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Home Run: Escape from Nazi Europe
Throughout the Second World War, thousands found themselves cut off behind the lines in Nazi-occupied Europe - soldiers were left stranded on beaches after the chaotic evacuation of Dunkirk, airmen flying operations against the Germans were blasted out of the sky by flak and fighters. They were alone and on the run in enemy territory with just one goal - to get back to Britain and to safety. Some made solitary treks through hundreds of miles of enemy territory, others attempted precarious sea crossings in stolen boats. Many placed their lives in the hands of brave civilians who risked the wrath of a brutal regime if they dared to offer assistance. Life for the evaders hung in the balance and if they were to survive they had to rely on guile and sheer luck. John Nichol and Tony Rennell tell the dramatic story of the heroes who made it home ...and those who did not.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2007
5 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
John Nichol
31 books59 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Flight Lieutenant Adrian John Nichol (born December 1963) is a retired Royal Air Force navigator who was shot down and captured during the first Gulf War.
Flight Lieutenant Adrian John Nichol (born December 1963) is a retired Royal Air Force navigator who was shot down and captured during the first Gulf War.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 13, 2022
Home Run is an excellent and engaging account of "Evaders", those soldiers and airmen who evaded capture on mainland Europe during the Second World War and the many (extra)ordinary men and women who helped them at great personal risk (and often great cost too) with the ultimate goal of making a "Home Run" ie getting all the way back to England.
Drawn from personal accounts and M19 debriefing documents this is an immaculately researched book.
The focus very much on evaders rather than the better known stories of the "escapers", those men who escaped from captivity in prison camps and the like with the exception of Airey Neave, the first man to make a home run from Colditz who went on to join M19 and continue the efforts to get men home by whatever means possible.
There is a good list of source material so plenty of scope to read more of particular evaders who spark an interest.
Well worth a read and I would thoroughly recommend.
Drawn from personal accounts and M19 debriefing documents this is an immaculately researched book.
The focus very much on evaders rather than the better known stories of the "escapers", those men who escaped from captivity in prison camps and the like with the exception of Airey Neave, the first man to make a home run from Colditz who went on to join M19 and continue the efforts to get men home by whatever means possible.
There is a good list of source material so plenty of scope to read more of particular evaders who spark an interest.
Well worth a read and I would thoroughly recommend.
May 30, 2020
Meticulously researched with first person accounts, this is a book well worth reading and keeping. While there was brutality on very nearly every page, it was an honest re-telling of what life was like during the occupation of France by the Germans during World War II. This is an educational experience with an important lesson. The treatment of the average person, not to mention the inexcusable daily torment the Jews endured is something never to be forgotten as a reminder of what it really means to be a human being in God's world.
February 28, 2021
This is an excellent read. Found it in the Oxfam charity shop near me. Insightful and entertaining
In equal measures. A cast of many not just about the evaders but also the many people who helped them. Nears that I never heard of such as the young woman Dedee de Jong who helped many airmen to escape , The Comet Line and The infamous Harry Cole who betrayed many. So many stories.
In equal measures. A cast of many not just about the evaders but also the many people who helped them. Nears that I never heard of such as the young woman Dedee de Jong who helped many airmen to escape , The Comet Line and The infamous Harry Cole who betrayed many. So many stories.
March 5, 2021
A stunning book that details the bravery of those who aided allied airman on their quest for freedom. I love how must effort has been put into detailing the personal stories. This adds great emotion to the history.
August 16, 2023
This is a fascinating 'must read' and a wonderful tribute to the fortitude and bravery of the evaders and the men and women who risked everything to help them. Superb.
February 20, 2024
This book is detailed and take quite a while to get through. However, there are some amazing people featured and learning about them is well worthwhile.
February 7, 2025
I think the subject is highly interesting. (and something I knew very little of) The structure of the book is a bit incoherent so I was glad to finally finish it.
