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.