- Hardcover: 496 pages
- Publisher: Viking; First Edition / Second Impression edition (31 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670910945
- ISBN-13: 978-0670910946
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
68,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #25 in Books > History > Military History > Prisoners of War
- #33 in Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Prisoners of War
- #63 in Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Countries > Europe
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Colditz is probably the best known prisoner of war camp. Its inmates and their exploits were extraordinary, but its liberation, in April 1945, was straightforward compared with what happened to the vast majority of British, American and Commonwealth prisoners in the last desperate months of the war. This title discusses how World War II ended for a quarter of a million men held in 55 camps and how, in the last months of the war, most of them became caught up in a desperate endgame. The story of their escape is told through the men, now in their 70s and 80s, who lived through this terrible time. Beginning with the D-day landings in June 1944, the text follows them through the closing days of their incarceration and then on their marches across a Europe in chaos. Their experiences are placed in the wider context of the Allied advance and the German retreat, and the increasingly frenzied attempts of those in London and elsewhere to keep track of them.
About the Author
John Nichol is a former RAF flight lieutenant whose Tornado fighter was shot down on a mission over Iraq during the Gulf War. He was captured and became a prisoner of war. He is the bestselling author of TORNADO DOWN and five other novels. He lives in Hertfordshire. Tony Rennell is the author of LAST DAYS OF GLORY for Viking, and WHEN DADDY CAME HOME. He lives in London NW3.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Astonshing and humbling account of heroism, immaculately researchred. You can no longer consider McQueen and Pat Reid as the POWs of WW2. Considering that this was so recent our kids should know what happened, so that they can understand the origins of what is occurring on our continent today.
Read this book and count the number of times you shake your head in disbelief at how so many ordinary men dealt with the extremes of cruelty, bad luck and bloody ill-fortune.
Not only that it is just really, really good reading
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book tells in graphic detail the horrors undergone by thousands of British, Commonwealth and American POW's in the prison camps and on forced marches as the Second World War ground to a close. As well as telling the hitherto untold story of their experiences, it also uses extracts from a number of their memoirs. The descriptions of theor forced marches and the hell they underwent leave nothing to the imagination, and the events after their liberation also show how unready the allied command was for dealing with the thousands of displaced POW's. The book is very well written and many of the descriptions bring a lump to your throat when you realise just how badly most of our POW' wre treated in the camps.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a truly excellent book. It reveals how POWs braved shocking conditions with bravery and fortitude. It shows that most POWs rose to the challenge of captivity but the authors do not shy away from exposing ccowards and n'eer do wells. The authors also show how the Allied governments could have done more to help POWs but did not. Most Germans do not emerge with credit but some do. If there is a moral here in what is a many sided book it is this: being a POW is often as hard as being a combatant.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliantly Written Book
I finished reading this book last night. It was extremely well written and researched, it managed to be moving and yet very academic too, in that it didn't just give the story of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alison
A shameful story of wilfull neglect of Allied POWs on all sides.
Over the years I have read many books about WW2 including POW and escape stories, but I; and I would imagine most people, were unaware of the sheer brutality and neglect that the... Read more
Published 9 months ago by HuddyBolly
The Last Escape
This is an very well written book. It is not a pleasant read by any means and it must be almost impossible for most of us to understand the suffering endured by allied POW's. Read more
Published 9 months ago by ROCONN
Hidden history
"The Last Escape"A book brought to my attention by my wife, who in turn had it loaned to her by an old gentleman whom she looks after. Read more
Published on 5 April 2010 by Keith Durrant
Eyeopener
As Always with these 2 authors the standards set are extremely high, many times whilst reading I found myself marvelling at the tenacity of the generation that fought and endured... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2009 by Jerry Kinsella
the last escape
Very good condition, and a 'must read' for anyone interested in the fate of POWs in the Second World War.
Published on 2 Sep 2009 by J. V. Laker
the last escape
A really good read and very moving.My father was in stalag xxa captured near Melvill in France but never said anything about it.I just have a few photos. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2009 by Mr. Mark F. Bryan
The Last Escape
This is a brilliantly researched book that tells a shocking true story. While researching my family history I came across a form completed by my uncle on his repatriation after... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2009 by M. A. Badger
Fantastic
What an astonishing read this book is. I never knew about this remarkable story of bravery, courage and fortitude by so many Allied prisoners of war. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2007 by Mr. N. R. Britten
Humbling and harrowing
My late mother always said that her father was a hero, captured at St Valery and destined to spend the next 5 years in Stalag XXA. She told me he had to walk home. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2005 by D. Innes
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