The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce. The pièce de resistance´, although mercifully unused, was the building of a glider in the roof of the castle. MI9 did not dismiss out of hand a suggestion that an attempt to rescue him from the castle by landing a plane on a nearby Autobahn. Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Colditz, Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends.

It was also the only way the prisoners could feel they were still making some kind of contribution to the war effort.This retelling of the Colditz story is very satisfying, replete with potted history of the Castle, an appendix listing a very useful code (never broken), some brief bios and generally loose ends tied up. The incredible true story of the most infamous prison in history - from the bestselling author is 'SAS: Rogue Heroes' and 'The Spy and the Traitor. Bestselling author Ben Macintyre tells the astonishing true story of one of the Second World War’s most infamous prisoner-of-war camps.

In 1046, Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire gave the burghers of Colditz permission to build the first documented settlement at the site. The bestselling historian with the real story of WW2's "inescapable" Nazi prisonIn a forbidding Gothic castle on a hilltop in the heart of Nazi Germany, an unlikely band of British officers spent the Second World War plotting daring escapes from their German captors. During 2006 and 2007, the castle underwent a significant amount of refurbishment and restoration which was paid for by the state of Saxony.In this gripping narrative, Ben Macintyre tackles one of the most famous prison stories in history and makes it utterly his own.

But dimly boiling away in the TV series is the implication that Colditz housed more than just upper-class British officers, or even just officers, full stop.During 1404, the nearly 250-year rule of the dynasty of the Lords of Colditz ended when Thimo VIII sold Colditz Castle for 15,000 silver marks to the Wettin ruler of the period in Saxony. Macintyre's latest work is a departure from the basic historical narrative that is the more familiar telling of the story of Oflag IVC, Colditz Castle. There were larger-than-life characters, daring escape attempts, plenty of contraband, and no shortage of misery. Ben reveals for the first time a tale of the indomitable human spirit and one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce. While the camp was home to prisoners of war from many different countries, including Poland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Canada, in May 1943 Wehrmacht High Command decided to house only British and American officers.

if you put all the naughtiest boys in one class, they pool their resistance, egg one another on, and soon your classroom is on fire. I have not yet fully read the book, but one other key factor that stands out is the general behaviour by the German guards towards their captives.Outside, the flat terraces which surrounded the prisoners' accommodation were watched constantly by armed sentries and surrounded by barbed wire.