One of George Wrangham's earliest memories is gazing upward as wave after wave of allied aircraft soared over his town to attack the beaches of Normandy. Thirteen years later, he finds himself alone in a rainy German forest, fleeing from unrepentant Nazis eager to avenge an impetuous act of defiance.
Wrangham's memoirs, presented in ten compelling stories, sum up what it was like to grow up in post-WWII England. He recounts in vivid detail the petty abuses and penal-style discipline of the British boarding school system, the death of a beloved mentor, and the delicacy needed to play "anti-cupid" between a gorgeous debutante and her bird-obsessed lover.
Wrangham's tale continues after he moves to the United States. A summer hiking with high school students in Colorado yields fierce storms and the daring rescue of one of his charges. As the guardian of students touring the Soviet Union, he deals with terrifying Soviet border police and the consequences of a foolish boy's mockery of Lenin.
Throughout these tales, Wrangham's willingness to explore and take risks shines. Tread the Mazy Round offers glimpses of one man's life and the events that shaped his personality and his values.