Well it has been 100 years since the start of the Great War
and with that anniversary comes a plethora of reissued and re-jacketed books,
and this is one of them. But even so, how had I not heard of this escape
before? Yes everyone knows of the ‘Great Escape’ –mainly due to the Steve
McQueen movie. But this is so insane and weird that I can’t believe this escape
story wasn’t the top pick for any movie producer.
Like many people, what made me pick this up was the fact that Neil Gaiman had written the introduction. “Huh! Why is Neil writing an introduction to a first world war escape story?” was definitely the first thought that entered my head. If you’re interested in exactly why Neil’s introduction was available to read on the Guardian’s website, you can read it here if you want to. As I’m sure he’ll convince you to read this book better than I.
Well anyway back to the book. Lieutenant E.H. Jones and Lieutenant C.W. Hill are the main protagonists. They’ve been captured and sent to the Yozgad prison camp in Turkey. Life as a POW is exceedingly dull, so they start ‘spooking’. Trying to talk to the dead using a OUIJA board quite unsuccessfully, Lt. Jones decides to fake the outcome and make messages appear to come out of nowhere. Although just a bit of fun, some of the other prisoners start to take it so seriously that Jones feels he can no longer admit his deceit without looking like a jerk. But as time goes on he pushes things further and further and also comes across Lt. Hill (who’s an amateur magician!) and together they push what could be expected even further!
It’s an amazing roller-coaster of a ride that involves them convincing the guards and commandant of their ‘powers’, and that there is a vast amount of buried treasure and the ‘ghost’ (through the ‘mediums’) could lead them to it!
Easily the most bizarre story you’ll ever hear about, and incredibly tense at times. It did make me wonder how anyone could put themselves through so much hardship. But then again I’ve never had to be in a Turkish POW camp!
You should really read this book, it’s outstanding!!!
Like many people, what made me pick this up was the fact that Neil Gaiman had written the introduction. “Huh! Why is Neil writing an introduction to a first world war escape story?” was definitely the first thought that entered my head. If you’re interested in exactly why Neil’s introduction was available to read on the Guardian’s website, you can read it here if you want to. As I’m sure he’ll convince you to read this book better than I.
Well anyway back to the book. Lieutenant E.H. Jones and Lieutenant C.W. Hill are the main protagonists. They’ve been captured and sent to the Yozgad prison camp in Turkey. Life as a POW is exceedingly dull, so they start ‘spooking’. Trying to talk to the dead using a OUIJA board quite unsuccessfully, Lt. Jones decides to fake the outcome and make messages appear to come out of nowhere. Although just a bit of fun, some of the other prisoners start to take it so seriously that Jones feels he can no longer admit his deceit without looking like a jerk. But as time goes on he pushes things further and further and also comes across Lt. Hill (who’s an amateur magician!) and together they push what could be expected even further!
It’s an amazing roller-coaster of a ride that involves them convincing the guards and commandant of their ‘powers’, and that there is a vast amount of buried treasure and the ‘ghost’ (through the ‘mediums’) could lead them to it!
Easily the most bizarre story you’ll ever hear about, and incredibly tense at times. It did make me wonder how anyone could put themselves through so much hardship. But then again I’ve never had to be in a Turkish POW camp!
You should really read this book, it’s outstanding!!!
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