Synopses & Reviews
By June 1944 there were hundreds of thousands of American and British prisoners of war in camps across Nazi-controlled Europe. News of the D-Day landings, heard on secret camp radios, filled the prisoners with both hope and dread. Amid this confusion and fear, the POWs were herded from their camps and forced at gunpoint to walk many hundreds of miles deeper into Germany on what the POWs themselves called the Death March.
In The Last Escape, Gulf War POW and author John Nichol and popular historian Tony Rennell relate the astonishing story of these unrecognized heroes. Drawing upon interviews with many surviving veterans who speak here for the first time, this is an unparalleled account of endurance and courage in wartime.
Review
"While offering little in the way of new information...the authors provide a compelling account of the ways, means and effects of mass imprisonment during the last terrible century." Publishers Weekly
Review
"An exceptional chronicle of bravery and endurance." Booklist
Synopsis
The horrific stories of Allied POWUs experiences in the final months of the war in Europe, this is an unparalleled account of endurance and courage in wartime.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [505]-510) and index.
About the Author
John Nichol is a bestselling author and a former RAF flight lieutenant who was shot down over Saddam Hussein's Iraq during the Gulf War, captured, and tortured.
Tony Rennell, formerly the associate editor of the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday, is the author of Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria and coauthor of When Daddy Came Home.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
List of Maps xxi
1. The Russians Are Coming 1
2. Abandoned to Their Fate 31
3. Out into the Cold 64
4. Fears of a Massacre 91
5. The Retreat from Stalag Luft IV 114
6. The Deadly Road to the West 139
7. The Rivers of Humanity 166
8. Liberated by the Red Army 204
9. Hostages of Stalin 232
10. Waiting for Patton 251
11. The Hell of Fallingbostel 286
12. Death by "Friendly Fire" 317
13. A German Savior? 348
14. Heading for Home 372
15. Welcome Back 403
Epilogue 433
Appendix 1: Chronology of the End
of the Second World War 449
Appendix 2: The Yalta Agreement
on Prisoners of War, February 1945 453
Appendix 3: The Senior American Officer's Complaint
About Conditions at Stalag XIIID, Nuremberg 457
Appendix 4: The Numbers Game 462
Notes 467
Bibliography 505
Index 511