Colditz
The Full Story (Pan Military Classics Series)
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2.3 • 3 Ratings
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Daring escapes, ingenious plans and heroic feats are revealed in Major Pat Reid’s classic Second World War history of Colditz, the infamous prisoner-of-war camp.
The great fortress was supposed to be escape-proof and Reid was one of only a few men who successfully broke out. Now, in Colditz: The Full Story, he draws on extensive research to evoke life in the German camp. He recounts how prisoners from the British Commonwealth, America, Belgium, France, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Poland were incarcerated in suffocating intimacy – and yet, amongst them, loyalty and generosity thrived. As did plots to escape, most of which were unsuccessful.
From his own experience as one of the first captives to be imprisoned in the camp, he reveals the code systems between the War Office and Colditz; shows how he obtained information on Germany’s secret weapons; and investigates the existence of traitors and the situation of non-collaborators. This is a vivid and fascinating account that pays tribute to the bravery of the men living under enemy control who refused to give up the fight.
‘Highly recommended reading’ New York Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Supposedly escape-proof, Germany's Colditz Castle turned out to be notoriously porous. Halfway through WW II, Allied prisoners already had launched 44 escape attempts, with 16 "home runs'' from the castle. Reid here expands his war classic, The Colditz Story, with interviews and diaries (including a particularly revealng one kept by the German security officer there). The preparations of escape committees are described along with accounts of the more dare-devil escapes. The high spirits and resourcefulness of the men throughout their incarceration are astounding. Reid relates in hilarious detail how the prisoners never missed an opportunity to bait their captors (at one point a British officer convincingly impersonated Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria). The final scene is most affecting: the reception accorded Pfc. Alan M. Murphy of New York, the first Allied soldier to enter Colditz on the day of liberation. Photos.
Customer Reviews
Utterly rambling
Utterly rambling and, at times, seemingly self-serving. There are no real themes tying the book together, it being rather a loose collection of thoughts and episodes in roughly chronological order.
To escape from Colditz was obviously an incredible achievement. Maybe the author was just too close to events and so unable to see the wood for the trees.