Captivity, Flight, and Survival in World War II

by Alan Levine

Overview

A collection of prisoner of war and concentration camp survivor stories from some of the toughest World War II camps in Europe and the Pacific, this book details the daring escapes and highlights the fundamental aspects of human nature that made such heroic efforts possible. Levine takes a comprehensive approach, including evasion efforts by those fleeing before the enemy who never reached formal prisoner of war camps, as well as escapes from ghettoes and labor camps.

Levine pays particular attention to dramatic escapes by small boat. Many are not widely known, although some were made over vast distances or in fantastically difficult conditions from enemy-occupied areas. Accounts include attempts at freedom from both German and Japanese prisoner of war camps, stories that reveal much about the conditions prisoners endured. Some of these escapes are far more amazing than the famed Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. German and Austrian prisoners also recount their amazing flights from India to Tibet and Burma. This study challenges some ideas about behavior in extreme situations and casts interesting light on human nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275969554
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/30/2000
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

ALAN J. LEVINE, an historian specializing in Russian History, International Relations, and World War II, has published many articles about World War II and the Cold War. He is the author of The Soviet Union, the Communist Movement and the World: Prelude to the Cold War (Praeger, 1992), The Missile and Space Race (Praeger 1994), The United States and the Struggle for Southeast Asia, 1945-1975 (Praeger, 1995), Race Relations Within Western Expansion (Praeger, 1996), The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines, 1942-1943 (Praeger, 1999), and From the Normandy Beaches to the Baltic Sea (Praeger, 2000).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Flight From the Enemy: Europe and the Mediterranean
Flight Before the Enemy: Asia and the Pacific
Escape From Prisoner of War Camps in Europe
Escape From Prisoner of War Camps in Asia
Escape From the Kingdom of Death: Jewish Escapes in Occupied Europe
Bibliographical Essay
Index

Editorial Reviews

Recounts some of the great escapes of WWII and the dreadful conditions from which those escapes were made. Some of these stories have never been told before, and others have been described in obscure books printed in the 1940s and 1950s. Stories relate flight from enemy- controlled territory, escapes from Jewish ghettos and concentration camps, and escapes by small boats. Explores the psychology of escape and the conditions of imprisonment, and corrects misconceptions that have grown up around prisoner-of-war and concentration camps. Levine is an historian specializing in Russian history, international relations, and WWII. He has published many articles and books. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews