"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn." The line from the Anzac verse provides the title of this novel, in which Hyde shows the predicament of returned servicemen and women after the First World War. Through the story of Douglas Stark, we see the many ways in which New Zealand was failing their expectations. It was not the "and fit for heroes" they had fought for, but a changing society moving through the tough times of the twenties and thirties.