The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht

I read this book just over ten years ago, but I still remember the emotional impact it had.  It starts with two children – one a lonely English boy, one a Polish refugee – growing up as brothers-in-arms in wartime London.  Then one of them inexplicably disappears.  What follows is the story that may – or may not – lead to their reunion.  I hardly came across anybody who’d read it around the time it was released, which is a huge shame because it’s brilliant stuff.