During the Second World War, an American bomber carrying RAF Colonel John Clayton crashes in Japanese-occupied Sumatra. Clayton resumes his identity as Tarzan, gathers the survivors and local allies, fights occupying troops and tries to lead the party through the jungle to the coast.
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies gives the novel one of the series' most concrete historical settings. Against the wider Pacific War, Tarzan and the crash survivors face patrols, shortages, jungle terrain and the constant problem of moving through enemy-held territory without abandoning one another.
