Prisoners of the Castle

I've always been a sucker for escape stories. This one ranks right up there with The Great Escape.

During World II, Colditz Castle in Germany housed the unruliest group of Allied officers in the country. If you were so bad or escaped too many times from other POW camps, you went to Colditz. This made for a prisoner population of the most interesting characters in the world. 

I love interesting characters because wherever they are and whatever they're doing, it always makes for a good story. I also love books that show the depths of the human spirit and… show more.

I read Ben Macintyre’s book about the SAS which was terrific. I knew several former SAS blokes. During my life, I have met two people who were imprisoned in Colditz. One of them spent a lot of time knitting sweaters for escapers, because his nanny had taught him how to knit!

He is an excellent writer, and I was interested in his take on Colditz.

I’ve been intrigued with Colditz Castle, the German castle used to house WWII Allied prisoners, ever since watching the movie Escape From Colditz. Ben Macintyre’s book adds history to the basics of the movie, and makes it a living, breathing place.

The book reads like a thriller or spy novel more than a plain history. He populates the pages with many of the real prisoners and the German staff, giving them personalities and lives. Through this, the reader empathizes with many of the men and is drawn into the prisoner’s escape attempts and those among the group who secretly turn… show more.

Few names can send a chill down the spine quite like Colditz. The clifftop castle near Leipzig housed the most troublesome and incorrigible Allied officers the Germans captured during World War Two.

While the stone bastion looked escape-proof, getting out became a challenge and an obsession for the men locked inside. Ben Macintyre, the prolific and bestselling author of real-life thrillers on espionage and wartime covert operations, works his magic and brings fresh insights to the saga of this infamous POW camp.

His formidable storytelling skills, coupled with an eye for drama and colorful characters, make this the definitive account… show more.