In the first part of his memoir, the author reveals his family history and his Germanic roots. His father, Alfred Kerr, was a well-known drama critic and intellectual, whose writings were widely known throughout Germany during the Weimar Republic. As Jews, the Kerrs were forced to flee their homeland before the outbreak of World War II, but the author tells of a predominantly happy childhood spent in such varied places as Germany, Switzerland, France and England.
Kerr's memoirs also tell of his years at Aldenham and Cambridge and his assimilation into the English way of life. They also relate the story of his internment as an ""enemy alien"" during the early years of World War II and of his subsequent service as a crack pilot for the Royal Air Force. After the war, the author returned to Cambridge to finish his law degree. He was subsequently urged to go to the Bar.
The final chapters of this autobiography are devoted to chronicling the author's glittering legal career as a leading commercial silk and, ultimately, Judge of Appeals.