You’re locked in a room. You’re in a group because multiple heads are better than one—or so they say. Find four keys—and you’ll taste freedom. Do you know where you are?
Escape rooms have become something of a phenomenon. From groups of friends testing their knowledge and decision-making skills—to work events designed to bring colleagues closer together, if only for an hour.
We read about great escapes all the time, from fiction to memoir. They keep us on the edge of our seats wondering, “Will they or won’t they succeed?” Everyone is rooting for the main characters to break out.
Cue The Great Escape.
This 1963 film is based on the autobiography by Bram “Bob” Vanderstok. It chronicles the March 1944 liberation of a group of 76 men being held prisoner in Stalag Luft III—only 3 of who made it out of Germany.
March 24-25 is the 75th anniversary of this event—and Pen and Sword is offering the eBooks of 4 books on the subject for free!
Escape from Stalag Luft III: The True Story of My Successful Great Escape
This is the first in the line of books. It’s the actual account of Bram “Bob” Vanderstok’s breakout from the German prison. This memoir sets about his time before his incarceration and then details his extraordinary escape attempts—which eventually led to the biggest breakout the camp had ever seen on March 1944.
After escaping from the camp, Vanderstok spent weeks roaming around Europe, passing through big cities such as Paris, Madrid, and Brussels, before making it home to England.
When he returned home, he found out his brothers had been captured and killed in concentration camps, and his father had been tortured by the Gestapo, but never betrayed his son by giving them information.
Stalag Luft III: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
Dedicated to the “behind the scenes” photos of the Stalag Luft III , as one of the most famous POW (prisoners of war) camps of its era, this book is chock-full of photographs and pictorial work from the camp.
The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III: The Memoir of Jens Müller
This book was first published in 1946 in Norwegian and is the autobiography of Jens Müller—one of the three men to escape from Germany in the March 1944 breakout. This is the first English translation of the work, which was originally titled, “Three Came Back.”
Müller was no.43 of 76 prisoners who attempted to escape. With the help of Per Bergsland, he stowed away on a ship to Gothenburg where the pair sought out the British consulate and were eventually flown to Scotland—sent by train to London—and shortly after sent to “Little Norway” in Ontario Canada.
In this memoir, Müller depicts all of this, as well as vivid detail about what the prison was like and his personal success in making it to Scotland.
The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944
A work built on interviews and dozens of relatives’ stories about the “Great Escape,” it has been updated for the 75th anniversary of this event in history.
Johnathan Vance tells the story of how 79 men broke out of the prison, and how only 3 made it out of Germany—while 50 of the men were executed by the Gestapo. Chronicling the strong bonds of the men in prison, to the plan and implementation of the breakout, this novel delves deep not only into the escape—but also into the lives of the men who died and lived through this tale.
When the eBooks will be free:
While all 4 books are about the same event, the stories vary as each book is from a different perspective. Setting the facts surrounding this monumental escape straight, download the eBooks of these 4 novels for free, March 21st . and will be discounted to $0.99 on March 24th and 25th!
The Casemate Blog 