Meet Tom Kipper, Espionage Agent extraordinaire. Born into a poor Irish family in Liverpool in 1928, Tom—like every self-respecting ten-year-old—is full of mischief. A pupil at Saint Joseph's Academy of Hard Knocks—as the students have dubbed it—he spends his days dodging foes in class, finding adventure, and engaging in a good scrap when school is out. But with the arrival of war, Tom’s happy world is suddenly infused with loss and confusion. With the pain of war, however, Tom also finds a new understanding of himself and the world around him.