"In the late 1930s, times were desperate. The world found itself at war again, hardly more than twenty years after the First World War had ended - and the stakes were never higher. The leaders of every country involved were left without a choice. They had to try to end the war as fast as possible, using whatever means they could. That meant coming up with secret operations meant to deceive, deflect, and confuse their enemies. ... Readers will be captivated...

"In this gripping narrative, Ben Macintyre tackles one of the most famous prison stories in history and makes it utterly his own. During World War II, the German army used the towering Colditz Castle to hold the most defiant Allied prisoners. For four years, these prisoners of the castle tested its walls and its guards with ingenious escape attempts that would become legend. But as Macintyre shows, the story of Colditz was about much more than escape....