Man Overboard

Tim Binding is perhaps our finest chronicler of British 20th century history through the medium of fiction. With Man Overboard he has written the extraordinary and unlikely story of a real-life English war hero. Lionel 'Buster' Crabb became renowned during the Second World War for his amazing feats of underwater daring. After the war he was celebrated for embodying a particular English ideal – a love for King and Country – that seemed to be dying out. Then, in 1956, during a visit to Britain by Nikita Khrushchev, who had arrived by ship, Commander Crabb disappeared. Some thought he had perished while attempting to inspect the Soviet vessel; others that he had been kidnapped and forced to work for the USSR.

The truth remains unknown to this day, and out of this mystery Tim Binding has spun a wondrous piece of fiction – a deeply imaginative, gently funny and profoundly stirring exploration of the idea of Englishness. It is the story of a man who has made deep personal sacrifices for the sake of higher ideals and who must, towards the end of his days, measure their meaning and their worth.