Colditz

Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle is used by Nazi Germany to confine Allied officers considered particularly persistent or dangerous escape risks. The prisoners devise tunnels, disguises, forged papers and an elaborate glider, but the celebrated escape attempts form only one part of a prison society shaped by nationality, class, race and military hierarchy.

Macintyre follows both prisoners and guards, including men whose experiences were omitted from the familiar heroic mythology. Captivity produces ingenuity and solidarity, but also boredom, mental illness, privilege and conflict. The account places the castle within the wider wartime system rather than treating it simply as a stage for ingenious British escapes.