Declan Power's acclaimed novel centres on the men of A Company, the 35th Battalion of Defence Forces, who were deployed to protect the village of Jadotville in the Congo in 1961. Days after their deployment, A Company found themselves out-numbered against the native Congolese soldiers, led by white mercenary officers. Appeals for re-supply from UN forces went unheard. After firing their last round of ammunition and engaging in hand-to-hand-combat, Comdt Patrick Quinlan decided against the needless death of his men and ordered them to surrender.