This evocative novel centers on a young boy growing up in odd and touching circumstances and on his relationships with various unusual and poignant people. Victor Baxter inhabits a world populated by the devil, schoolteachers and Amalekites. The captain wins Victor and removes him to a much less certain world, where identities change to suit the needs of the moment. In this book, Graham Greene portrays a young mind learning to distinguish 'the captain from the enemy', as Victor develops into a young man well able to exist in and to manipulate this shadowy new environment. 1988.