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Colditz

Prisoners of the Castle: The incredible true story of WW2's most infamous Nazi prison from the Sunday Times bestseller

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Colditz

By: Ben Macintyre
Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
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$8.99/month after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 29 July 2026 at 11:59 AEST.

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Brought to you by Penguin.

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - AND PERFECT GIFT FOR HISTORY BUFFS!

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SAS: ROGUE HEROES

Colditz Castle: a forbidding Gothic tower on a hill in Nazi Germany. You may have heard about the prisoners and their daring and desperate attempts to escape, but that's only part of the real story.

In Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes us inside the walls of the most infamous prison in history to meet the real men behind the legends. Heroes and bullies, lovers and spies, captors and prisoners living cheek-by-jowl for years in a thrilling game of cat and mouse - and all determined to escape by any means necessary.

Deeply researched and full of incredible stories, this is a tale of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances - and will change how you think about Colditz forever.

'A master at setting the pulse racing' Daily Mail

'A fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject' Telegraph

'Like watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised' Spectator

'Every Ben Macintyre book is a treat' The Tablet

© Ben MacIntyre 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Europe Germany Historical Military War
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Critic Reviews

A fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject (Patrick Bishop)
Like watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised . . . rich in humour and quirky detail . . . another compelling narrative (Clare Mulley)
Nuanced and gripping . . . told with sensitivity and insight, with an eye for telling detail (Gerard DeGroot)
Fascinating
Every Ben Macintyre book is a treat (Jane Thynne)
Entertaining yet objective and often moving
Macintyre's genius has long been to excavate the nuance, subtlety and ambiguity beneath the myths he explores . . . remarkable (Matthew D'Ancona)
Another fine history . . . His unerring eye for the telling detail that can illuminate a greater story is apparent in Colditz (Ronan McGreevy)
Macintyre so seamlessly fuses so many different accounts that their compilation creates something more profound than a simple escape yarn: a biography of the prison itself and the world detainees built there (Andrea Pitzer)
Macintyre recreates the daring escape stories with punchy flair . . . a lively page-turner (NJ McGarrigle)
All stars
Most relevant
I liked this book very much. I remember the TV series and I use to play the Colditz board game repeatedly many years ago but it was great to hear the true story of the place and time. The altruism of the tv series is certainly lacking and even though it surprised me I should have expected it really. The British military is, or at least at the time, very class oriented and the true nature of Colditz's inmates comes through as boorish in may respects.

The narration was good and kept me listening throughout and it was well paced and written.

A Great Listen

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A fascinating story of the men and the castle, loved the narration by the author, a wonderful read

Loved it

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Wow – the amount of research and study that went into this book is astounding. I enjoyed it so much – never a waning moment. Narration by the author gives you the nuance that mightn’t easily be achieved by other narrators.

Brilliantly researched!

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I generally don’t like war stories but this one had a great pace and i particularly enjoyed hearing the voices of the lower class who didn’t have their version of the war documented due to their illiteracy (or the system stopping them).

Privileged prisoners

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I've read just about every book on WW2 escapes, including "The Colditz Story" and Airey Neave's "They have their exits". Ben MacIntyre has once again delivered a meticulously researched and beautifully told story which adds a lot of new material, and importantly includes the German side of the story. Highly recommended.

Excellent!

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