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Colditz

Prisoners of the Castle

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Colditz

By: Ben Macintyre
Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In 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. Or so the story of Colditz has gone, unchallenged for 70 years. But that tale contains only part of the truth.

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. Through an astonishing range of material, Macintyre reveals a remarkable cast of characters, wider than previously seen and hitherto hidden from history, taking in prisoners and captors who were living cheek-by-jowl in a thrilling game of cat and mouse.

From the elitist members of the Colditz Bullingdon Club to America's oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent, the soldier-prisoners of Colditz were courageous and resilient as well as vulnerable and fearful—and astonishingly imaginative in their desperate escape attempts. Deeply researched and full of incredible human stories, this is the definitive book on Colditz.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Ben Macintyre (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Europe Germany Military War
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I generally don’t like war stories but this one had a great pace and i particularly enjoyed hearing the voices of the lower class who didn’t have their version of the war documented due to their illiteracy (or the system stopping them).

Privileged prisoners

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I've read just about every book on WW2 escapes, including "The Colditz Story" and Airey Neave's "They have their exits". Ben MacIntyre has once again delivered a meticulously researched and beautifully told story which adds a lot of new material, and importantly includes the German side of the story. Highly recommended.

Excellent!

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author is quickly becoming one of my favourites- he has a knack of bringing history back to life and i am so grateful to learn about the many personal tragedies and triumphs of the lives that were shaped by Colditz

incredible story brought to life with impressive research

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I liked this book very much. I remember the TV series and I use to play the Colditz board game repeatedly many years ago but it was great to hear the true story of the place and time. The altruism of the tv series is certainly lacking and even though it surprised me I should have expected it really. The British military is, or at least at the time, very class oriented and the true nature of Colditz's inmates comes through as boorish in may respects.

The narration was good and kept me listening throughout and it was well paced and written.

A Great Listen

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A fascinating story of the men and the castle, loved the narration by the author, a wonderful read

Loved it

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