In his candid and often brutally honest autobiography, Colin Reed, remembers countless stories from his childhood in Southampton, his 10 years in the Royal Navy and then a 40 year career in the upstream oil and gas industry, including time spent on one of BP’s most successful offshore production platforms, Forties Alpha.

From joining the Junior Civil Defence in 1956 to serving onboard HMS Albion during the Borneo War, from working in Singapore, Dounreay in Scotland, Houston and Rio de Janeiro, and working for clients including Decca, Chevron, BP and Marathon Oil, and many more around the world, Reed brings his own introspective sense of humour to numerous occasions and experiences, all set against the background of his family life, which has been tempered with equal measures of tragedy and joy.