The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, Ma… (2024)

A great and detailed account about The Great Escape. It gives all the background of the men who participated in the escape and some of their previous attempts to escape. These men were all truly remarkable and each one has his own unique story that makes this book so personal. The book also goes into every little detail of the preparations for the escape and how it all unfolded and how the men tried to get away to neutral territories and most of their recaptures. This story stays an inspiration for me as it is about men trying to defeat the odds stacked against them, but they never give up and always stay optimistic in their bids for freedom!! Highly recommended, but be ready for a lengthy and detailed read.

The Great Escape the movie has been a favorite of mine for years and years, so when I saw this book I thought it might illuminate me more about the men involved in the escape. It did that and so much more.

Author Jonathan Vance also was a fan of this movie but took his interest in the men and events to a much higher level, attending reunions of those involved and communicating with family members to those brave men who did not make it back home. His story is fascinating, heart pounding and hard to put down. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book, even though I knew the price so many of the prisoners paid for their attempted escape.

The readers get mini biographies of almost all the participants which were wonderful, especially how they were captured and the interrelationships that developed over time between the men. We also get a blow-by-blow account of the complete escape. I cannot recommend this book too much for those who have an interest in this adventure that has fascinated so many of us over the years thanks to the movie. Oh, one more thing, no Americans in the final escape.

Like the author, I too was familiar with this story through watching the movie (one, I am unashamed to say, I watch repeatedly - how I do love a good war story, and Steve McQueen - definitely eye-candy). I had always wondered whether this was based on one true event or was a compilation of smaller events rolled into one by Hollywood executives. What utterly escaped my notice was that the script was based on author Paul Brickhill's book, also of the same title (which had I bothered to read the dust jacket of "Reach For The Sky" the penny would have dropped), and that he himself was involved!

Back to this book. Vance has made considerable use of the stories of the survivors to piece together a truly remarkable tale of this one or many historic episodes from World War II. I loved reading about the backgrounds of the men involved which puts a much more human face on the characters - and having watched the film, so can see some semblance. And these personal stories were intersperse with events as they were unfolding within Stalag Luft III. For the most part, the movie does follow the actual story, and whilst I was reading, scenes from the movie would replay in my head.

What I found utterly soul destroying was that the fate of these men was sealed by the whim of one man - for embarrassing Hitler, a lesson had to be learnt, a warning sent out. These men were it.

I appreciated the follow up - of the 76 who escaped, 50 were executed (lets not mince words), 8 were unaccounted for (presumed dead), 3 managed to escape to freedom, the rest were returned to their prison camp. What I didn't know was that those responsible were brought to trial in 1947, with the last trial taking place in 1968.

This is a must read - whether a fan of the movies or of the history, or just someone who wants to know more. It is more than a history - it is a personal, tragic story. I was left with so many thoughts after reading this; I wanted to know more; and when I was done, I was left feeling drained but mostly humbled.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Greenhill Books for allowing me to read an advance proof of this story in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I saw the cover of this book, I knew it would be one that I wanted to read. I still remember the first time (of many) that I saw the Hollywood blockbuster of the film The Great Escape. I have long since learned that it is far from an accurate portrayal of what happened, but I was glued to it and wanted to know all that I could about what happened. I grew up in a household filled with books about escaping during the first and second World Wars. My dad served in WW2 and my uncle was captured in Italy and spent a year in a P.O.W. camp in Germany. As a child I remember playing with neighbourhood kids and pretending we were P.O.W.’s trying to escape from the enemy. I had to laugh when I read the author’s comment in the prologue that “Escape literature has long been a staple of the reading matter preferred by school boys.” Mr. Vance – we schoolgirls found it fascinating too!

This book is not a brand, new book. The author first published a version of it under the title “A Gallant Company” and published it privately. It received several other printings by Pacifica Military History and later Simon & Schuster and now is being re-released on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the escape. This reprint does have some corrections and additions which have been made based on other books which have been printed since the original copy was released.

