I was very excited when I first spotted this book over a year ago. I own, or have read, nearly all of the author's books. But a question still came to mind. Was there really a need for another 'definitive' book on Colditz?
My own interest in Colditz & escape stories started with Pat Reid's enjoyable books, along with the 'The Colditz Story' film.
But Reid often painted a lighter-hearted picture of Colditz, that didn't always go down well with many of his fellow ex-prisoners.
Written after the war, his version of Colditz, & its period after his successful escape, was always going to be restricted by a lack of access to the archives & relying on other people's memories of that time.
Many other prisoners also wrote their own tales of life as a POW, but none were as successful or as well known as Pat Reids.
Move on to the early 2000's & 'Colditz The Definitive History' by Henry Chancellor was published. This fabulous book revealed many new stories & also sorted much of the fact from the fiction. This book also receives praise from Ben Macintyre in his book.
Last year another excellent book called 'The Traitor of Colditz' by Robert Verkaik was published. Again newly released archives revealed that the Germans had planted informers & attempted to turn/recruit many prisoners, with some success.
Just this Christmas I received a book called 'The Colditz Conjurer' by James Green. I'm yet to read it, but this story wasn't known to me, & certainly doesn't appear in Ben's new book.
So going back to my question of this new book, & whether it offered anything new?
Well yes it has, & I would certainly recommend it. Yes there is a lot of the well known stories retold, but these are updated with all the research that has clearly been done.
Stories from the books that I have mentioned are included altogether for the first time, making this as definitive as any book out there today.
Another important point to add is that Ben has had incredible access to Reinhold Eggers', the then Colditz Security Officer, personal documents & scrapbook. This again provides the book with fresh material & photographs.
So I would certainly recommend this book. Ideal for those who have never read about Colditz before.
To those who have previously, I'm certain you will enjoy Ben's telling of the stories, both old & new. I know I did.
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