Overview

One of the most famous true stories from the last war, The GREAT ESCAPE tells how more than six hundred men in a German prisoner-of-war camp worked together to achieve an extraordinary break-out. Every night for a year they dug tunnels and those who weren't digging forged passports, drew maps, faked weapons and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes to wear once they had escaped. All of this was conducted under the very noses of their prison guards. When the right night came, the actual escape itself was timed to the split second - but of course, not everything went according to plan...

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9780304356874

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One of the great true stories of the war, and one of the great escape narratives of all time * SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE * A tense, thrilling, fabulous tale * PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER *

The Steve McQueen film of The Great Escape may have initially enjoyed mixed reviews, but has since become one of the best-loved classics of the cinema. There was no controversy about Paul Brickhill's original book, though, which has long enjoyed a reputation as being among the most astonishing true stories from the last war. In dispassionate but thoroughly involving prose, Brickhill tells how more than 600 men in a German prisoner-of-war camp formed a unit to bring off an astonishingly daring breakout. There is a whole sub-genre of prisoner war books, but this really is the high water mark: a tale of heroism, ingenuity and sheer doggedness that has an undiminished power. The book, of course is very different from the movie, and tells the tale with all Hollywood glamour stripped away. There is also an astonishing amount of detail which vividly brings to life the men involved in the escape, while never putting the breaks on the ever-accelerating tension. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Paul Brickhill was directly involved with the escape from Stalag Luft III, although he was one of the prisoners left behind. This and his other famous book Reach for the Sky are his best known works.

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