One of the big pluses of this book is that the author did his research at a time when many of the survivors of the escape, and the others who helped plan and carry out all the details that went into making the escape happen were still alive. This means that he was privy to a wealth of detail that he gained from primary sources who he engaged with and developed relationships with. This adds a lot to the fascination of the book because the reader gets to learn the background of so many of the men involved. It can also be a bit of a drawback because there were so many people involved that it could become a little confusing trying to keep track of who was who. It was a minor issue for me but did tend to slow my reading down a little as I found myself going back at times to clarify my understanding of who and where different men were at different times.

The book goes well beyond just focusing on the story of the Great Escape. It also gives a history of how the men of the Royal Air force in particular came to be prisoners from early in the war onwards and includes details of other escapes made along the way.

I suspect that most people who read this book will know in advance how the story ends. In spite of that, the author does such a good job of telling the story that I found myself holding my breath as I read certain parts hoping that the outcome would be different.

While reading this I found myself looking at other books that I own on the subject of this escape and noted that the original version of this had been used as a reference for at least one. The author has added an extensive bibliography of recommended readings for those who want more when they are finished with this book. There are photographs included in this version but my proof did not include maps which I believe will be included in the final version being released at the end of March 2019.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in escape literature or the Second World War and feel it is an excellent book to introduce a new generation of “school boys” and school girls to what truly was a “Gallant Company of Men”.

4.5

"..the greatest value in an escape is the number of chaps who get out in the first place, not the number who get home. Even if none of the hardarsers lasts two days, they’ll have had an impact just by getting outside the wire”

Have you ever watched a movie and thought 'this is so incredible, there's no way it could have really happened that way'? The ever-popular movie Great Escape, featuring an all-star cast, was one such instance for me. The scale of the true life feat accomplished by these POWs is beyond amazing. Jonathan Vance's new book, The True Story of the Great Escape adds rich color to this fantastic prisoner escape, and supports the movie being based largely on real events, although the characters have been fictionalized.

Frustrated by the substantial resources required to prevent frequent escapes by prisoners, German authorities decide to put all of their troublemakers (mainly British airmen) in one location and to fortify the camp so these pesky captives have no way of escape. They've learned from prior mistakes and believe their newly-designed camp, Stalag Luft III, to be inescapable. The problem, however, is that by putting all the bad apples in one basket, the camaraderie of creative POW minds encourages thinking BIG. Like, how can we plan and execute an escape of 250-300 prisoners? Well, they came close - 76 escaped during a cold night in March 1944.

To pull this feat off, they had to be well-organized. This was the job of the "X Organization" which was led by Roger Bushell (Roger Bartlett in the movie) as "Big X". Teams were formed to accomplish specific tasks: tunnelers, map makers, documents (the "travel bureau"), tailors, surveyors, scroungers, security, language tutors, dispersal (of dirt), tool makers, etc.. Engineers were responsible for designing air pumps, tunnel railroad line, fat lamps, and compasses. Interestingly, the hard part about escape tunneling is not the actual digging, but rather the shoring up of the tunnel with wood (mainly pilfered bedboards) and the dispersal of dirt (165 tons were to be removed from the three tunnels, Tom, Dick and Harry). How all of this could be done under the very nose of the German guards is incredible.

Countless hours of interviews and research were required to compile the factual information of this book. While the level of detail provided by this book is exceptional and laudatory, there is a downside. Every POW introduced by the book is preceded by several pages of background: where they were from, how they got into the war, how they were captured, etc. The frequency of this telling of backstories - I estimate accounting for nearly one-third of the book – is distracting from what the reader expects as the real storyline, i.e., the “True Story of the Great Escape.” At some point I found myself leafing through the backstories to try to find when the central theme picks back up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Greenhill Books, for allowing me to preview this book.

Based on what I read in this book, the movie was way too romanticized, and no, no one tried to escape to Switzerland on a motorcycle or stole a plane (though some tried). What is in this book is a mini biography of each of the air force personnel for the UK an US, who spent time in Luft III. We also learn how they were captured and how they escaped and how they were recaptured.

In the end few (less than ten) made it to freedom, and almost 50 were executed (while escaping said the Germans) for what they did. Mr Vance puts this all very black and white but the book reads more like something from Wikipedia than a good Non-Fiction book.

WOW! You will be totally unable to put this book down! These men were beyond amazing! Smart, and strong. This book is their incredible true story!

An excellent book which I enjoyed reading very much. As a schoolboy, I grew up on stories such as Paul Brickhill's 'The Great Escape, Eric Williams' 'The Wooden Horse' (both escapes from Stalag Luft III), and 'The Escaping Club' by A.J Evans. These three were all written by soldiers with the experience of being a POW. Vance's book is a critical look at the most momentous POW escape of World War 2. It is full of detail of the men involved in the escape and the methods used by them to confound the German authorities within the camp. The story flows very well and the atrocities committed by the Nazis on escaped POWs still has the power to make me very angry.

I enjoyed reading this true story. It's no wonder there was a movie made about this incredible event.
The only issue I really had with the writing was it was sometimes hard to follow in the beginning. Otherwise, I thought it was very well done. I felt like I was experiencing the escape with the boys. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys WWII or even if you liked the movie.

5 stars

This book is a very well told tale of the story of the Great Escape that took place in late March 1944 from Stalag Luft III.

It details the men – all airmen (who were more prone to escape than others in the military), who planned the escape and set out to complete it.

It taks about their lives before the war and in some cases, after as well.

This is a very well written account and is told in a logical fashion. It is not overly technical, so anyone with an interest in WWII or just history in general will enjoy it. It is fascinating. I too saw the Steve McQueen movie several times and I was anxious to read this account. (Yeah, the motorcycle chase was great.)

I want to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword/Greenhill Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very interesting and very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

Review written: April 8-May 13, 2019
Star Rating: ★★★★★
Heat Rating: N/A

An Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book was received free via Netgalley for an honest review.

Despite the fact that my husband loves Brickhill's book and feels a deep connection to the story of the Great Escape, I have never read the book or any account of it. I admit to seeing the film some years ago, but I found it too Hollywood. But at the beginning of this year, I read Code Name: Lise. Toward the end of that book, Loftis recounts an escape that Peter Churchill (SOE sabateur and Odette/Lise's soon to be second husband) is aware of but does not take part in. The escape is from Sachenhausen concentration camp and it is effected by a number of escapers from the Great Escape (Dowse, Day, Dodge, to name but 3) who were sent to Sachenhausen at various times after their escape from Stalag Luft III. We were confused because Jack Churchill was named but the events recounted were Peter's and they seemed identical! A read of Peter's memoirs cleared up the confusion of the two Churchills. But I was still thinking of that and how these two amazing stories (Odette Sansom and Peter Churchill, SOE agents and the Great Escape) intersected and how I'd never heard of it before when Vance's book showed up on Netgalley. How could I not request it under the circumstances!

Many years ago, a bank made a commercial that talked about how well their transactions went. They said that they didn't make millions of perfect transactions per day. They made 1 perfect transaction and then did it again and again, one perfect transaction at a time. That concept has stuck with me and it is a relevant concept here. The story of World War II is not in the millions; it is in the individual stories over and over again into the millions. Each story is different and each story has elements in it that are similar. But the individual is always what draws me back.

Vance does this incredibly well, giving voice to the individual stories, not the collective narration. He expertly weaves the personality and individual voice into each story of each person. I laughed with them, frolicked in the sky with them, mourned with them, got shot down with them, but always with each individual. It is the backbone and beauty of this book, getting to know the people. They are the story.

And so, the night before being shipped out, I went AWOL with Aussie Al Hake to see his brand new wife Noela. He was right, punishing folks getting shipped out the next morning wasn't a very high priority.

And I slammed into the "only tree in Holland" with Tony Hayter while trying to give the slip to some Messerschmidts early in the war. Then I fell out of the sky over Sicily with him.

I crash landed with John Stevens near Bardia after mistaking it for Tobruk.

