Reminiscences of a Prisoner of War and His Escape is a book by Daniel Avery Langworthy. Langworthy was an officer of the Union Army during the American Civil War and recounts here his related adventures.

Published to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, an unforgettable never-before-told first-person account of World War II: the true story of an American paratrooper who survived D-Day, was captured and imprisoned in a Nazi work camp, and made a daring escape to freedom. Now at 95, one of the few living members of the Greatest Generation shares his experiences at last in one of the most remarkable World War II stories ever told. As the Allied Invasion of Normandy launched in the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944, Henry Langrehr, an American paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, was among the thousands of Allies who parachuted into occupied France. Surviving heavy anti-aircraft fire, he crashed through the glass roof of a greenhouse in Sainte-Mère-Église. While many of the soldiers in his unit died, Henry and other surviving troops valiantly battled enemy tanks to a standstill. Then, on June 29th, Henry was captured by the Nazis. The next phase of his incredible journey was beginning. Kept for a week in the outer ring of a death camp, Henry witnessed the Nazis’ unspeakable brutality—the so-called Final Solution, with people marched to their deaths, their bodies discarded like cords of wood. Transported to a work camp, he endured horrors of his own when he was forced to live in unbelievable squalor and labor in a coal mine with other POWs. Knowing they would be worked to death, he and a friend made a desperate escape. When a German soldier cornered them in a barn, the friend was fatally shot; Henry struggled with the soldier, killing him and taking his gun. Perilously traveling westward toward Allied controlled land on foot, Henry faced the great ethical and moral dilemmas of war firsthand, needing to do whatever it took to survive. Finally, after two weeks behind enemy lines, he found an American unit and was rescued. Awaiting him at home was Arlene, who, like millions of other American women, went to work in factories and offices to build the armaments Henry and the Allies needed for victory. Whatever It Took is her story, too, bringing to life the hopes and fears of those on the homefront awaiting their loved ones to return. A tale of heroism, hope, and survival featuring 30 photographs, Whatever It Took is a timely reminder of the human cost of freedom and a tribute to unbreakable human courage and spirit in the darkest of times.

The first Prisoner of War (PW) to have escaped from an Indian PW Camp in Pakistan's history, Ikram Sehgal's narration about his incarceration and eventual escape in 1971 is dark account of life in Indian custody, yet at times is surprisingly humorous and captures the never-say-die human spirit.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The Great Escape for the Great War: the astonishing true story of two World War I prisoners who pulled off one of the most ingenious escapes of all time. FINALIST FOR THE EDGAR® AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR • “Fox unspools Jones and Hill’s delightfully elaborate scheme in nail-biting episodes that advance like a narrative Rube Goldberg machine.”—The New York Times Book Review Imprisoned in a remote Turkish POW camp during World War I, having survived a two-month forced march and a terrifying shootout in the desert, two British officers, Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, join forces to bamboozle their iron-fisted captors. To stave off despair and boredom, Jones takes a handmade Ouija board and fakes elaborate séances for his fellow prisoners. Word gets around, and one day an Ottoman official approaches Jones with a query: Could Jones contact the spirit world to find a vast treasure rumored to be buried nearby? Jones, a trained lawyer, and Hill, a brilliant magician, use the Ouija board—and their keen understanding of the psychology of deception—to build a trap for their captors that will ultimately lead them to freedom. A gripping nonfiction thriller, The Confidence Men is the story of one of the only known con games played for a good cause—and of a profound but unlikely friendship. Had it not been for “the Great War,” Jones, the Oxford-educated son of a British lord, and Hill, a mechanic on an Australian sheep ranch, would never have met. But in pain, loneliness, hunger, and isolation, they formed a powerful emotional and intellectual alliance that saved both of their lives. Margalit Fox brings her “nose for interesting facts, the ability to construct a taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality” (Kathryn Schulz, New York) to this tale of psychological strategy that is rife with cunning, danger, and moments of high farce that rival anything in Catch-22.

A thrilling, first-person account of one of the most famous prison escapes of World War II. Jens Müller was one of only three men who successfully escaped from Stalag Luft III on the night of March 24, 1944—the breakout that later became the basis for the famous film The Great Escape. His memoir tells how Müller, a pilot in one of the RAF’s Norwegian squadrons, was shot down by the Luftwaffe over the English Channel in June 1942. After some days at sea in his Spitfire’s life raft, he made it to land in Belgium but was soon captured by the occupying Germans and sent as a prisoner of war to Stalag Luft III (in what is now Zagan, Poland). Müller vividly describes life in the camp, how the escapes were planned, and relates the compelling story of his personal breakout. Together with Per Bergsland, he managed to make it to the coast and stowed away on a ship to Gothenburg, Sweden. The two men eventually reached RAF Leuchars base in Scotland.

A memoir of the most decorated pilot in Dutch history and one of the World War II POWs who fled Nazi Germany what is known as “The Great Escape.” On the night of 24 March 1944, Bram Vanderstok was the eighteenth of 76 men who crawled out of Stalag Luft III in Zagan, Poland. The 1963 film The Great Escape was largely based on this autobiography but—with Vanderstok's agreement—filmmakers chose to turn his story into an Australian character named Sedgwick, played by James Coburn. His memoir sets down his wartime adventures before being incarcerated in Stalag Luft III and then describes various escape attempts which culminated with the famous March breakout. After escaping, Vanderstok roamed Europe for weeks before making it back to England. Two months after escaping, he returned to the British no. 91 Squadron. In the following months he flew almost every day to France, escorting bombers and knocking down V1 rockets. In August 1944, he finally returned to his home. He learned that his two brothers had been killed in concentration camps after being arrested for resistance work. His father had been tortured and blinded by the Gestapo during interrogation. He had never betrayed his son. “His escapes, his operations as a Spitfire pilot, his experiences as a prisoner of war, and his incredible escape crossing the Pyrenees—all are described in a breathtaking manner which made me read his book through in one sitting.” —Prof. Dr. L de Jong, founder/director of the Dutch Institute for War Documentation “Such a modest man, such a dramatic story—you’ll be pulled into this absorbing account.” —Jonathan Vance, author of The True Story of the Great Escape