"Bascomb has unearthed a remarkable piece of hidden history, and told
it perfectly. The story brims with adventure, suspense, daring, and
heroism."
--David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the
Flower Moon
Neal Bascomb, New York Times best-selling author, delivers the
spellbinding story of the downed Allied airmen who masterminded the
remarkably courageous--and ingenious--breakout from Germany's most
devilish POW camp.
In the winter trenches and flak-filled skies of World War I, soldiers
and pilots might avoid death, only to find themselves imprisoned in
Germany's archipelago of prison camps, often in abominable conditions.
The most infamous was Holzminden, a land-locked Alcatraz that housed the
most troublesome, escape-prone officers. Its commandant was a boorish,
hate-filled tyrant named Karl Niemeyer who swore that none should ever
leave.
Desperate to break out of "Hellminden" and return to the fight, a group
of Allied prisoners led by ace pilot (and former Army sapper) David Gray
hatch an elaborate escape plan. Their plot demands a risky feat of
engineering as well as a bevy of disguises, forged documents, fake
walls, and steely resolve. Once beyond the watchtowers and
round-the-clock patrols, Gray and almost a dozen of his half-starved
fellow prisoners must then make a heroic 150-mile dash through
enemy-occupied territory toward free Holland.
Drawing on never-before-seen memoirs and letters, Neal Bascomb brings
this narrative to cinematic life, amid the twilight of the British
Empire and the darkest, most savage hours of the fight against Germany.
At turns tragic, funny, inspirational, and nail-biting suspenseful, this
is the little-known story of the biggest POW breakout of the Great War.
