These are the memoirs of a boy, discovering his own path, through books, films and school. The son of a Jewish doctor who practised in Mile End during World War II, John Gross grew up in a household steeped in the language and traditions of a European past. Yet, outside his home he grew up in a very English world of schools and books and corner shops. Looking back on his childhood with humour and wisdom, he reflects on this double inheritance. The richness of Yiddish words and religion set against the daily life of the East End, where gangsters were heroes. Yet, in the background, lies the shadow of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.