Millions of servicemen of the belligerent powers were taken prisoner during World War II. Until recently, the popular image of these men has been framed by tales of heroic escape or immense suffering at the hands of malevolent captors. For the vast majority, however, the reality was very different. Their history, both during and after the War, has largely been ignored in the grand narratives of the conflict. This collection brings together new scholarship, largely based on sources from previously unavailable Eastern European or Japanese archives. Authors highlight a number of important comparatives. Whereas for the British and Americans held by the Germans and Japanese, the end of the war meant a swift repatriation and demobilization, for the Germans, it heralded the beginning of an imprisonment that, for some, lasted until 1956. These and many more moving stories are revealed here for the first time.

We were at twenty-five thousand feet about 125 miles from our takeoff base back at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The cockpit instrument panel looked like something you might have seen at an arcade. The red fire lights for the right side engines were flashing, the RPM gauges were spinning, the hydraulic overheat lights down by my right leg were illuminated, the oil pressure gauges for the two right engines were rolling back towards zero, and the fuel quantity indicators were falling fast. We had only five parachutes on board and there were twelve of us. A true story, William Hanson relates his life as a pilot and the one major event in his life that brought down his career. The events found in this book bring to question the facts that surround the case of his court martial. Was the accidental offense enough to bring to a military trial? Were there forces at work to prevent Bil Hanson from ever explaining his side fully and fairly? Find all the facts in this book and see a different perspective of the events that unfolded. See for yourself the different perspectives of the Saudi Arabian accident that would forever change the life of a young and upcoming pilot.

Many Allied POWs in the Pacific theater of World War II suffered terribly. But abuse wasn't a matter of Japanese policy, as is commonly assumed. Sarah Kovner shows poorly trained guards and rogue commanders inflicted the most horrific damage. Camps close to centers of imperial power tended to be less violent, and many POWs died from friendly fire.

The author recounts the horror and hope of his experiences as a prisoner of war in World War II Europe.

"This book chronicles the life and times of Major General A.S. Naravane, both in peace and war. He joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun in 1936 and was commissioned in 1938. He was amongst the first few who were accepted for the Indian Artillery, which, till 1934 was offered exclusively by the British. His early days in the regiment were one of very hard work and training. The profession of arms was a very highly prized occupation and all was done to make the young officers worthy of being in it. The training methods then are described with much pride and nostalgia. Naravane went to war as a captain and his artillery regiment, the 2nd Field, soon saw action against the then invincible Germans under Rommel. At Bir Hachiem he was taken prisoner. The trials and tribulations as a prisoner are worth reading, especially for the young officer, as they show that whatever the conditions, the first duty of every prisoner of war is to try and escape. Liberty may be lost, but courage and pride in one's regiment, never. The transition from the British Indian Army to a national army is brought out frankly but with restraint. His career and rise to the post of Director of Artillery is, in a way, the conflict of the old and the new that every pre-war officer had to face"--Dust jacket.

A fresh look at the how US troops played a part in the resistance of US troops to the American war in Vietnam Even if you don't know much about the war in Vietnam, you've probably heard of "The Hanoi Hilton," or Hoa Lo Prison, where captured U.S. soldiers were held. What they did there and whether they were treated well or badly by the Vietnamese became lasting controversies. As military personnel returned from captivity in 1973, Americans became riveted by POW coming-home stories. What had gone on behind these prison walls? Along with legends of lionized heroes who endured torture rather than reveal sensitive military information, there were news leaks suggesting that others had denounced the war in return for favorable treatment. What wasn't acknowledged, however, is that U.S. troop opposition to the war was vast and reached well into Hoa Loa Prison. Half a century after the fact, Dissenting POWs emerges to recover this history, and to discover what drove the factionalism in Hoa Lo. Looking into the underlying factional divide between pro-war “hardliners” and anti-war “dissidents” among the POWs, authors Wilber and Lembcke delve into the postwar American culture that created the myths of the Hero-POW and the dissidents blamed for the loss of the war. What they found was surprising: It wasn’t simply that some POWs were for the war and others against it, nor was it an officers-versus-enlisted-men standoff. Rather, it was the class backgrounds of the captives and their pre-captive experience that drew the lines. After the war, the hardcore hero-holdouts—like John McCain—moved on to careers in politics and business, while the dissidents faded from view as the antiwar movement, that might otherwise have championed them, disbanded. Today, Dissenting POWs is a necessary myth-buster, disabusing us of the revisionism that has replaced actual GI resistance with images of suffering POWs—ennobled victims that serve to suppress the fundamental questions of America’s drift to endless war.