Stratis Doukas was born in 1895 on Moschonisi island,off the Asia Minor coast, and settled in Greece as a refugee after the Greek–Turkish war (1919–22). He served as a soldier in the Greek army in the First world war and in the ill-fated Asia Minor campaign. A Prisoner of War’s Story, published in 1929, established his reputation as an innovative writer of a new unadorned first-person narrative style. His writing encompasses lyrical prose, arts journalism and studies of important figures in the visual arts, including a nearly biography of the sculptor Υannoulis Chalepas. Doukas died in Athens in 1983.

"An arresting snapshot of the moment when the iron grid of nation states clanged down on one part of the Balkans. The translation is clean, accurate and a pleasure to read." -- Maria Margonis, Times Literary Supplement

"A Prisoner of War’s Story is a book of subtle and effective artistry, a history that captures the reader with ease and stays long within the memory." -- Kevin McGrath, Harvard review

"‘Doukas’ s powerful tale taps into the modernist tradition: spare, hard-nosed, and devoid of heroic passions in describing a man’s determination to survive." -- Tony Maniaty, The Australian