Book
POW: Allied Prisoners in Europe 1939-1945
John Murray (UK)
[Buy it now on Amazon]
Just under 300,000 Allied servicemen from Britain, the Commonwealth and the United States were captured in Europe and North Africa between 1939 and 1945. Military historian Adrian Gilbert describes their experiences, and their letters, diaries and other untapped sources make this a uniquely oral history.
A whole theatre of characters appear: women and men, rich and poor, mavericks and underdogs, while he brings to the fore the voices of the prisoners themselves by threading eleven individual stories through the narrative. In POW their day-to-day lives are vividly rendered. As artistic and intellectual endeavours blossomed, so did other unacknowledged aspects of camp life, such as the development of sexual relations — both heterosexual and homosexual.
Everyday life is offset by high drama too, as POW tells of the secret organisations who smuggled escape aids to the prisoners. Although few men were actively engaged in escape attempts, many provided tacit support or were engaged in sabotage and other resistance activities.
POW is a compelling window onto a crucial aspect of the Second World War.
"Nearly 300,000 Commonwealth and American soldiers were incarcerated … this engaging book tells their story."
- BBC History Magazine
"A compelling account from forgotten voices"
- Belfast Telegraph
"Gilbert is to be congratulated; with verve and scholarship he has illuminated a murky area of the Second World War."
- Ian Thomson, The Daily Telegraph
"Touching but often amusing stories"
- John Crossland, The Sunday Times Books of the Year
"This is, by turns, a depressing, uplifting, funny and tragic account, probably the most comprehensive story of the life and fate of British prisoners of war to be committed to paper."
- Navy News
"A big subject, here given a comprehensive and worthwhile examination."
- Peter Lewis, Daily Mail (Critics' Choice)
"One of the most compelling untold stories of the Second World War."
- Soldier Magazine
"…an excellent new account of the POW experience."
- The Good Book Guide
"POW tells a story that was in danger of being forgotten. Spellbinding, and overdue."
- Western Daily Press