The Great Escape (CASSELL MILITARY PAPERBACKS) [Paperback]

For sheer suspense, puts the fictioneers to shame. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

The famous story of mass escape from a WWII German PoW camp that inspired the classic film.

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...

One of the most jaw-dropping accounts you will ever read: it truly puts fiction to shame.

This is the compelling true story of how more than six hundred men in a German prisoner-of-war camp came together to achieve an extraordinary break-out. With only bare hands and the crudest of tools they dug tunnels, forged passports, faked weapons and tailored German uniforms to wear once they had escaped. The operation was as delicate and as deadly as a ticking bomb and was conducted under the noses of the increasingly suspicious guards. It demanded absolute commitment and nerves of steel from every man, every minute, every hour, every day for more than a year.

When the night came, the actual escape itself was timed to the split second - but of course, not everything went according to plan...

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.