In 1915, the German government published a book entitled 1915 in an attempt to portray the Germans as a civilized people who were destined to win the war, who would treat their prisoners with care and compassion. The Kaisers First POWs is the first book to compare the official German view to the grim reality of captivity, as experienced by the prisoners.Dozens of original photos from 1915 tell the story as seen by German eyes. Compare them to the personal accounts from former prisoners who describe the reality of falling into the hands of the German Army and life as a prisoner of the Kaiser.By the end of the war, the Germans had taken approximately 2.8 million prisoners of war. This books describes the life and times of these prisoners and the manner in which the Germans dealt with the problems involved in accommodating them.

Based on interviews with survivors of German WWI prison camps, this account documents the heroism and perseverance of British troops in captivity. Drawing on the memories of the last surviving prisoners of the Great war, Prisoners of the Kaiser tells the dramatic story of life as a POW in Germany. Stories include the shock of capture on the Western Front, to the grind of daily life in imprisonment in German prison camps. Veterans recall work in salt mines, punishments, and escape attempts, as well as the torture of starvation and the relief at their eventual release. With over 200 photographs and illustrations, Prisoners of the Kaiser is filled with vivid, moving eye-witness accounts, almost all of which never been have published before.

A British soldier walked over to the German front line to deliver newspapers; British women married to Germans became 'enemy aliens' in their own country; a high-ranking British POW discussed his own troops' heroism with the Kaiser on the battlefield. Just three amazing stories of contact between the opposing sides in the Great War that eminent historian Richard van Emden has unearthed – incidents that show brutality, great humanity, and above all the bizarre nature of a conflict between two nations with long-standing ties of kinship and friendship. Meeting the Enemy reveals for the first time how contact was maintained on many levels throughout the War, and its stories, sometimes funny, often moving, give us a new perspective on the lives of ordinary men and women caught up in extraordinary events.

An original investigation dedicated to the captivity experiences of British military servicemen captured by Germany in the First World War.