Great Escapes
Subtitle: Alcatraz, the Berlin Wall, Colditz, Devil's Island and 20 other stories of daring, audacity and ingenuity
By: Ian Crofton
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2009
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 186
ISBN-13: 9781847246820
Subjects: Escapes; History; Prisons; Prisoner-of-war escapes; Évasions; Histoire; Évasions de prisonniers de guerre
Description: Great Escapes brings together extraordinary stories of daring escapes from prison, prisoner-of-war camps and other places of incarceration and confinement, drawn from every period of history and from every corner of the world. In addition to telling the stories of the most celebrated and notorious of prison breaks, including Alcatraz, Great Escapes recounts the classic POW escape stories of World War II, including the 'Great Escape' (immortalized by the eponymous 1960s movie starring Steve McQueen). A celebration of human ingenuity and daredevil courage, Great Escapes offers the reader an exhilarating and unforgettable sequence of escape stories. The 'great escapes' include: Daedalus and Icarus; Underground Railroad; Colditz; Mary Queen of Scots; Over the Icy Passes; Mt Kenya; St John of the Cross; Libby Prison Break; Stalag Luft III; Charles II; Devil's Island; Evading the Enemy; Amazons of Haverhill; Edith Cavell; Walter Bonatti; Jack Sheppard; Houdini; Alcatraz; Bonnie Prince Charlie; Bretholz; George Blake; Casanova; Dunkirk; Berlin Wall.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Flight from Crete -- 8; title: Daedalus and Icarus take to the air --; title: Mary and the Page Boy -- 15; title: Mary Queen of Scots escapes from Lochleven Castle, 1568 --; title: When All My House in Silence Slept -- 25; title: 'Miraculous' escape of St John of the Cross, 1578 --; title: Royal Oak -- 30; title: Charles II hides up a tree, 1651 --; title: Amazons of Haverhill -- 37; title: Two colonial women kill their Native American captors, 1697 --; title: His History Will Astonish! -- 43; title: Multiple jail breaks of the thief and folk hero Jack Sheppard, 1724 --; title: Skulking Five Long Months -- 53; title: Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight after Culloden, 1756 --; title: Imprisoned by a Most Detestable Tyranny -- 63; title: Casanova breaks out of the Doge's Place, 1756 --; title: Underground Railroad -- 76; title: Escape network for fugitive slaves, c.1810-65 --; title: Over the Icy Passes -- 83; title: William Brydon, the sole European to survive the British retreat from Kabul, 1842 --; title: Deliverance from Rat Hell -- 89; title: Mass breakout of Union officers from Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 1864 --; title: Devil's Island -- 95; title: Tales from France's most notorious penal colony, 1887-1948 --; title: Patriotism is Not Enough -- 100; title: Edith Cavell, executed for helping Allied soldiers to escape, 1915 --; title: King of Handcuffs -- 104; title: Harry Houdini, the greatest escapologist of them all --; title: Who Else Will Tell This Story? -- 103; title: Six years on the run in Nazi-occupied Europe, 1938-44 --; title: Snatching Glory Out of Defeat -- 120; title: British army is rescued from Dunkirk, 1940 --; title: Boy's Own Adventures -- 129; title: Escapades at Colditz Castle, 1940-5 --; title: Climbing the Diamond -- 135; title: Three Italian PoWs attempt an ascent of Mount Kenya, 1943 --; title: Tunnerllers of Stalag Luft III -- 144; title: Stories behind the Wooden Horse and The Great Escape, 1943-4 --; title: Evading the Enemy -- 152; title: A US airman avoids capture in occupied France, 1943-44 --; title: Tragedy on Mont Blanc -- 160; title: Desperate retreat from the Central Pillar of Frn̊ey, 1961 --; title: Inescapable Rock -- 169; title: Last victims of Alcatraz, 1962 --; title: Spy Who Went Over the Wall -- 175; title: Soviet doubt-agent George Blake escapes from Wormwood Scrubs, 1966 --; title: Berlin Wall -- 180; title: Some who made it and some who did not, 1961-89.