The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe, 1944-1945

Rating:
Summary: Good WWII history
Review: By June 1944, there were hundreds of thousands of Allied prisoners in German POW camps, many in eastern Germany. As the war ground on, Russian forces began threatening the easternmost camps. The Germans chose to march most of those prisoners west. It was winter, and the prisoners often had to walk hundreds of miles; many weere in poor condition after nearly six years of captivity. Allied policy on POWs was in serious disarray, but there was a great concern that SS or other authorities would massacre prisoners or hold them as hostages. Drawing on first-person narratives and published works, the British authors concentrate primarily on British POWs, secondarily Americans; virtually no attention is paid to the many other Western allies held in German camps. How the end game played out, the fates of those camps overrun by the Russians, and the general muddle, terror, deprivation, and determination of individual prisoners makes a complex story, and a valuable addition to WWII literature. Recommended for military and political collections, and public libraries. Nichol is a journalist, former RAF flier who became a POW during the first Gulf war, and author of Tornado Down. Rennell is a journalist and author of Last Days of Glory.

Rating:
Summary: Good WWII history
Review: By June 1944, there were hundreds of thousands of Allied prisoners in German POW camps, many in eastern Germany. As the war ground on, Russian forces began threatening the easternmost camps. The Germans chose to march most of those prisoners west. It was winter, and the prisoners often had to walk hundreds of miles; many weere in poor condition after nearly six years of captivity. Allied policy on POWs was in serious disarray, but there was a great concern that SS or other authorities would massacre prisoners or hold them as hostages. Drawing on first-person narratives and published works, the British authors concentrate primarily on British POWs, secondarily Americans; virtually no attention is paid to the many other Western allies held in German camps. How the end game played out, the fates of those camps overrun by the Russians, and the general muddle, terror, deprivation, and determination of individual prisoners makes a complex story, and a valuable addition to WWII literature. Recommended for military and political collections, and public libraries. Nichol is a journalist, former RAF flier who became a POW during the first Gulf war, and author of Tornado Down. Rennell is a journalist and author of Last Days of Glory.

Rating:
Summary: The Tragic Story Of Allied POWs in WWII Germany
Review: Few history books will ever have a more immediate and visceral impact on a reader; this is a chronicle of horror, bravery, hate, love and uncertainty woven into a rich tapestry of human endeavor at the absolute limit of comprehension. The authors have put stark human faces on one of the great acts of treachery and inhumanity of the Third Reich. In the brutal winter of 1944-45 the Germans began moving over 200,000 allied POWs from the advancing Russian armies toward the west, for reasons not certain even today. The particular ordeals of POWs from a selected number of the camps are described in riveting detail, with the personalities and actions of key POW participants richly revealed in often first-hand accounts and from recent interviews and testimony. It is almost unreal the depth of depravity inflicted by the Germans, particularly the SS, on these marches, some hundreds of miles long and lasting over several months. It seems incomprehensible that as a signatory to the Geneva Convention and a generally Christian nation that the Germans could be so uncaring of fellow humans; and as badly as the American and British POWs suffered, the treatment of the Russian prisoners will leave the reader profoundly disturbed. The authors follow the main characters throughout the ordeal and in many cases through the happiness and disappointments they faced after liberation. The book is carefully constructed so that as events unfold on the ground the reader is given the backdrop of actions by the governments and military hierarchies of the USA, UK, Soviet Union and Germany which help to explain the cascading events leading to the tragedy. Like a really good novel, the books gives us a look at the aftermath, when both heroes and scoundrels get what they deserve, or, all too often, what they don't deserve. Readers will find themselves cheering on the good guys and screaming invective at the bad guys and there are many of them, on both sides of the wire. This is THE book to top the "must read" list of anyone who enjoys or studies WWII history; buy it, read it and share it with friends; this is an important and largely unknown story superbly written.

Rating:
Summary: good blend of person person history and research
Review: Historical works tend to lean to one of two sides--first person recollections or cumbersome accounts of occurences with often little signficance. THE LAST ESCAPE transcends both of these genres and presents a most readable account of the western European POW experience during the last two years of World War II. Prisoners-of-war have seemingly been the focus of many books in the past few years but this volume informs the reader with a thorough picture of daily life, the forced marches and ultimate liberation. What makes the book stand out from others is its presentation of archival material which gives a scholarly background of not only why the Germans did what they did, but why the Allies reacted in their own manner. Stalin's dealings with the Soviet role in the POW situation are nothing less than fascinating and the role of families back home (home being England) and their coping with loved ones in captivity or worse, whereabouts unknown, mesmerize the reader with a sense of empathy not often seen in historical works of this nature. Readers are, of course familiar with POW books such as THE WOODEN HORSE, THE GREAT ESCAPE, A GALLANT COMPANY, et al, but THE LAST ESCAPE is the only book (aside from the excellent Vietnam prisoner book HONOR BOUND by Rochester and Kiley)topresent a most impressive blend of humanizing accounts with diligent academic research.When considered in the context of the supporting material, the recollections of RAF and USAAF prisoners take on an entirely new meaning and present a view of despair, frustration, dashed hopes and finally the job (but at the same time) uncertainty of freedom. THE LAST ESCAPE splendidly portrays these roller coster emotions on the part of prisoners.

