Each of the entries gives the date of birth, date and brief details of the VC action, and date of death and place of burial or cremation where applicable. Where possible, photographs of the individual, his grave and any memorial were included. Excluding the recent Iraq war recipient (Johnson Beharry), 28 VC recipients were still alive at the time the book went to press and several have since died.
The research for this massive work took Harvey 36 years of travelling to 48 countries in his search for unknown graves. Harvey died in 2004, at the age of 57, following the long-term effects of an accident that confined him to a wheelchair. He received notable obituaries in The Daily Telegraph and The Independent.