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The War Behind the Wire - WW2 POW Experiences

~~$24.95~~ $17.95

By Patrick Wilson
Published in 2000 by Leo Cooper/Pen & Sword, UK
Hardcover, 224 Pages
Size - 26cm * 20cm

It is beyond the experience of the vast majority of us to begin to understand what being a prisoner-of-war must involve.Yet during the Second World War many thousands of British soldiers, sailors and airmen found themselves locked away by their German and Italian enemies with no limit to their sentence.

In The War Behind The Wire, a select yet disparate band of men tell in the most gripping and fluent terms of their experiences and reactions to capture and captivity. They share their feelings as they brush with death, lose their comrades, freedom and links with home. We gain a vivid impression of how they come to terms with the privations of camp life and marvel at their defiant, ingenious and often incredibly brave escape attempts.

Thanks to the testimony of participants new light is thrown on the Great Escape and the Nazis' infamous murder of fifty of the seventy-six escapers. Life in the notorious Colditz Castle is also described at first hand by former inmates, including the special category Prominente prisoners, Hitler's personal hostages. The War Behind The Wire, published to coincide with the major BBC TV documentary of the same name, provides a rich reading experience. The former POWs' personal accounts are supplemented by a lively and informative narrative and this highly illustrated book will appeal strongly to all age groups.

Educated at Marlborough College and Manchester University, Patrick Wilson teaches history at Bradfield College, near Reading. A regular contributor to specialist journals, his Dunkirk- 1940: From Disaster to Deliverance (Leo Cooper/Pen and Sword Books, 2000) was an instant success with the critics and reading public. The War Behind The Wire is his first TV tie-in book. He is currently editing the diaries of an Australian Great War Veteran.

Miranda Ingrams, the researcher of The War Behind The Wire, worked as a Producer on Australian national radio before joining Hartswood Films in 1995. She has been closely involved with the BBC documentaries The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother; The Red Baron; and Officers and Gentlemen, filmed at The Royal Hospital, home of the Chelsea Pensioners. She feels very privileged to have met the inspiring individuals featured in this book.

Fully Illustrated