Interspersed with the brief metaphysical reflections of an isolated man cut off from the world for two years, these poignant 'waking dreams' were written secretly and hidden from his guards as a key part of the author's survival effort. Smuggled out of China after his release from the slogan-daubed 'prison' where he was held in the heart of Beijing, they deliberately evoke beloved faraway places in England and concern themselves with profound themes: the renewal of life, the mysterious influence of fate on our lives and the nature of the total reality in which we live.