There have been many books written about valour in battle. This is not one of them. On the contrary, On the Run deals entirely with those men and women who, over thousands of years, have departed with alacrity and for multifarious reasons from life in the armed forces. Among their number are poets and pugilists, thieves and thugs, lovers and lunatics, princes and politicians, comedians and conspirators, film stars and fanatics, and even a Pope, all brought together by the simple fact that at one time or another they went on the run.