From Publishers Weekly
The author of Tornado Down, former RAF Flight Lt. Nichol was a Gulf War POW, while Last Days of Glory author Rennell is the former associate editor of the London Sunday Times. They cleverly weave WWII policy decisions dealing with POWs with firsthand accounts of POWs inside prison camps in Europe and during the forced evacuation marches many endured during the last months of the war. As the Russians advanced in summer 1944, POWs were crammed into boxcars (and, later, ships), attacked by guards in retaliation for Allied bombing of Germany and sent on extensive forced marches, described here in horrifying detail. As the war ended, some Red Cross relief convoys got through, but General Patton failed in an attempt to liberate a POW camp holding his son-in-law behind German lines. The reluctance of Russians to return liberated British and American POWs to the West was balanced by the issue of forced repatriation of former Soviet POWs who didn't want to return to the Stalinist state. Nichol and Rennell offer anecdotal evidence that some POWs were killed by the SS, and retribution by prisoners against brutal guards also occurred. In the postwar lives of a few POWs featured, incarceration took a physical and psychological toll. While offering little in the way of new information, and failing to cover fully the complete spectrum of prison camps and prisoner nationalities, the authors provide a compelling account of the ways, means and effects of mass imprisonment during the last terrible century.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The authors note that there were an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 British and American prisoners in camps across Germany in 1944 and 1945 who survived World War II. Nichol and Rennell admit that gathering precise information was a problem in their research for this book, and they remind readers that it is not a definitive history of the POW camps. Yet from such sources as interviews, diaries, and more than 60 books on the subject, they describe in vivid detail the horrendous conditions in the camps and the forced marches after the Allied landing in France on June 6, 1944, and the Russian army's advance from the east. Survivors tell of the bitter cold, illness, filth, lack of food, despair, exhaustion, and indignities. They relate their fear of being shot by the guards, their faith in God, and their homesickness. They remember how hidden radios kept them informed of the war's progress and how Red Cross parcels sometimes brought them much-needed food. An exceptional chronicle of bravery and endurance. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

The Wall Street Journal
[An] affecting history... [of] one of the great war crimes of the 20th century.

Joseph E. Persico, author of Roosevelt’s Secret War
Splendid... a fascinating tale.

Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War
Superb... A lasting tribute to those who endured imprisonment.

Book Description
As World War II approached its end, thousands of American and British soldiers languished in German POW camps. With the Russian Red Army closing in from the east and Allied troops advancing from the west, Hitler forced the POWs deeper into the heart of Germany. Over the next several months these prisoners were forced to walk more than 500 miles through the severest of winter conditions, and hundreds died from exhaustion, disease, and starvation. Here—for the first time—interviews with the POWs who survived as well as their diaries and letters bring this astonishing tale of endurance and courage to life.

About the Author
John Nichol is a journalist and widely quoted military commentator, as well as a former RAF flight lieutenant who became a POW during the first Gulf War. He is coauthor of the bestselling Tornado Down and the author of five novels. Tony Rennell is the author of Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria and coauthor of When Daddy Came Home. Now a freelance writer, he was formerly associate editor of the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As World War II approached its end, thousands of American and British soldiers languished in German POW camps. With the Russian Red Army closing in from the east and Allied troops advancing from the west, Hitler forced the POWs deeper into the heart of Germany. Over the next several months these prisoners were forced to walk more than 500 miles through the severest of winter conditions, and hundreds died from exhaustion, disease, and starvation. Here—for the first time—interviews with the POWs who survived as well as their diaries and letters bring this astonishing tale of endurance and courage to life.