` Already loose sand had drifted over the stamped-down square which momentarily had distinguished the subaltern`s grave: no there was no sign, no mark, no indication whatsoever. There had been, here, eleven men. Now ten rode away` In the Mesopotamian desert during World War I, the leader of a British patrol is shot & killed, by an unseen enemy. The officer is the only one who knows their orders & has not told anyone else where they are located. From then on the sergeant has to try to lead the men through a hostile desert landscape which is full of invisible Arab snipers. One by one they are picked off, & the group of diverse characters from different backgrounds has to try to come together in order to survive. The decision making process proves far from easy as tensions & prejudices from their former lives come to the fore. This thrilling tale of suspense goes right to the last page & was a best seller in the 1920s. The novel was filmed twice, by Walter Summers (as Lost Patrol in 1929) & by John Ford (as The Lost Patrol in 1934).