From the introduction: The man whom we will call "the Prisoner" returns to his London home. In an outburst of anger he has just hurled his resignation onto his boss' desk. But a hearse has followed his Lotus and a sinister character who looks like an undertaker climbs up the steps behind him. A cloud of gas suddenly fills the room in which he is furiously packing his bags. The dreary apartment blocks opposite his flat dance before his eyes; he collapses on his bed and falls asleep. When he wakes up, dazed, his head is resting on the same pillow. He seems to be still in his own bedroom, but when he lifts the blinds, to his astonishment a totally unfamiliar scene greets his eyes: a square surrounded by tall trees and curiously coloured baroque buildings in the middle of a flower-filled village - strangely beautiful, quiet and deserted, on a fine summer's morning.