Nick endures servitude, beatings, and more after his British father's plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in 1941, and when his father and others are taken prisoner and Nick is stranded with his friend Mya, they plan a daring escape on elephants, risking their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

Describes how elephants are trained to help in the timber camps of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and their important contribution to the selective and sustainable harvesting of teak there.