
The Escape Artists
A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War
- 385 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
The Escape Artists
A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War
About this book
This "fast-paced account" of WWI airmen who escaped Germany's most notorious POW camp is "expertly narrated" by the
New York Times bestselling author (
Kirkus, starred review).
During World War I, Allied soldiers might avoid death only to find themselves in the abominable conditions of  Germany's many prison camps. The most infamous was Holzminden, a land-locked Alcatraz that housed the most escape-prone officers. Its commandant was a boorish tyrant named Karl Niemeyer, who swore that none should ever leave.
Desperate to break out of "Hellminden", a group of Allied prisoners hatch an audacious escape plan that requires a risky feat of engineering as well as a bevy of disguises, forged documents, and fake wallsânot to mention steely resolve and total secrecy. Once beyond the watchtowers and round-the-clock patrols, they are then faced with a 150-mile dash through enemy-occupied territory toward free Holland.
Drawing on never-before-seen memoirs and letters, historian Neal Bascomb "has unearthed a remarkable piece of hidden history, and told it perfectly. The story brims with adventure, suspense, daring, and heroism" (David Grann,Â
New York Times bestselling author ofÂ
Killers of the Flower Moon).
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Information
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Maps
- Dramatis Personae
- Prologue
- Captured
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- All Roads Lead to Hellminden
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- The Tunnel
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Photos
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Breakout
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Epilogue
- The Holzminden Escape ListâJuly 23 to 24, 1918
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Sample Chapter from THE WINTER FORTRESS
- Buy the Book
- About the Author
- Connect with HMH