The Grand Escape, written by Neal Bascomb, reviewed by Bethany Bratney

Summary:  The Grand Escape is a thrilling piece of narrative nonfiction that tells the story of a group of POW soldiers held in a German prison, Holzminden, during World War I. The first section of the book introduces each of the players in the culminating “Grand Escape” story, all of whom first tried to escape from other camps in which they were being held. Each unsuccessful attempt is recounted, ending with each man being labeled as a flight risk and sent to the “Alcatraz of Europe”, Holzminden. Holzminden was run by a ruthless and terrible German officer, Karl Niemeyer, who made the experience in Holzminden so awful, and was so spiteful and personal in doing so, that this group of men with prior attempts at escape banded together in their most dangerous and daring attempt yet. From the digging of a massive, claustrophobia-inducing trench to the traverse of hundreds of miles across the border to freedom, we follow the heroes of our story as they face obstacles and loss to achieve a seemingly impossible goal.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  Interesting and exciting books about World War I for young people are hard to come by. The Grand Escape captures excitement and adventure from that time period and brings it to life. The narrative is fast-paced and presented in short, easily digestible chapters. There are fantastic archival photographs and documents throughout, in addition to maps that illustrate the paths and distances traveled by the prisoners during various maneuvers and escape attempts. There are times when the sheer number of names and figures can be slightly overwhelming and may lose an unenthusiastic reader, but history lovers, particularly war buffs are sure to be gripped by this tale, and there may even be some teen readers who could be converted into nonfiction readers by this slim and exciting volume. An easy purchase for libraries in which Bascomb’s other books are popular.