Rating:
Summary: good blend of person person history and research
Review: Historical works tend to lean to one of two sides--first person recollections or cumbersome accounts of occurences with often little signficance. THE LAST ESCAPE transcends both of these genres and presents a most readable account of the western European POW experience during the last two years of World War II. Prisoners-of-war have seemingly been the focus of many books in the past few years but this volume informs the reader with a thorough picture of daily life, the forced marches and ultimate liberation. What makes the book stand out from others is its presentation of archival material which gives a scholarly background of not only why the Germans did what they did, but why the Allies reacted in their own manner. Stalin's dealings with the Soviet role in the POW situation are nothing less than fascinating and the role of families back home (home being England) and their coping with loved ones in captivity or worse, whereabouts unknown, mesmerize the reader with a sense of empathy not often seen in historical works of this nature. Readers are, of course familiar with POW books such as THE WOODEN HORSE, THE GREAT ESCAPE, A GALLANT COMPANY, et al, but THE LAST ESCAPE is the only book (aside from the excellent Vietnam prisoner book HONOR BOUND by Rochester and Kiley)topresent a most impressive blend of humanizing accounts with diligent academic research.When considered in the context of the supporting material, the recollections of RAF and USAAF prisoners take on an entirely new meaning and present a view of despair, frustration, dashed hopes and finally the job (but at the same time) uncertainty of freedom. THE LAST ESCAPE splendidly portrays these roller coster emotions on the part of prisoners.

Rating:
Summary: one of the great atrocities of World War II
Review: In December 1944, some 270,000 American, British, and Commonwealth prisoners were sent on the road so they wouldn't be liberated by the advancing Allied armies. Nichol (himself a PW during the first Gulf War) and Rennell have dug out the stories of these men, who were marched for hundreds of miles through one of the worst winters Germany has ever experienced--half frozen, generally unfed, racked with dysentery, and apt at any moment to be shot by a German guard or strafed by Allied aircraft who had no idea who they were. Afterward, their ordeal was forgotten by all but themselves. An excellent account of an unknown atrocity, which left thousands dead and other thousands crippled for life. -- Dan Ford

Rating:
Summary: Excellent untold story of WWII POW's
Review: The Last Escape: the Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe is an excellent book about a subject not many people know about. Many people know about pow's because of The Great Escape and The Bridge over the River Kwai, but this book tells a different story. Late in WWII as Germany's defeat drew nearer, problems arose for the Allied forces involving prisoners of war under German control. How to get them back? What about the Gestapo and SS? This book offers many sides of the story not often presented about the closing months of the war. The Last Escape has interviews with countless prisoners who survived the ordeal. You can read about the marches in the blizzard across Germany, US and Russian relations about the prisoners, plans from the homefront about how to handle the prisoners, and so much more. This was a very informative book that is at times very moving and at others very disturbing. The Last Escape puts you in the prison camp with the POWs making the whole thing that much more real. For a very enjoyable and informative read about the little known stories of prisoners of war in WWII, check out The Last Escape!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent untold story of WWII POW's
Review: The Last Escape: the Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe is an excellent book about a subject not many people know about. Many people know about pow's because of The Great Escape and The Bridge over the River Kwai, but this book tells a different story. Late in WWII as Germany's defeat drew nearer, problems arose for the Allied forces involving prisoners of war under German control. How to get them back? What about the Gestapo and SS? This book offers many sides of the story not often presented about the closing months of the war. The Last Escape has interviews with countless prisoners who survived the ordeal. You can read about the marches in the blizzard across Germany, US and Russian relations about the prisoners, plans from the homefront about how to handle the prisoners, and so much more. This was a very informative book that is at times very moving and at others very disturbing. The Last Escape puts you in the prison camp with the POWs making the whole thing that much more real. For a very enjoyable and informative read about the little known stories of prisoners of war in WWII, check out The Last Escape!