Feature films have created the stereotype of the Second World War prisoner of war. He is the spruce, stiff-upper-lipped Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai, or Steve McQueen' s cunning and opportunist ' Cooler King' in The Great Escape, the all-American motorbike hero. If he is imprisoned in Europe it will have to be in the forbidding North German Schloss of Colditz or the tunnel-riddled Stalag Luft III. But, as Midge Gillies shows in this groundbreaking work of social ...
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Feature films have created the stereotype of the Second World War prisoner of war. He is the spruce, stiff-upper-lipped Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai, or Steve McQueen' s cunning and opportunist ' Cooler King' in The Great Escape, the all-American motorbike hero. If he is imprisoned in Europe it will have to be in the forbidding North German Schloss of Colditz or the tunnel-riddled Stalag Luft III. But, as Midge Gillies shows in this groundbreaking work of social history, the true experiences of nearly half a million Allied servicemen held captive during the Second World War were nothing like the Hollywood myth - and infinitely more extraordinary. The real lives of POWs saw them respond to the tedium of a German stalag or the brutality of a Japanese camp with the most amazing ingenuity and creativity. They staged glittering shows, concerts and elaborate sporting fixtures, made exquisite ornaments - even, amid the terrible privations of the Thailand-Burma railway, improvised daring surgical techniques to save their fellow men' s lives. Whatever skills or hobbies they took with them to captivity they managed to continue and adapt - to the extent of laying out a 9-hole golf course between the huts of one German camp. They took up crafts and pastimes using materials they found around them: even the string from a Red Cross food parcel was used to make cricket balls, football nets and wigs for theatrical performances. Men studied, attended lectures, learned languages, sat for qualifications and exams, on such a scale that one camp was nicknamed ' The Barbed-Wire University' . A number of books written by POWs in captivity are still in print today. And often the years in captivity proved a turning-point in their lives, as the new interests and skills they took out of the camp enabled them to embark on a post-war career in which they would succeed at the highest level - whether actors like Clive Dunn and Denholm Elliott, artists like Sir Terry Frost and Ronald Searle, or the birdwatchers who studied rooks and jackdaws beyond the perimeter wire in distant parts of the German Reich and went on to run the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Drawing on letters home, diaries and interviews with redoubtable survivors now into their nineties, Midge Gillies recreates the daily lives of a truly remarkable group of men. It is a story by turns thrilling, funny, desperate and moving, but never less than inspirational.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 1050grams, ISBN: 9781845136291.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1845136292. Illustrated with maps and black & white photographs. Fine hardback with fine unclipped dust jacket. No inscriptions or marks. The amazing untold stories of what Allied prisoners really did in POW camps, and how the experiences changed their lives.; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 486 pages.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Near fine jacket. Fine/Near fine. Aurum Press, 2011. First edition-2nd printing(3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2). Black hardback(silver lettering to the spine) in fine condition, with Dj(small nicks and ink marks on the edges of the Dj cover, crease inside the edges of the front Dj cover) in near fine condition. Illustrated with b/w photos, drawings, maps. Nice and clean pages as new with a small ink mark on the outer edges, small nick and crease on the edges of the pages. Nice and clean book with light shelf wear on the Dj cover.501pp including Author's note, list of maps, notes, bibliography, index. Price un-clipped. Heavy book(approx 1.1 Kg).
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Seller's Description:
Good. Light scratches/marks to dustjacket, creases at edges & tear to top corner at back. Marks/foxing to textblock edges. Light tanning around page edges. Content very good. 512 p.
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Seller's Description:
Good. No Dustjacket. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
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Seller's Description:
Very good in very good dust jacket. First Edition. A hardback First Edition in Very Good or better condition, in a similar dustjacket. This book is in stock now, in our UK premises. Photos of our books are available on request (the pictures you see on Alibris are NOT our own).
