old. For his safety he's sent to live with his grandparents in the little Kent town of Tenterden.
Going from cowering in London air raid shelters to watching the enemy being shot down over the fields of Kent, life for Donald is not dull. He is sent to four different schools in one year and is evacuated to Wales. He is constantly on the move.
In 1945 Donald is seven years old and looking for adventure amongst the post-war devastation in the backstreets of Streatham. He's mad on fishing, and anything with wheels; terrified of being made to eat boiled cabbage; and cautious of all domestic fowl.
Donald recounts many of the strange adventures from his journey to adulthood in the 'optimistic' second half of the twentieth century.