I watched 22 year old Canadian George Wiley struggle with fear and excitement before the escape, giving his possessions to a hut mate in case he didn't make it. I felt the anticipation, the stress, and the hope.

I stood in the doorway of Hut 104 watching Dave Torrens run at me. Pawel Tobolski was dressed as a Luftwaffe corporal for the escape and scared the daylights out of everyone when he arrived.

I froze, terrified with Danny Król when they separated him from Sydney Dowse, knowing it was the end just as Danny did.

I cried in despair with Des Plunkett, who nearly committed suicide, because he thought he had somehow accidentally given up his friends. I ached with him, was grateful to the Canadians who helped him. (This was probably the most emotional moment for me, because of course, Des and Freddie were some of the last to be picked up. He couldn't possibly have betrayed them.)

I found myself furious that Tom Kirby-Green and Gordon Kidder (Canadian from the same town as my husband) were tortured after their capture. They were the only ones who showed or recounted specific signs of torture!

With Massey and Murray, I sat in stunned silence being told that 41 escapers had been shot and killed resisting arrest or attempting further escape. I asked "How many were wounded?" and was told none. Then came the horror of seeing that number rise to 47 on the posted list. It was a private hell of grief and fury.

For three escapers, there was no more Sagan, no more cooler. For one, Bob van der Stok, there was more flying. He was eventually taken back into the air force and flew more missions. He was doing what all the escapers had wanted to do: fly again, help with the war effort. He was the only one could do it, for them, for himself, for his family.

For some, this was not the last escape. Wings Day, Jimmy James, Sydney Dowse, and Johnny Dodge were all sent to Sachenhausen concentration camp. There they would meet with Jack Churchill and Peter Churchill (SOE operative). After building a small tunnel, all but Peter would escape though they were recaptured quickly and spent months in solitary chained to the floor as a result. [I do wish these two amazing stories (Peter Churchill/Odette Sansom and The Great Escape) were discussed together more often. These are two heroic stories of World War II and they intersect in Sachenhausen.] In the end, they would escape one last time, saving themselves and their travel companions when they were taken from camp, eventually to be killed.

Vance does a masterful job capturing the men's emotional struggles in the aftermath of the escape from Stalag Luft III and then their lives after the war. His accounts of the investigation into the murder and then the visits to family to return effects. Promises kept.

I think it is important to highlight that, while Americans helped build the tunnels (over 600 people were involved in the planning and work for the escape), the escape itself had no American participants. The Americans at Luft III were moved to another section of the camp months before the escape took place. Instead, the majority of the escapers were from the Commonwealth with a smattering of others.

One of the interesting side effects of Vance's narrative is the glimpse it gives into wartime Germany. During the various accounts of the escapers' travels before being apprehended, we see the various layers of the Nazi Germany police state and how it affected everyday Germans. Plenty of people here in the U.S. jokingly say they live in a police state. They have no concept of what it really means to live in such a state, especially in a place like Nazi Germany where the police really were there to strike fear into them as much as to "police". I cannot fathom the fears that ordinary Germans must have had, fears not only of the various policing groups, but fear of their neighbors, their employers. And that doesn't even bring into play their fear for people - such as family, even tangential family - as well.

Occupied territories had it even worse, as shown by the escape stories of Des Plunkett and Freddie Dvorak. Freddie's brother's wife's family was incarcerated because of his escape. It is clear that terror and fear of who might be affected by your actions were weapons the Nazis used against people on a fairly regular basis. But let's be honest, it likely only takes one or two instances like this to bring people into line. No one wants to be responsible for the incarceration, torture, or death of people so tangentially removed from you but who people you love love. That fear will stifle action very effectively.

Jonathan Vance's account of the Great Escape is alive with the personalities of the people who lived it, giving them voice. I cared and therefore I laughed and cried and got mad and was on tenterhooks and was rooting for them. What a beautiful tribute both to the incredible fortitude and ingenuity of these POWs but also to who they were as people with all their foibles and desires, fears and strengths. As I have never read Brickhill's account, I will be reading it now, but he is not the only survivor to have written and I suspect I will be reading other accounts as well. I loved Vance's authorial voice: old school British filled with colloquialisms and military colloquialisms I sometimes had to work to understand. It's a conversational style that helps to bring you closer to the people about whom you are reading, almost as if they are telling you their stories.

I expect that there will be a fourth edition at some point (this being the third edition). Not long after this edition came out, we lost the last of the escapers. Dick Churchill passed away in February at 99. Jack Lyon who was in the tunnel when it was discovered and was able to safely return to Hut 104 and helped get others safely back passed away in March at 101.

This review is ©April-May 2019 by Monique N. and has been posted to Netgalley.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the "Great Escape", Jonathan Vance's book, originally privately published as A Gallant Company, has been updated and reissued by Greenhill Books. My first reaction on finishing this book was "Wow. Just. Wow."

The True Story of the Great Escape is a detailed, carefully researched, and finely crafted account of the men of Stalag Luft III and their daring escape attempt on the night of March 24-25, 1944. Vance gives the reader brief accounts of all of the principal POWs- their pre-war lives, how they came to be pilots, as well as the mission when they were captured- in between describing life at the camp. What I found the most fascinating were his descriptions of how the prisoners made things. When the plan for the great escape went underway an entire committee of prisoners made perfectly crafted clothes, forged papers, handheld compasses, maps, and anything else that might be needed- made them from materials they scrounged from the camp or bribed from guards.

As much as this is a book about perseverance and ingenuity in the face of overwhelming odds, it is also a tribute to the men themselves. Vance honors them all for their bravery and achievements from Roger "Big X" Bushell who masterminded the scheme down to escapees like Canadian pilot George Wiley (my grandfather's cousin). Even though there is no surprise about how this escape will end for most of the men, I found myself hoping for the best and near tears reading what would be final goodbyes in the camp, let alone the orders for fifty of the recaptured escapers to be shot. This is a very human story, from the pilots to the prison guards, Vance refuses to let us imagine any of them as stereotypes from a movie.

Poignant and powerful, The True Story of the Great Escape is a must read for any history lover.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was informative, clear, and an excellent read. I devoured it because I adore WWII stories. Before purchasing this book at HPB, I watched the movie The Great Escape (1963) and read a 5-page paper on the great escape.
Thanks to the essay, I realized the movie overdramatized and at the same time underestimated the story. The prisoners are not treated as well as the movie makes out and the 'goons' (the prison guards) are way more violent. Though the movie has some good points, overall it's not worth the watch except for one thing - it makes you want to learn more about the escape! (That's the reason I read this book!!!)

This book, though at times overwhelming with the stories of 50+ men, makes you care about these men and their desperate (and sometimes comical) escape attempts before the tunnels were dug. The air force soldiers are crazy, likable, hilarious, and brave, and this book has stories about all of these.

I absolutely recommend The True Story of the Great Escape to anybody who has watched the movie / heard about the Great Escape and wants to learn more. Though not violent at all, 50 of the men in this book die. At the end, the book drops each story of the men's escape with their capture, then ties it all together by bringing them to the jail and then goes back to the three men who escaped. Thankfully, there is little cursing in this book.

The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III is a thrilling event that is often overlooked - but read this book and you'll be hooked! (rhyme intended!)

The True Story of the Great Escape is a very detailed account of the real Great Escape. We all know the famous movie but that was a fictionalized account. This book includes not just the escape itself but the personal histories of all of the men as well as the escape history of thee men. It is protocol of a POW to escape as often as possible for two reasons, one to get back to your men and second cause as the enemy to use as many resources hunting you. Some of these men over as many as 5 years took escape attempts to an art form.

One of the interesting things about the story is just how long the planning took and then how quickly some of the men were caught. The book also includes some of the responses the German's had to the repeated escapes. The POWs were kept by the military and their respective divisions so in the case of this story the men were all RAF (or variants) and were dealt with by the Luftwaffe. There did become a point when the SS wanted to handle the escapees instead of the military but due to Geneva Convention that was not allowed. I did not know that Hitler had originally called for all of them to be shot but backed down and just has 50 of the men killed.

What was also interesting was learning about the other escapees reactions to the news of the deaths (claimed to be during secondary escape attempts). If this is the type of book that you like to read it is very informative.

Overall, a very entertaining read. I've always found this subject manner fascinating if not sad (due to the executions of 50/78 escaped airmen) so learning more about each of the men involved in the plot and the escape was very interesting. However, the author sometimes referred to the same person in three different ways: their first name, their last name, or a nickname. Seeing as we were covering many different men constantly, it was difficult to tell sometimes who he was talking about.

The first half was sometimes dull as it focused a lot on the background of individual men who were encamped at Stalag Luft III, and it would have been helpful if the author had included either a number (referring to their order in the escape) or little more description as to why they were being mentioned, whether that be because they were prominent in the escape plot or just another POW that he wanted to mention.

Also where was the bibliography?? He does state that he got his information mostly from interviewing actual escapees and other POWs, but still I would have liked to be able to either double check his facts and quotes or at the very least read directly from the sources that he did. He does include a suggested readings portion at the end of the book, but it is unclear if that is some of his source material or if it is just more material for the curious to peruse.

This book is another account of one of the most famous escapes that took place during the second world war, that of the escape of 76 Allied airmen from German Stalag Luft III in modern-day Poland in March 1944.

This book tells of the formation of the camp, Stalag Luft III, how the POW escape committee was formed, and the details of the actual escape. Interwoven with the details on the planning and preparation for the escape are stories about the POWs, how they came to join the military, bits about their training, and how they came to be captured. These personal stories about the prisoners bring the story to life and it becomes even more heart-breaking when at the end you are reading about the orders to execute 50 of the escapees and how the order was carried out.

If you are interested in Military history or if you have seen the famous 1963 movie. “The Great Escape” that was loosely based on the actual escape then I recommend this book. Even if you have read other books on the escape, I still recommend the book as the author as I mentioned above goes into talking about the individual people involved and they become more than just a name on a list of POWs executed on Hitler’s orders.

(See all of myBook Reviews) -"The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944" eBook was published in 2019 and was written by Jonathan F. Vance (http://www.jonathanvance.com/). Mr. Vance has published ten books.

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The book tells the ‘true’ story of the “Great Escape”.

Contrary to the popular movie “The Great Escape” almost all of those involved in the actual escape were British or Commonwealth air crew. This book gives the background of each of the major figures that were involved in the escape. It also details the efforts to dig the tunnels used in the escape. Those that escaped are followed and their journey documented.

I enjoyed the 13.5 hours I spent reading this 392-page history from WWII. I found this book interesting, but it was a bit dry. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

“The True Story of the Great Escape” details an incredible amount of the story of how more than seventy P.O.W.s left Stalag Luft III. Vance lets us get to know the “escapers” to a degree such that the reader sees them as humans; but also gratefully maintains some distance. The prospects left open for escape by the prison staff may strike the modern readers as amazing. But the ingenuity of the P.O.W.s in exploiting these prospects must be seen as amazing by any reader.

A particularly poignant episode is the description of the escapers as carrying out their duty “twice over”: twice by 1) flying their missions and 2) tying up German man-power to re-capture the escapers. Another such episode is testimony during a post-war trial by the commandant of Stalag Luft III - in command at the time of the escape. Testimony taken during a post-trial over reprisals taken in response to the escape.

Very much worth the read.

I felt this was a hard slog for the first half to two thirds. However it was important to some degree to tell the background stories of many of the kreigies who made the great escape. The last third of the book was fascinating with the stories of the tunnel and the escapees, all trying to find a way home. The ingenuity of the kreigies to build, design and forge so brilliantly was evident, and the sad loss of the 50 who were murdered was awful.
If I gave this review by around half way this would have got 2 stars as I thought it was a bit heavy going, however overall and with the story complete, I felt it was better on reflection.
One other point, I have not watched the movie in many years, but this book and the movie are not the same, not even close around the various characters. Of course it was a 1960’s movie, which was great fun, but this book tells a very different story.
Overall enjoyable, every one of those men were hero’s

This is an amazing book. I had no idea when I started reading the era of the Second World War, that I would relate to and enjoy the stories of the POW’s more than any other part of the historical era. I’m a tomboy but I didn’t realise I’d love reading about the flying of RAF aircraft and the senses of humour and tales of hope encased within, simply because I’m a female. I should have known better; I recommend this book to anybody. I only wish I was young enough to join the RAF but, alas, I am 18 months too old. I don’t want to include spoilers to anybody who hasn’t watched the movie. These men were incredibly intelligent, spirited men, who loved one another and their families and their RAF families so much they were devoted to each other and their job. Nothing would kill their spirit or stop them escaping.

True courage

A well researched and detailed account. It was difficult or impossible to remember each airman's background as the story. Perhaps needs several readings to absorb this information. As a result it was easy to lose each individual's character. Unfortunately this did detract a little as the book progressed. Nevertheless a gripping narrative which did justice to the courage and determination of all those POWs. It is hard to relate what they had to endure compared to our present relatively easy life. This book goes a long way in bringing home the truth of what they went through to help achieve victory for the allies. Recommended.

This is the true story about the great escape from the German Stalg camp from WWII that they made a movie about. Here the author takes you through the camp, the men and their history, background, and then how they came to gather maps, compasses, even clothes and fake documents for their escape once they got out. A lot of thought and work went into planning and then carrying out their plan. I could see why they did it just not to escape but also to make the time they had useful and do something to make their days go by quicker. A really good story and not like the movie, sad in some ways but in others, I understood, A really good book.

Excellent Excellent Excellent

Deeply researched giving short famliy and militarily histories of many of the POW's involved in the planning, preparation and their great escape.
I was a fan of the movie, but knew it was British, not an American escape. This book has so much more personalized information that I followed each POW hoping for their success till the end.
Details unknown by me of the prisons and jails were they where held after being recaptured, the German orders concerning the POW's fate, and the punishment for those who carried out those orders. Excellent !

Pedantic

Despite the magnificent historic episode of The Great Escape the writer unfortunately manages to dilute the episode to its minutiae and a litany of personal yet irrelevant histories.
The only really interesting part is the description of the tunnel. The intricate details of each individual escape is pedantic and boring and above all hearsay.
The historical episode deserves better.

While it's helpful to have seen the movie before reading this book, it's not essential. This book does an excellent job of setting up the background of the stalag, the war, and most importantly the people - on both sides. You get to know the POWs and gain an understanding of the strategic objectives of escaping beyond simply gaining their freedom.

In spite of the fact that that this book recounts historical events, it reads as a drama that keeps you engaged. I highly recommend this book.

An interesting read from the movie

I was 13 when I saw the movie The Great Escape and have always wondered if there was more to know. This book fills in much of what was not told in the movie. Sometime a little confusing if you stay with it for a few pages it will all come together.

Exhaustive history of the captured RAF and others flyers who staged the infamous “great Escape“ from Luft IIIA prison in Sagan, Germany.Relates the individual stories of the hundred or so men who work together to get out of their prison. The engineering feats of tunnels they constructed with what little they had available was truly amazing.

Historically Informative, Enjoyably Entertaining!

These authors have researched and developed the most enjoyable, although sad in parts, historical record of what allied prisoners of war went through in German prison camps during WWII. Amazing creativity mixed with humor and disappointment will keep the pages turning.

The Great Escape is an extremely well-written and detailed book about Stalag Luft III and the prisoners held there during WWII. From start to finish this book will connect you with the men, such as Johnny Dodge and Rodger Bushell, and leave you rooting for them and their friends. (Personally, by the end of the book, I was left wishing I could give them all hugs!) Overall, Jonathan Vance truly created a well thought-out and truly remarkable book. I highly recommend!!!

An informative, well written account of the infamous Great Escape. Also has lots of accounts of preceding and following escape attempts that were also made. Easy to read and told the stories vividly and well.