August 8, 2009
we are at war!
this is the same kind of glistering dramatic fiction that was published by penguin in the second war itself , propaganda that gave soldiers a reason and tactical tips on evasion and escape , when pengiun published the volumes of escape and evasion paper backs they where of the first world war home runs, give us a break guys . if you want to be the secret army then find a more worthier cause , like escaping poverty i give you 3 stars for the divertimento entertianment ,
lets see if i can remember , the fly leaf on the origianls stated this , when you have read this book please leave it or pass it on for the rest of youre comrades in arms to enjoy.
i particularly liked the tale of a WW1 captain who was captured in august 1914, and spent nearly the entire war attempting so many escapes that failed, until eventually he did get a home run , then so keen was he to go back for another crack at the hun, he arrived at the front on armistice day 1918 Please note John Nichole try and review how you truly felt when you where in captivity, it would make a more honest appraisal of this modern conflict.
this is the same kind of glistering dramatic fiction that was published by penguin in the second war itself , propaganda that gave soldiers a reason and tactical tips on evasion and escape , when pengiun published the volumes of escape and evasion paper backs they where of the first world war home runs, give us a break guys . if you want to be the secret army then find a more worthier cause , like escaping poverty i give you 3 stars for the divertimento entertianment ,
lets see if i can remember , the fly leaf on the origianls stated this , when you have read this book please leave it or pass it on for the rest of youre comrades in arms to enjoy.
i particularly liked the tale of a WW1 captain who was captured in august 1914, and spent nearly the entire war attempting so many escapes that failed, until eventually he did get a home run , then so keen was he to go back for another crack at the hun, he arrived at the front on armistice day 1918 Please note John Nichole try and review how you truly felt when you where in captivity, it would make a more honest appraisal of this modern conflict.
January 12, 2009
I bought this book thinking it might be rubbish. I suppose it was the book snob coming out in me. John Nichol isn't exactly a renowned historian, he was the guy who was shot down over Iraq and appeared on Iraqi TV looking terrified and a bit battered in the early 90s during the first Gulf War. Since then he has written some sensationalist books about his experiences that wouldn't be out of place in the News of the World.
Well, I was to be proven wrong. This was a brilliantly written book about the allied evaders caught up in Europe and their attempts to get back to Britain.
The book humbled me, just to read what these guys had to go through, their bravery and the selfless bravery of those who helped them is an inspiring lesson in human nature.
400 pages finished in a week, I just couldn't put it down and spent one entire night reading it. I was in tears on a couple of occasions.
You won't be disappointed.
Well, I was to be proven wrong. This was a brilliantly written book about the allied evaders caught up in Europe and their attempts to get back to Britain.
The book humbled me, just to read what these guys had to go through, their bravery and the selfless bravery of those who helped them is an inspiring lesson in human nature.
400 pages finished in a week, I just couldn't put it down and spent one entire night reading it. I was in tears on a couple of occasions.
You won't be disappointed.
January 18, 2015
This book is interesting and entertaining, but it is essentially the story of an escape artist (who gets caught regularly) in the middle of the second world war. You never really get a sense of the historical context in which this takes place. It is all a bit Reader's Digest-like.
There seems to be a popular trend for some years now to revisit this kind of literature in search of "heroes". Unbroken is one other example. This should take nothing away from the individuals themselves but it is a certainly a criticism of our popular culture which seems to demand heroes. This book may have a place on the biography shelf but more likely on the end with sports legends rather than in the history section.
If you are looking for historical quasi-fiction (it is a true story but reads like a novel at times) then this book is entertaining enough. If you are interested in history and the life of men in POW camps in the second world war, you can find better information elsewhere.
There seems to be a popular trend for some years now to revisit this kind of literature in search of "heroes". Unbroken is one other example. This should take nothing away from the individuals themselves but it is a certainly a criticism of our popular culture which seems to demand heroes. This book may have a place on the biography shelf but more likely on the end with sports legends rather than in the history section.
If you are looking for historical quasi-fiction (it is a true story but reads like a novel at times) then this book is entertaining enough. If you are interested in history and the life of men in POW camps in the second world war, you can find better information elsewhere.
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July 26, 2011An absorbing and moving account of the experiences of downed aircrew in occupied Europe during the Second World War, and the brave civilians (both male and female) who ran the escape lines that helped them back to Britain. This is an area of wartime history that is little covered in many of the general histories of the period (most tend to concentrate on the large-scale evasions such as the Great Escape, and not on the individual experiences of evasion like those recounted here), which makes this a fascinating and very worth-while read. Recommended.
April 9, 2010
I loved this book. I had a difficult time putting it down. The stories of soldiers trying to get out of occupied Europe after being shot down during WWII were captivating. The stories included the descriptions of the escape networks and the heroism of a lot of people under difficult and sometimes deadly circumstances.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews