Author:Ben Macintyre
THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - AND PERFECT GIFT FOR HISTORY BUFFS!
'A master at setting the pulse racing' Daily Mail
'A fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject' Telegraph
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FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SAS: ROGUE HEROES
Colditz Castle: a forbidding Gothic tower on a hill in Nazi Germany. You may have heard about the prisoners and their daring and desperate attempts to escape, but that's only part of the real story.
In Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes us inside the walls of the most infamous prison in history to meet the real men behind the legends. Heroes and bullies, lovers and spies, captors and prisoners living cheek-by-jowl for years in a thrilling game of cat and mouse - and all determined to escape by any means necessary.
Deeply researched and full of incredible stories, this is a tale of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances - and will change how you think about Colditz forever.
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'Like watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised' Spectator
'Every Ben Macintyre book is a treat' The Tablet
Sunday Times bestseller, November 2022
A fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject
—— Patrick Bishop , TelegraphLike watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised . . . rich in humour and quirky detail . . . another compelling narrative
—— Clare Mulley , SpectatorNuanced and gripping . . . told with sensitivity and insight, with an eye for telling detail
—— Gerard DeGroot , The TimesFascinating
—— The SunEvery Ben Macintyre book is a treat
—— Jane Thynne , The TabletEntertaining yet objective and often moving
—— Wall Street JournalMacintyre's genius has long been to excavate the nuance, subtlety and ambiguity beneath the myths he explores . . . remarkable
—— Matthew D'Ancona , Tortoise MediaAnother fine history . . . His unerring eye for the telling detail that can illuminate a greater story is apparent in Colditz
—— Ronan McGreevy , The Irish TimesMacintyre so seamlessly fuses so many different accounts that their compilation creates something more profound than a simple escape yarn: a biography of the prison itself and the world detainees built there
—— Andrea Pitzer , Washington PostMacintyre recreates the daring escape stories with punchy flair . . . a lively page-turner
—— NJ McGarrigle , Independent.ieMy book of the year . . . a masterful history of Colditz. It's absurdly readable (and at times just absurd) as well as being informative, hilarious and deeply moving
—— Geoff Dyer , LitHubLewis Dartnell has a well-deserved reputation for engaging writing on big themes. Being Human is so engrossing that it's hard to put down
—— Martin Rees, author of If Science is To Save UsDartnell has done it again. Full of surprising, vivid and profound lessons, this book is quite literally wonderful
—— Ed Conway, author of Material World[A] revealing survey ... Biology determines more than personal destiny
—— New Statesman[A] fascinating lucky dip of a book
—— Mail on SundayWith shrewd characterisation and original observations, Otsuka tells a tale of grief and memory that's quietly observed yet awash with dark humour and wit.
—— SpectatorAmid an incantatory litany of totalising losses, there are snapshots of a unique life with all its complications. Superbly realised and incredibly moving
—— Daily MailHaunting, ironic and poetic in its resonance, this slender volume is a must-read
—— Woman's WeeklyWhat makes a good life? What is a good death? The answers to these questions shimmer elusively just below the surface of The Swimmers
—— StylistOtsuka's slender, stylistically ambitious third novel is a marvel, capturing the hypnotic rhythm of lane-swimming and the devastating decline of memory and connection as dementia takes hold...Heartbreakingly powerful
—— Mail on Sunday, Best New FictionFrance on Trial stands out – a meticulously researched, attractively written account of the trial of the first world war hero turned Nazi collaborator Marshal Petain and its woeful Vichy background. Excellent on Petain’s legacy in modern right-wing French politics, Jackson adopts the requisite tone for a historian of our times, interrogating uncomfortable truths with objectivity mixed with lightness of touch.
—— Andrew Lycett , Spectator, Books of the YearThis extraordinary book exposes how various sides in the Petain debate have manipulated the historical record in a desperate attempt to make the past palatable.
—— Gerard DeGroot , The Times, Books of the YearJulian Jackson’s France on Trial grapples with the life and (mis)deeds of Philippe Pétain—the French general who led the Vichy regime during the Second World War—and the country’s dark feelings of hatred and guilt after the war.
—— Prospect Books of the YearSuperb, totally fascinating and compelling, Katja Hoyer's first full history of East Germany's rise and fall is a work of revelatory original research - and a gripping read with a brilliant cast of characters. Essential reading
—— Simon Sebag MontefioreA beyond-brilliant new picture of the rise and fall of the East German state. Katja Hoyer gives us not only pin-sharp historical analysis, but an up-close and personal view of both key characters and ordinary citizens whose lives charted some of the darkest hours of the Cold War. If you thought you knew the history of East Germany, think again. An utterly riveting read
—— Julie EtchinghamA fantastic, sparkling book, filled with insights not only about East Germany but about the Cold War, Europe and the forging of the 20th and 21st centuries
—— Peter FrankopanThe joke has it that the duty of the last East German to escape from the country was to turn off the lights. In Beyond the Wall Katja Hoyer turns the light back on and gives us the best kind of history: frank, vivid, nuanced and filled with interesting people
—— Ivan KrastevA refreshing and eye-opening book on a country that is routinely reduced to cartoonish cliché. Beyond the Wall is a tribute to the ordinary East Germans who built themselves a society that - for a time - worked for them, a society carved out of a state founded in the horrors of Nazism and Stalinism
—— Owen HatherleyA colourful and often revelatory re-appraisal of one of modern history's most fascinating political curiosities. Katja Hoyer skilfully weaves diverse political and private lives together, from the communist elite to ordinary East Germans
—— Frederick TaylorKatja Hoyer is becoming the authoritative voice in the English speaking world for all things German. Thanks to her, German history has the prominence in the Anglosphere it certainly deserves.
—— Dan SnowKatja Hoyer brilliantly shows that the history of East Germany was a significant chapter of German history, not just a footnote to it or a copy of the Soviet Union. To understand Germany today we have to grapple with the history and legacy of its all but dismissed East
—— Serhii PlokhyKatja Hoyer's return to discover what happened to her homeland - the old East Germany - is an excellent counterpoint to Stasiland by Anna Funder
—— Iain Macgregor