George Kane (1916-2008) was at heart a farm boy from Saskatchewan. In the early part of his memoir he looks back on his family background, schooldays in St Peter’s Abbey in Muenster and university years in Vancouver, Toronto, and Northwestern universities before he set off for London on an Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire two-year graduate scholarship in September 1938. He was never to live in Canada again. Kane spoke rarely about his wartime years, when he served as an officer in the British Army. The greater part of his memoir focuses on 1939-1945, giving a new picture of P.O.W. life in Germany – and escape attempts. In later life Kane won international acclaim as a medieval scholar. The final chapter, to 1965, includes discussion of the origins of his Piers Plowman editions.

At the University of London Kane taught in University College and later held chairs at Royal Holloway (1955-1965) and King’s College (1965-1976); afterwards he held the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professorship of English at the University of North Carolina (1976-1987).