The Great Escape: Tunnel to Freedom

by Mike Meserole

When a group of American and English soldiers were taken to a Nazi prison as prisoners of war, the first thing on their minds was breaking free. The Great Escape​ is their incredible true story. There have been plenty of escapes throughout history, but nothing even comes close to The Great Escape! This almost unbelievable story follows a group of English and American soldiers captured by the Nazis in World War II when they were taken to the "inescapable" Nazi prison or Stalag Luft III as prisoners of war. Over weeks and months, the men improvised to make use of every resource around them. Their incredible ingenuity and never give up attitude led to them pulling off extreme feats of planning to create a tunnel nearly 350-feet long. Their escape to freedom eventually grew so large they equipped it with trolleys, and even lit it with electric lights. Finally, on the night of March 24, 1944, nearly 100 men attempted their daring escape through the tunnel. What was their fate? Did they all make it? This is one tale of escape you can't miss!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, World War II

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2008

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giving this book a 5 because it simply deserved it. I've read many escape stories, however, this one stayed the course and the drawings made the escape story easier to follow.
It's a gripping tale of how 200 POW soldiers from different countries came together to plan out the ingenious tunnel escape.

[Conor Quinlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i decided to read this book because after reading the blurb it looked very interesting and i was intrigued to see what people in war did after they were caught.the category this book completes is A book that teaches us about another time in history i found this interesting because i am from England and it was interesting how they could find a way to escape without that many tools available to use.the character i found most interesting was the ferret rubberneck. i found him interesting because he was the only ferret that new there could be a tunnel being dug and the escape happen when he was away. he also was the only ferret that wanted to go into the tunnels after they were found.my favorite quote from the book was "But these brave men knew that they still had an important duty-escape and cause as much havoc behind emery lines as possible". this was my favorite quote because even when they were caught the could still do thing to help the country and they did not just thought it was all over. something new i learn from this book is that you are never useless and you can alway do something to help.

[Amy Meyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years ago I watched the movie made, maybe, in the 70s. It shouldn't have surprised me reading it that the story differed greatly from the movie, but the overall plot was similar. For example, the Yanks (Americans) did participate in the beginning, but ended up not getting in on the escape because of being moved over to a separate camp. Anyway, the war was almost over when they finally escaped, and it's almost too bad they did it, because almost all of the successful escapees were recaptured and killed. But as true hero stories, this was touching. As non-fiction, it was gripping; I couldn't put it down the entire last half. I'd be happy to get my hands on my Sterling Point nonfiction. There were a few crudities/curse words at the end in this book, note to self, to black out for the kids. I'm so glad I purchased this book. I plan to read it aloud when we reach WW2 in history, after Corrie ten Boom of course.

Read aloud with the kids and husband. My husband loved it, but said it gets an 8/10 because of crude language at times (unnecessary, especially in a kids' book), and the author's style wasn't stellar throughout.

[Loralee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly detailed and so fascinating. I am awed by the courage and audacity those POWs had, and that they could accomplish so much with so little to work with.

[Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Europe 1941, The Nazis have taken over every country in Europe except the U.S.S.R which they have a non-aggression pact with, and England, which is bombed mercilessly. While the German Luftwaffe is powerful, it faces stiff opposition from Englands RAF. The RAF, though small, both in aviators and planes, takes to the skies nightly to defend England, and the RAF bomber command coordinates nightly raids against German-held territory. While the RAF was small and fierce, some of their pilots were still shot down in German territory. Those POW's are where the story "The Great Escape Tunnel To Freedom" starts. Imprisoned in the German POW camp Stalag Luft III these airmen know that even when captured behind enemy lines they have a job to do; to escape. Escaped prisoners faced nothing worse than recapture and time in a solitary cell if recaptured, according to the Geneva conventions, which Germany had signed on to. After several years of digging tunnels, and having their tunnels found, on the night of March 24, 1944, 76 men escaped from Stalag Luft III. Some made it safely to London, but most were recaptured and, in direct opposition to the Geneva conventions, 50 were killed.
I personally thought this book was amazing, with suspense at every turn, as people were quickly inserted and removed from the POW camp. Many men, many stories, and many failed escapes finally yielded fruit, 76 men escaping, and some making it back to England. The story of these brave men, so accurately and breathtakingly portrayed by Mike Meserole, is truly remarkable, and should be known to the world. The courage and perseverance of these brave men.

[Ezra · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Great Escape Tunnel to Freedom” is a non-fiction book by Mike Meserole. It was published in 2008 by Sterling Publishing Company in New York. For a factual book about war times “The Great Escape Tunnel to Freedom” amazed me with the details as it takes the reader through the thinking process along with the characters. This is a great book that I give five stars and would recommend for people who take an interest in history and strategic stories.
“The Great Escape Tunnel to Freedom” takes place in World War II at a German prisoner of war camp. The plot was what interested me the most because it is about a real escape story. The allies in custody are planning the biggest breakout of the war and it is all happening underground. Reading the book only gets better as the prisoners solve problems and improve their strategy. The book is laid out as if the events were happening in the moment. I read the entire book in around two hours without putting it down because it was written with such a great attention to details, making it more captivating. The only issue with this book was the beginning. I was confused with the war terms, however I usually have difficulty starting books, until I get to the good parts
Overall Mike Meserole did an amazing job giving the reader an easy time understanding a complicated event in history.

[Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Escape, by Mike Meserole, is a non-fiction book about 76 pilots escaping a prison, hoping to find a way outside of Germany. My favorite part of the book was the author's style, he uses a lot of description and adds suspense to the story. I would like to recommend this book to teens and adults who want to learn about untold parts of history. My favorite part of the book was when the pilots escaped in the end. I learned how people were so desperate to escape that they would use scraps from anywhere to build the tunnels. My favorite character was Roger Bushell because he organized the entire plan, was brave, and had a good strategy to escape through the tunnels undetected.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're wanting to read about the Great Escape, I would suggest Paul Brickhill's version versus this copy.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

After being captured by the German's air force during WWII, British POWs were not content to just sit around and wait for the war's end. Instead, they were determined to escape--even if they didn't get very far, because any escape at all tied up German soldiers and police in looking for the escapees. A group of POWs in Stalag Luft III decided to embark on the greatest escape attempt in history, wanting to get 200 men out of their camp, and they set out build tunnels out of the camp--with 2 to be decoys and the third to be the real escape route. Hundreds of men assisted in the plans--digging the tunnels, finding ways to hide the sand that they extracted, forging documents, making clothing, and more.

This is an interesting piece of history and the author throws in some fun details (like the fact that the people in charge of disposing of the sand were called penguins because stuffing the sand in pouches in their pants made them waddle like penguins). It's a very accessible story, making it great for teen readers.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up in the library while waiting for Bruce to select a "book report book". It is the story of RAF pow's in Germany during WWII. These officers felt that if captured, it was their duty to escape. 200 pow's spent months constructing a tunnel under their captors' noses with the intent to have all 200 escape in one night. Tragically, they fell short of the original plan, but I have to admire their creativity and determination.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at a library book sale to take to work for my students to read. I could tell that it had never been checked out and I thought it looked interesting, so I decide to read it before I put it on my bookshelf. I was never invested in history class as a student; this book was a quick read and held my interest, while also teaching me something about WWII that I didn't know.

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you like hogans heroes then this is the book for you!!

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to get through, very interesting!

[Dylan]

good historical features and a lot of details about the book